Red Rhythm is dancing into the new school year with practices returning to the way they were before COVID-19.

“We had a lot more going on last year’s practices,” assistant director Sarah Cudungug said. “We had to take temperatures at the beginning of every week and fill out COVID forms. We tried to keep everybody separated and dance like 10 feet apart. This year, we are allowed to be fully back inside. We’ve been using our dance studio a lot more, we’re allowed to use the locker rooms again, and we don’t have to take temperature checks or do COVID forms anymore.”

The team has been able to bring back many different traditions they were unable to do last year.

“One of the big things we had to take away last year to avoid covid cases was our kick line,” First Lieutenant Sophia Reeves said. “We are excited to get back into kicking this year since it is safe to do and it is one of the team’s favorite traditions. We also are doing a lot more team building activities again like our section sleepovers and partner games.”

But this doesn’t mean Red Rhythm has abandoned all measures to keep members safe this year.

“Some things that we began doing during COVID that have carried through into this year is extra sanitizing our team areas,” Social President Gabby Stiles said via text. “This includes frequent cleaning of our locker room, studio, and any items used often such as pens.”

Many members such as senior Gabi Goody are excited to see practices return to the way they once were.

“I really like practice going back to the way it was before covid,” Goody said. “It’s easier to learn when we are closer together, and the team is a lot closer since we can do more bonding activities. I do understand the concern of things being ‘back to normal’ since the pandemic is not over however I do enjoy the practices closer together and without masks and I trust that my teammates are responsible to quarantine in any sort of case.”