EMPORIA — What has become a popular activity at many high schools and colleges has made its way to the Kansas Shrine Bowl in the form of an organized camp.   
The inaugural Shrine Dance Camp is being held this week at Emporia State University, one of several camps that bring together high school students to learn new routines, which they’ll perform them at the Shrine Bowl  football game on Saturday night at Welch Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:08.
“Dance teams have become a part of the football and basketball scene for the past several years”, Shrine Bowl executive director Drew Gaschler said. “By providing the camp, we’re making it possible for students to learn and practice new techniques, then perform them in front of a live audience.”
The dance camp will be one of three camps being held at ESU.  The others include the cheerleading camp and the band camp.  Eight students have signed up for the first-year dance camp, while over 100 students and sponsors will participate in the cheer camp, and 184 students will participate in the All-State Masonic Band.  
The dance camp will be led by Megan Van Anne, the dance team coach at Emporia State, aptly called the ESU Stingers (Emporia State’s nickname is the Hornets).  
“We’ll be teaching them short routines that can be performed on the sidelines”, she said. “We’ll be stressing basic fundamentals, such as kicks, leaps, and jumps.”
Van Anne said she is happy that the Shrine Bowl has added the dance camp to this year’s opportunities for high school students.
“Dance in general is more in the public eye, and has become very popular at games”, she said.  “It’s great that the Shrine Bowl has expanded to include dance, pulling in more students to be part of the Shrine Bowl activities.  We’re honored to be the first ones to conduct this new opportunity.”
The cheer camp will be conducted by the ESU cheerleading coach, Angela Blaufuss-Nunley. The Band Camp will be conducted by Nathan Gay, Director of Bands at ESU, and the ESU band staff.
The dance and cheer camps open today.