Junior Rush Hughes lifts first year Alexandra Gatewood during a Mustang Mavericks information session. Mustang Mavericks is a new country western dance group. (Jordan Chlapecka)
The Mustang Mavericks, a developing country western dance team, held informational sessions Monday and Tuesday night in Classroom No. 2 at the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports.
Freshmen Haley Gatewood, Ali Gatewood, Aaron Rose and Phillip Hughes are the four officers and founders.
Auditions for the Mustang Mavericks will be held on April 25. No prior experience is required.
Professional and experienced dancers will be at five clinics before the audition date to help teach prospective members the appropriate steps and stunts. These clinics are entirely optional but the officers encourage people to come.
“The goal is to get people to make it onto the team,” Hughes said.
Hughes and Rose, who participated in similar teams in high school, formed the idea for a country western dance team and are basing their idea on the Texas A&M Wranglers.
“But our goal is to be better than the A&M Wranglers,” Haley Gatewood said.
Hughes explained that they wanted to form the team to “instill more spirit at SMU.” They ultimately want to perform as a team for the school and have already been asked to perform on the Boulevard before football games, as well as in the Homecoming Parade.
“One of our future goals is to perform at the opening of the President Bush Library,” Ali Gatewood said. “Assuming it opens during our time at SMU.”
Rose spoke of all of the advantages of being on the team and said that he uses his skills everywhere he can, including with his girlfriend.
“It’s one of the ways I got her,” Rose said, “I just pulled some moves.”
But he has high expectations for the team; within a few years he hopes they have a good reputation and go far.
In order to form a serious and skilled team, the officers stated that this team would require a lot of time commitment – it’s a team, not a club. There will be three or four practices a week, and people should commit to a whole year when auditioning.
Other positions are available for students who do not make the team as a dancer. The officers encourage students with any other special skills to join as an outside officer and lend their talents to the team.
“This is something I want people to be proud of,” Rose said, “something that is worthwhile.”
