New York City is a dancer’s Mecca. Between Broadway and the various dance troupes centered in the city, you can find somewhere that the style you are best at is being performed. My best style has always been sassy performance jazz, so here at Fordham, I found my home on the Fordham Dance Team. We perform at football games, as well as the men’s and women’s basketball games (mostly home). This past weekend, we had the opportunity to cheer and dance at an away game held at Madison Square Garden for men’s basketball against St. John’s.
Madison Square Garden’s slogan is “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” I had been there for concerts before, but in the nosebleed seats. Never in my life did I dream of being able to sit court side, let alone sit ON the court and perform at a media timeout. Media timeouts are the ones during the halves, because when games are televised, the refs and teams have to allow for the stations to play commercials. The game was part of a holiday tournament, so we arrived pretty early in case the game before ours, LaSalle vs. Stony Brook, ended early or late. We were placed in a holding area before we could bring our stuff “backstage,” which was across the court, so we stretched out before we took the court. One final coat of lipstick and we were led to where we would be sitting for the game- right next to our bench under the basket. We were not just fans; we were part of the game.
Sitting on the sidelines was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The lights were so bright, and to see us on the huge screen above the court (during the moments I was able to look up) was incredible. While nothing compares to being on our home court here at Rose Hill, MSG has this unique energy and aura all in itself, and we were able to feed off that energy during our performance. I could now say that I had performed at the same arena where One Direction, Jason Aldean, and Eminem have all played shows. I danced on the same court as the Knicks City Dancers!