The Vikettes are a group of Berry college students, first formed in 1974, who dance at sports events, such as football games, basketball games and halftime shows. The team has also performed on Mountain Day, and their mission is to promote school spirit and bring people together through the art of dance. 

“We love to dance,” senior Edem Etsu, co-captain and vice president of the Vikettes said. “[And] we love to bring our love of dance and performance to Berry College at different athletic events.”  

The Vikettes practice three days a week, typically from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Cage Center. When preparing for games, they practice in Valhalla, rehearsing stands and formations. The team holds auditions for who will participate in performances on a weekly basis. On Saturday mornings before games, the team will wake up and practice from around 6:00 to 7:00 a.m. 

“We’re practicing dances, stretching and practicing new things that we want to do,” Senior Lucy Oshirak, member and social media manager of the Vikettes said. 

The Vikettes do several exercises to prepare for upcoming games, with a focus on cardio. A typical practice for the team involves doing basic workouts including, moving, such as running laps, as well as stretching. After that, they go over the dances that they will perform and then practice and fine-tune the choreography. The team has a very positive dynamic. 

“We do take [our work] seriously, of course,” Senior Sydney Lane, captain and president of the Vikettes said. “But it’s very lighthearted, supportive, and lots of jokes are said on the field.” 

While the Vikettes are generally a student-run organization, they do have a faculty advisor: Whitney Adams, an assistant professor of English, rhetorics, and writing. She attended Berry, graduating from their Master of Business Administration program, and also has experience as a dancer. Adams doesn’t actively coach but she will occasionally come to practices and give the Vikettes advice on how to achieve clean dances. Her own experience as a former dancer is very helpful in this regard. Adams mainly does behind the scenes work, such as facilitating meetings between other organizations on campus.

 Certain members of the Vikettes have dual roles: their work on the field, and the administrative jobs that they do to make sure that their club is fully operational. This group is called the leadership team. The field positions range from stations such as captain to others such as lieutenant and sergeant. The administrative jobs require a great deal of focus and range from president to social media manager.

“I don’t like to think of [as] a president’s role,” Layne said. “It’s definitely being a line leader and leading by example.”

As social media manager of the Vikettes, Oshirak has many jobs, including posting videos of the team and creating profiles for new recruits. While it can be challenging, she enjoys her work both on and off the field. While being a part of the team can be a great outlet for self-expression, the schedule can be very grueling, according to Etsu. This can make it difficult for members to juggle their studies with their performances. The team has also occasionally had to work in the rain both in practice and during games. 

“We have a performance, rain or shine, so we better get used to it,” Layne said.  

The Vikettes have many members, each dedicated to their craft. Layne has been a member for three years, and captain for two. She has been dancing since she was three years old. Layne loves to be expressive when she dances, and sees it as a great vehicle to showcase her talent. She first learned about the team after watching the Vikettes perform at Rage at the Cage, an event during Viking Venture meant to welcome  freshman to Berry. While she wasn’t looking for a club at the time, she decided to audition her sophomore year with her roommate. She was accepted and has been a part of the team ever since. 

“I took a chance, and I’m glad I did,” Layne said. Oshirak originally considered cheerleading but instead opted to try out for the Vikettes. Etsu has a history when it comes to performing, having danced in middle school and done theater in high school. She first learned about the team from one of her close friends, who at the time was the team captain. After going to a couple of performances, she was hooked and decided to join. 

“For me, [being] a Vikette is about performing and dancing,” Etsu said. “And it’s just bringing something new and different to games.”

Etsu and Layne both run practices together. If one of them is out sick then the other steps in and runs it by themselves. The duoalso deal with finances and come up with ideas for fundrasing projects Layne and Etsu spearhead the choreography and song choices for the Vikettes. When preparing for their next performances, they’ll meet up and discuss the songs they should play, as well as what choreography they should implement. The theme of the games also influences their choices. At the team’s next big performance. they will perform using a Halloween song. 

“[Performing] just kind of consists of us deciding on a song that we think would be both appropriate and upbeat,” Layne said. “And then usually the process of editing songs is just taking it and deciding on a starting and stopping part.”