Dance the night away
Nina Bommarito sometimes has drunk people attempt to dance with her at sporting events.
But none of them are ever able to keep up.
The Shelby Township senior has been dancing since she was 3 years old and has been a Chippette since she was a sophomore at CMU.
“Being in that environment is what it is all about,” Bommarito said. “I am so happy being surrounded by people so happy to be there because it’s their choice to be there.”
The Chippettes are the university’s official dance team. They perform at every home football game, men’s and women’s basketball games and many community events.
The season generally lasts from late summer until March, but Bommarito said basketball season is the toughest time during the year.
“When basketball season comes, we have three games a week, plus our two practices so that becomes pretty hectic,” she said. “No one complains, but it’s a lot of time.”
Bommarito, a marketing major and member of CMU’s American Marketing Association, is taking 18 credit hours as well as organizing campus events.
“When I wake up, I’m busy,” she said. “I don’t stay home. I always just go — I have so much to do.”
Rachel Hawraney, Canton senior and captain of the dance team, also is involved in the marketing organization.
Hawraney described her friend as a hard worker with a permanent burst of energy.
“She’s so dedicated,” Hawraney said. “She is the only one on the team that is always doing it to the fullest and best of her abilities.”
Amy Decker, Chippettes’ coach and intercollegiate athletics director, said Bommarito single-handedly came up with all of the choreography for a competition the team placed well at.
“It was pretty much because of Nina — and she wasn’t even a captain or a senior,” Decker said.
The team practices twice a week from 8 to 10:30 p.m. in Rose Arena. At least once a week, the dancers learn new routines and choreography.
This week, The Chippettes focused on preparing for Thursday’s football game against Bowling Green University and for a dance clinic the team is hosting from
9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday in the Indoor Activity Center.
The clinic, which is expected to draw between 50 and 200 girls, is designed to give high school and middle school teams original choreography to utilize.
The Chippettes have been learning six different dances, choreographed especially for the clinic, since the middle of the summer.
Despite her busy schedule, Bommarito said the dance team is her “stress relief.”
“It’s a good place to go if you had a hard week. You just forget about everything else and you just get to dance with your friends,” Bommarito said. “I have made a lot of friends that I know will be friends for life. We’re like our own little sorority.”
