UK’s First Male Dance Team Member is WKYT Athlete of the Week

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - UK Dance Team heads to Nationals this weekend, and they have a different edge to them this year. That’s because, for the first time in program history, they have a male on the squad.

Jojo Edmonds, a Douglass alum, says dance has been his life passion. A freshman at UK, he’s even majoring in dance.

“With every serious bone in my body at seven year’s old I was like, dancing is something I really see myself doing,” Edmonds said.

Edmonds decided to try out for UK’s dance team after his senior year of high school, even though he had been accepted into performing arts schools. He didn’t get an automatic “yes”.

“When I went to my clinic, I didn’t get an automatic video bypass and it didn’t crush me, but it motivated me,” he explained.

While he was classically trained at a dance studio, Edmonds had never been on a dance team. In fact, he played football in high school.

Edmonds would make the UK dance team, becoming the first male to make the team.

“Being the first at anything is so motivating, but it has a whole lot of pressure behind it,” He said. “Being the first of anything in general, whether it’s a male dancer or the first, I don’t know, the first person to drive a car, you know what I mean? There’s a whole lot of pressure in it, but I remind myself every day that pressure makes diamonds.”

For the veterans on the squad, adding in a male dancer was an adjustment, but they say they’re happy to have him.

“I’m so proud of him just to see where he started this season and where he’s at now. You know, going from being a freshman, making history,” said Madelyn Trent, a junior on the team. “It’s a lot just coming in to college and then especially being on a team and then to be the first individual on a team is incredible, and he’s stepping up out on the nationals floor front and center and doing us so proud.”

Edmonds says he hopes to see more guys try out moving forward.

The dance team is set to compete at nationals Friday and Saturday in Orlando, Florida and the cheerleaders will hit the floor on Saturday and Sunday.

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