Why the Mt.A Dance Team did not perform at Homecoming on Sept. 20
For a second year, the Mt.A Dance Team was not featured in Mt.A’s annual fall homecoming football game, disappointing attendees. In an emailed statement to The Argosy, the University said the halftime event was meant to “welcome back [to] more than 40 members from the 1991 Vanier Cup era of our football program to mark the 35th anniversary of their historic championship season.” Instead of performing at this year’s homecoming, the dance team will be performing on Saturday, Sept. 26, during the next football game.
During the homecoming football game, The Argosy asked students about the change. Mt.A student Lily-May Berriman said in an interview with The Argosy that although she does not have a strong opinion, that “it would be great for [the dance team] to be present and have our teams connected with each other.”
“I did like watching the Dance Team in first year,” Mt.A student Hannah Bethune told The Argosy. “The only thing I really look forward to is [their] halftime performance.”
Disappointment was a frequent theme, with fourth-year Mt.A student Flinn Cleary saying that he was “pretty disappointed” because the dance is “something I look forward to every year, and I think it’s just another excuse to have Mt.A promote their male-dominated sports.”
As reported by The Argosy, last year, the Dance Team was only informed of their halftime performance omission after alumni speeches began on the field. In response, the University said at the time it would “work hard to understand where this went wrong and to ensure something like this does not happen again.”
This year, the University said that it was not able to incorporate both programs “due to AUS broadcast timing restrictions.” Adding that they “look forward to continuing to host a variety of performers,” such as the Dance Team in future years. The University said it would “continue to review the halftime programming for Homecoming on an annual basis.”
The alumni group that is being welcomed back was one of two Mounties Football teams that played in a Vanier Cup final. The Vanier Cup is a trophy awarded to the champion Canadian football team in U-Sports, and is decided by a game called the Vanier Cup final, in which Mt.A was runner-up in both 1991 and previously in 1984. The group of 40 returning alumni made it to the Vanier Cup final in 1991, an accomplishment not seen since. This welcome back commenced in the appointed halftime slot of the football game, a time that had been previously granted to the dance team for one of their halftime performances.
With no homecoming halftime performance from the Dance Team this year, it does not mean people do not have the opportunity to see a halftime performance. The Dance Team told The Argosy its members are “excited and can’t wait to see everyone” at their upcoming football halftime performance on Sept. 26 at Alumni Field. Follow them Instagram @mta.dance to stay posted on any future halftime performances.