BY: CHERYL HO
“DHCollective is Dance Horizons’ audition-based performance team centered around both Hip-Hop and Contemporary styles of dance”.
Even as a to-be co-captain of DHCollective last year, I found this description to be so intimidating. What does “audition-based performance team” imply? Extreme pressure? Judgemental members? However, I was quickly reassured that DHCollective is definitely neither of those.
DHCollective started out as an audition-based contemporary team in 2018 led by my lovely and incredibly talented co-captain, Sophia. After seeing the caliber of skill shown in their choreography, I was so overwhelmed with the pressure of living up to those expectations when Sophia asked me to join her to bring back the cross-genre days of DH’s previous performance team, DHX. Being a co-captain of DHC at that time, I was so afraid of losing the warmth and unconditional support that was so prominent in the environment of our open level teams; I expected the worst of attitudes entering DHCollective and definitely experienced the opposite.
DHCollective, at 27 members, was definitely smaller than DHC. Although you don’t get to meet as many new faces, it makes it a lot easier to get to know every member on a more personal level, especially the 13-14 members on your division. At first I was scared that my team wouldn’t get along; since the auditions are really only about dancing, you really don’t know anything about the personalities of your members. However, I can confidently say that I’ve met some of the humblest, most kind-hearted individuals on DHCollective. After all, no one auditions to be on this team to criticize others; we’re all here to grow as dancers and learn from each other. My members never failed to brighten my long days of back-to-back lectures; they know very well that I often took way too long to do opening announcements and often went off-topic (sorry friends!), but I think that in itself shows how much I enjoyed being in the company of my team members.
Being a member of DHCollective was also incredibly inspiring and motivating. Being on a team of such talented dancers was a huge honour and I was so lucky to dance with and even choreograph with some of my biggest inspirations. Although DHCollective had so many talented dancers, the level of talent never translated into judgement or criticism; I know a lot of people are afraid of the pressures of being on an “audition-based” team, but in my experience, this team was the safest space for me to practice and experiment with my choreography and I’m forever grateful for such a supportive environment where I could comfortably ask for feedback.
Since DHCollective is a two term commitment, you get the amazing opportunity of training with the same faces for 6 months, which I find is incredibly fulfilling, especially as I go through old practice footage and see how much everyone has grown since the first practice. Obviously as a previous captain of this team, I have unconditional love for the members but I can assure you that I’m not completely biased when I say I’m so, so proud of and impressed by the progress they made in just six months and I’m incredibly heartbroken about the term ending early due to COVID-19.
Overall, I don’t regret a single moment spent with this team and will forever cherish how much my team has helped me grow in ways even beyond the dance world. Although I am sad to leave behind this beautiful experience, I have full trust in the new captains, Chessy, Isabelle and Kaitlyn, making DHCollective even bigger and better than it is and hope that DHCollective remains as the loving but inspiring family I was very lucky to be a part of.
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