By Lindsay Bird
While perched on her front step, Erin Richardson in well-used dance attire clapped and smiled as she talked about dancing with the BYU Cougarettes.
?I love it,? said Richardson, a co-captain on the team. ?I love dancing and I love performing.?
Richardson began dancing at age three and hasn?t looked back since. Nearly two years later Richardson began practicing five days a week at her local dance studio preparing for junior dance team competitions.
?She works really hard,? said Jamie Waller, Richardson?s mother. ?She is a very dedicated dancer and she is a very talented dancer.?
Once she joined the drill team at Bingham High School in South Jordan, her talents and abilities to perform and lead others earned her the role of captain. Richardson also competed in solo competitions around the state while dancing for the Bingham Minorettes.
Smiling, Richardson explained how she went from a Minorette to a Cougarette.
Her dream of joining the elite dance team came true the spring before her freshman year at BYU. Richardson?s lifelong practice proved successful in her daylong audition for the Cougarettes. The audition included 100 hopefuls required to perform technique tests, quick-study hip-hop and jazz routines as well as have a personal interview. Her years of twirling, spinning, stretching and whirling paid off.
?I came to BYU to be a Cougarette,? she said. ?I got good grades and practiced hard to come here.?
Now in her third year as a Cougarette, Erin has performed in front of thousands of people on the football field, in concert halls as well as devotionals and firesides. As a captain of the team she runs practices and helps with choreography. They practice two to three hours a day with longer practices on Saturdays.
Religion plays a part in every Cougarette practice and Richardson immediately noticed a difference from her other dance teams during her first few days.
?Before each practice we recite a scripture and then we pray,? Richardson said. ?I really appreciate the spiritual aspect of it; it makes the team that much better.?
Though dance takes Richardson away from her family, her husband Troy and her schoolwork, she said it is worth the time and energy she puts into it because she has such a passion for dancing.
We become more than teammates, Richardson said we become a family.
?We are just like everyone else, we?re dorky and we have weird quirks,? Richardson said. ?My coach makes fun of me because I am always interested in the food, making sure that there are treats at practice.?
Though Erin is majoring in marriage, family, and human development, Richardson hopes to teach dance for the rest of her life. Her friends and family continue to support her all the way.
?Her dreams had finally come true when she became a Cougarette,? Waller said. ?We are incredibly proud of her.?