If you have ever attended an event at Cabrini University, you have seen the Cabrini dance team in action. Whether they are performing at a basketball game, pep-rally or at a Phillies game, the Cabrini dance team brings energy and excitement to every crowd with every move they make.
Co-captains Marlena Prisco and Alexis Johnson have been dancing their whole lives. They take serious pride in their team and have a passion for dance.
“I’ve been dancing since I was two years old,” sophomore early childhood and special education double major Marlena Prisco said.
Alexis Johnson, junior black studies major, has also spent most of her life dancing.
“I grew up dancing around the house with my sister, but I started taking lessons when I was 12 years old,” Johnson said.
On Jan. 24, 2018, the Cabrini dance team performed their biggest show to date. The team performed the halftime show at the Philadelphia 76ers basketball game.
“The place [Wells Fargo Center] was packed,” Johnson said. “There was just such an exciting atmosphere.”
The process began during the fall semester of 2017. After securing a date for the performance, the team sold $4,000 worth of tickets to secure the spot. By asking friends, family and Cabrini students, the dance team reached their goal and performed for thousands of people.
“It was a lot of emails, a lot of work, a lot of time, but it was definitely worth it,” Prisco said.
The team has taken a year off from competing but plans to travel for competitions in the future.
“Next year, we’re looking to compete in Florida,” Prisco said. “There’s a collegiate competition for Division I, Division II and Division III schools that we would compete in.”
A typical dance team choreography process usually begins with new music.
“The music is all about hyping up the crowd,” Johnson said. “Getting the crowd hyped is so exciting for us, as the dance team and for basketball team, because it’s their game.”
“We usually pick [the song] as a team,” Prisco said. “Asking the team what songs they like the best, it’s always a team effort.”
After choosing a song, or mixing a few together, the captains work the moves to the music, but you never know where or when inspiration will strike.
“I’ll get an idea for choreography at odd times, usually when I’m about to go to sleep,” Johnson said. “I’ll listen to a new song and think, ‘This move would look cool here,’ putting the ideas into action.”
After the recent tryout, the group welcomed new and excited dancers to the team. The team encourages and embraces dancers from different backgrounds and trainings to express their talent through dance.
“We all come from different forms of training. We definitely don’t discourage people to stray away from the team just because they might not have the same training as everyone else,” Prisco said. “We look for the potential in everyone and help everyone grow as dancers.”
Jackie Marciano, the director for alumni engagement and development at Cabrini University, is the dance team’s staff adviser.
“As a freshman [at Cabrini] in 2006, I earned a spot on the Cabrini Dance Team and at the end of my sophomore year, I was appointed captain,” Marciano said. “I quickly realized my passion to be a leader and over the next two years, I worked closely with Dr. Michelle Filling-Brown to develop the team.”
Marciano has worked closely with the team since 2010, volunteering as head coach assisting with choreography, fundraising, ordering costumes and providing a support system for the team. She officially became the staff adviser at the beginning of the 2017 fall semester.
“As a former student, alum and now staff member, I am able to give the team a broader view of how to manage items that come up and I can explain to them why certain things are the way they are,” Marciano said.
Like any other sport, these athletes use dance to express themselves and put their talents on display for others to see.
“Dance has always been an outlet to help me get through whatever I was going through at the time,” Prisco said. “No matter if I was stressed about a test or something, as long as I could get into the studio, I always felt better about what going on.”
“My parents were dancers, so it feels like something I was born to do,” Jonhson said. “Dance is a passion of mine and something I can always go back to because it always makes me feel better. It’s magical.”
