We were lucky to catch up with Golden Owls Dance Team recently and have shared our conversation below.

Golden Owls, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk that we had to encounter as a dance team is simply starting it. As the founder of Golden Owls, it’s typically hard to start dance teams or dance companies because trying to get people to join when you’re not established or “known” makes it harder for people to stay in the beginning. I had a vision of a classy, yet hard-hitting dance team that is versatile in all aspects at Kennesaw State University. When I realized that Kennesaw State would be the school that I would attend for high education, I knew that I wanted to create a dance team. When first starting Golden Owls Dance Team, we had a lot of people that were able to see the bigger picture, so essentially they crop themselves out not knowing how much bigger we will get. Taking the risk of starting this dance team was also complicated mentally. Bringing a majorette-based styled dance team to a Predominately White Institution isn’t welcomed the majority of the time because nine times out of ten, the school wants to keep its tradition of color guards and baton twirlers. Also, some people that attend or graduated from a Historically Black College or University believe that this style should stay locked in at those colleges. However, with Golden Owls, we make sure that all members are taught the knowledge of where majorette dance derives from and we also acknowledge that these HBCUs have paved the way for this style of dance. Another risk that came our way is funding and support. From experience in the dance world costumes and practice attire isn’t cheap at all. Appearances and the way I want our team to carry ourselves is such a prestigious look, so it cost to make sure we all have the same hair, custom costumes, warm-ups, etc. So far, after taking the risk of starting the Golden Owls Dance Team, I can truly say the outcome has been amazing. We were able to participate in a lot of on-campus events as well as some freelance opportunities.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Golden Owls is an organization that doesn’t just consist of training (dance technique), practicing, and living in the studio. Golden Owls would form lifelong connections with girls from different backgrounds and interests. The difference between Golden Owls and some of the other organizations is we don’t want to develop an acquaintance or co-worker mentality we want to form long-lasting sisterhoods and friendships. Many times Dance Organizations tend to focus on just one style of dance and only perform in one style. However, we are a majorette dance team that also specializes in Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Ballet, and many other genres. We are a dance team that originated at Kennesaw State University founded in 2019 by our captain and coach Autumn Bryant. We currently dance at home football games during the Fall semester and events/showcases/competitions during the Spring semester. We believe that our image and style sets us apart from others. We take pride in making sure that every time someone sees us we always give them something new to look forward to, whether it’s new dance routines, uniforms, hair, makeup, etc. A big part of being a dancer is making sure that your audience is engaged and entertained with the performance that you put on.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is that we get to see a vision come to life in the form of art. Not only does our vision impact us but it also impacts those around us, and can help influence those people to find potential in themselves and do great things in life. It makes me satisfied to know that I can positively impact others through my own creativity. The idea of even being able to create choreography is exciting and to see dancers execute the movements is even more rewarding.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience in the face of adversity. We all know that adversity doesn’t have a name attached to it. It can approach at anytime in life’s journey. There have been so many obstacles and there was a period in my life where everything seemed to go wrong. My grandmother passed, my family was falling apart, King (my dog) died. The only thing that kept me grounded was my passion for dance. Dance soothes the soul. Trusting the process that God put before me has humbled me and made me thankful for the gift he has given to me. I was still able to maintain a good gpa, attend KSU. I founded the Golden Owls Dance team. I am Still Standing and Dancing my way through life.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @goldenowlsdance
• Twitter: @goldenowlsdance
• Other: TikTok : @goldenowlsdanceteam

Image Credits
@guyxphoto