National co-ed dance squad announcement inspires young dance teams in West Michigan

WEST MICHIGAN - Following the news that the Washington Football Team will turn their cheerleading squad into a co-ed dance squad, dance teams in West Michigan are excited to imagine their future dance careers could be with the National Football League. 

According to ABC News, the Washington Football Team had announced last month that the cheerleader program was paused while it decided what direction the rebranding would take. Petra Pope, hired by the team as a senior adviser focused on creating game-day entertainment, said the goal is to create a "more modern franchise." 

The dance team at Kenowa Hills is already co-ed, and although senior Edward is the only boy on the team, he says there is nothing unusual about it.

“This dance team really welcomed me and that really had an impact on me, even through our season hasn’t been like a normal season because of COVID, I still am super grateful for all of the experience," he says. "My advice to everyone who’s watching and to the young guys who might want to pursue dance, just go for it, follow your dream, follow your heart.”

Dance team coach Aurora Lewis says the team has been able to do so much more in terms of dances and stunts with Edward on the team, and she hopes as news spreads about the Washington dance squad and the Kenowa Hills dance team, more boys will feel welcome and confident to join.

“What the Washington Football team is doing definitely fits into our concept of modern because its kind of reflective of us," says Lewis. “We can do bigger and better lifts we can do bigger and better tricks not to mention the audience just sees you come out with a guy and they’re immediately like 'wow this is awesome!'”

It's no surprise that Edward feels right at home with his team of girls, hearing how they all expressed having him on the team makes the collaborative dance experience even better. 

“I was on the team last year and it was all girls, and then we met Edward and he just brought a whole new life to our team and made our environment so much different and I think so much better because we got so many new experiences with him that a lot of us haven’t had in the past," said team member Brigette. 

“There is no set way of dancing anymore," said team member Jessie. "And we incorporate so many things into it, that everyone should just try it because there’s nothing that you can really lose.”

Related video: 

►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.

Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.