They came. They danced. They conquered.
After finishing in second place last year, Delta Gamma, partnered with Kappa Sigma and Alpha Gamma Omega, took the Songfest crown as well as the Greek Week title on Monday night at the Coors Events Center.
“[It feels] amazing,” said Rebecca Irwin, Delta Gamma sorority sister and 20-year-old sophomore communication and journalism major. “Winning both [titles] together, I can’t put it into words. We worked so hard with our sisters, it’s so good to see it pay off.”
Songfest is the final event in CU’s Greek Week activities where the sororities and fraternities are randomly partnered to create choreography to a song medley, said Director of Public Relations for Panhellenic Lindsay Braun.
Following Greek Week’s “Party in the U.S.A.” theme, each dance routine needed to represent a different state, Braun said. Each partnership, Braun said, was randomly assigned to incorporate one of the following states in their dance: New York, Illinois, Florida, Colorado, Hawaii, Tennessee, Texas and Missouri.
Delta Gamma, Kappa Sigma and Alpha Gamma Omega’s winning combination embraced New York’s many dance styles ranging from the Brooklyn street hip hop to the Rockettes. They won the crowd over with crisp timing and advanced tricks.
The groups divided their 15-minute choreography into skill levels, Braun said.
“They break it down in beginner, intermediate and advanced dances within the big dance routine,” Braun said.
The five judges based their decision on overall execution, theme, originality, costume and choreography, Braun said. The five judges were CU cheer and dance coach Liz Harris, Associate Vice Chancellor Deb Coffin, Assistant Dean of Students Gardiner Tucker, Sergeant Jim Byfield of the CU Hill police team and Athletic Director Mike Bohn, Braun said.
Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Epsilon and FIJI finished in second and Kappa Alpha Theta, Sigma Pi and Alpha Episilon Pi took third.
Even students uninvolved in Greek Life attended the event.
“We came out to support our friends in the sororities,” said Megan Schertz, a 19-year-old freshman pre-journalism major. “It’s really fun to watch.”
The talent impressed Melissa Nichols, a 19-year-old freshman civil engineering major.
“They were all very good,” Nichols said. “I liked watching the tumbling and the flyers.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Rose Heaphy at Josephine.heaphy@colorado.edu.
