A mix of music can be heard coming from the third floor karate room of Lee Hall. Step inside and the image of dancers is brought to life. A pivot on the right foot into a turn, the swinging of arms like a willow tree mixed with a body roll set to the pace of Usher’s song “No Limit.” The rush keeping these dancers going: adrenaline.

Adrenaline is the official team name for the new dance group on campus, which came about spontaneously after the members decided they wanted something to show what dancing is like. The group determined that dancing was a “burst of energy, something hype,” Jyeisha Reyes, the club treasurer said.

Palexenia Babb, the president and creator of the dance group, said the group came about during her junior year. She said she had been dancing since the age of four, beginning with ballet, but had danced much less in college. It was during her junior year at Oswego State that she decided she would create a team of her own and that she would also provide the choreography for it.

Fast-forward to this semester and Babb, now a senior, said she is hoping to get the club off the ground and make people more aware of it. This includes finding someone to choreograph the team’s routines.

“I know time is ticking, but hopefully by next semester we can find someone,” Babb said.

One of the biggest challenges Adrenaline has faced and slightly overcame, is trying to get a diverse group of people involved, Reyes said.

However, Reyes said because she and Babb know a lot of different people between them, they have been using that as one way to reach out to students to get them to join. Reyes and Babb also agreed that joining their group is really easy. They welcome anyone and everyone who loves to dance.

Babb said that allowing anyone to dance in their group opens them up to a diverse population of students. It also helps assert their model of “dance like no one is watching,” something they take literally. Babb explained that during the team’s practices, she wants people to just have fun and let loose.

“For me this is kind of like a relaxing moment [to] get away from school, because I enjoy doing this, so I would hope I pass that energy and enjoyment to the people who come, the students that come and dance,” Babb said.

This was seen a lot during their practice. There were pauses that lead into teaching moments. There are laughs after mistakes. There was a sense of family, which Babb said she was not expecting to come from the creation of    the group.

Another aspect that Babb and Reyes said works to their advantage is that they are a competitive dance team, setting them aside from other dance groups like Del Sarte. 

Babb stressed that while they are a competitive dance club, if someone joins it does not mean they need to compete. Babb said the club was formed to get people dancing and to do something they enjoy, not just to compete. This meant that if someone wanted to show up to the practices, but not perform with the team, they could. The other plus was that when they do perform, they wear masks, so way even if someone made a mistake no one would know Babb said. She called it a confidence booster.

The biggest challenge for the team comes from sharing the practice space, Babb said. On Tuesdays the team has to practice in the Lee Hall karate studio and it does not have a mirror. Babb said this is one difficulty, because while a wooden floor makes practice easier, it is harder to teach moves without a mirror. The other half comes from sharing space with Del Sarte, who is often in the studio next door on Tuesday nights. Babb said one way they are looking to fix this is by changing the time in which they practice to hopefully allow them more opportunities to get students involved as well as reserving the dance studio before Del Sarte has their practice.

For one member, Victoria Kammer, she said biggest reasons she would tell people to join is because the atmosphere in the club is very welcoming and the members have the opportunity to learn from each other.

“You get to meet so many new people and I feel like that’s something really unique about this,” Kammer said. “There’s a lot of seniors and a lot freshmen, there’s not too many people in the middle, so I feel like we are creating such a good relationship and we’re learning from the seniors so much, not just about dance, but life in general.”

The team practices Tuesday nights from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m., Thursdays from 8 to 9 p.m. and then on Sundays from 2 to 3 p.m.