A crowd of grey-clad students reaches out, grasping at the air, and kneel down as the music coalesces around a single violin note. They collapse to the floor in perfect unison, with one dancer looping through movements like a broken record. This isn’t a thriller movie: it’s the Varsity Blues Dance team performing “In Memory Of”, a routine that earned them the top score at the View Dance Challenge in March and secured their title as the top team of 2024.
After coming out on top in three separate competitions, the co-captains of the 2024 Blues Dance team spoke with The Varsity about their teamwork across different styles, preparing for a busy competition month, and their upcoming projects and performances to watch.
Cue the training montage
The Blues Dance Team dominated the university scene in 2023, winning top team awards in all three dance competitions they entered — a first for U of T.
Co-captain Marium Rizvi, a fourth-year management specialist, told The Varsity that as the team entered the 2024 season, they focused on ensuring their past success didn’t affect their work ethic or approach to other teams.
“We want to be remembered as good people first, good dancers second,” said Sara Da Silva — team co-captain and a fourth-year student studying neuroscience and immunology.
The Blues kicked off 2024 with a January 25 showcase at Hart House titled “Sonder.” According to Rizvi, the performance provided them a platform to work through any nerves before the competition season. She also emphasized that the showcase helped them “feel the community around the team” — from the crew members who assisted with lighting and sound to the students, family members, and alumni who attended the performance.
In preparation for the competition season, the dancers prepared over 40 routines. Team members — typically those who have been on the team for at least one year — choreograph each piece, with styles ranging from contemporary to hip-hop to jazz.
Step up
The Blues dominated the competition, winning the top team award at the University Dance Challenge hosted by Terpsichore Canada on March 9–10. The following weekend, at the Be U: Varsity Challenge by Be Dance Competition, the Blues outshone 20 other teams to become the first team to win the title two years in a row. The team won the top team award at the View Dance Challenge on March 23–24, capping off the season.
Performances ranged from solos to groups of more than 25 dancers. Both Rizvi and Da Silva told The Varsity that the line performances — those featuring more than 16 dancers — were among their highest-scoring routines and the ones they were most proud of.
“The fact that you can have 35 people holding hands before you walk on stage and all thinking of the same common goal and working together is such a special feeling,” said Da Silva.
The competition season also featured fun moments, including handstand and lip-syncing competitions. At the end of the day, a drag queen performance during the Be U competition stole the show. “That was the time of our lives,” said Rizvi.
Star power
The team documented their competition season highlights on Instagram and TikTok, using money they won in their 2023 competitions to fund a professional-quality photo shoot with freelance photographer Taylor Nkiruka. Rizvi noted that these photographs boost the team’s visibility and provide members with material to advance their individual dance careers.
In July, the Blues dance team launched a photo series called “Nutrients in Colour.” Team member Genevieve Picache — a third-year studying physiology and human biology — collaborated with Professor Kenneth Yip from the Department of Cells & Systems Biology to create the series, which highlights various cancer-preventing nutrients. Rizvi explained that they connected Picache with other team members who posed with foods containing these nutrients, adding a creative angle to public health outreach.
The team has also collaborated with Best Buddies Canada to offer accessible dance classes to people with and without disabilities. “That was a very meaningful collaboration — to be able to provide something that we love so much, to be able to share it with people,” said Rizvi.
You can watch the Blues Dance Team perform at basketball games throughout the fall season or at their showcase in January 2025. Details about the showcase will be posted on their Instagram as the date approaches.
