Looking the Part, Being the Part

By Missy Baddin

I absolutely cannot wait for the Dance Fest team matches. I’m not excited to show off any new moves or anything; I just want to have fun and show off my new dress. This past winter break, I placed an order for the best thing a college ballroom girl could ever want: a new ballgown. It’s not super fancy with the rhinestones or anything, but it’s a good dress at the syllabus level. This might sound vain or obnoxious, but it’s true. To me, though, this dress means more than simply looking pretty, because this is my last semester on the team.

While I’m still technically a junior, I have enough credits to be considered a senior. I plan on graduating in December of this year, so I don’t have much time left to compete. Despite this, I still bought that nice dress, because I always want to know that I have a dress ready and available if I do decide to compete or go out dancing again.

When I first started competing, an upperclassman who I really looked up to had the most gorgeous gown and rhythm dresses. They were simply breathtaking. I wanted to be like her, always beautiful, tall (though that could never happen, since I’m one of the shortest people around), confident, and kicking butt on the dance floor. Before she graduated, she told me that she never felt like her dancing was good enough to be able to wear the dress, no matter how many times people complimented her. At the time, I called her crazy, but I think I can kind of understand her now. I also don’t feel like my dancing is at a level where people can look up to me, but once I got this dress, I realized I needed to step up my game; if I want to wear it, I need to become someone my team can be proud of.

With or without my new dress, I hope I can help my new teammates with the upcoming competition. Since it's most likely my last semester dancing in college, I want to help with hair, makeup, and costumes as much as upperclassmen helped me when I was a freshman. And of course I’m going to rock the team matches.