Smiles covered the faces of dancers and event attendees of all ages Saturday as the community was invited to participate in a dance routine with college students at the Ames Public Library.

The Stormettes Dance Line, an inclusive multicultural dance group at Iowa State made to bring students together through majorette dance styles, collaborated with the Ames Public Library to create a dance workshop open to the public.

At the event, dancers involved in the organization presented their passion and experience with dance by providing a background of the organization and showcasing dance routines for the audience to enjoy.

Audience members of all ages were then invited to participate in learning a routine based on majorette, which involves baton twirling and gymnastics dance styles.

Throughout the workshop, the dancers emphasized the importance of using dance to promote positivity and self-love.

“It’s about having that space of safety, happiness, positivity, love and everything that kind of embodies that,” said Laurna Evans Lindsay, Stormettes Dance Line president and sophomore in ​​human development and family studies. “We want to emphasize loving ourselves as well, that’s a strong thing that we try to put into the Stormette group. We are a group, yes, but we all have our individual personalities, we’re all different people.”

Performing and teaching dance in the community has provided the organization with the opportunity to not only spread positive messages and showcase their hard work, but to share the majorette dance style, as well.

“Community events like this not only help bring positivity into our own club,” Evans Linsday said. “It helps expose the style of majorette dancing and create a common ground for multicultural students. A lot of people don’t know what majorette-style dancing is. By sharing our knowledge and experience of it, people can have a new love and appreciation for not only the dance style, but what it means to have that dance style which helps build stronger relationships.”

For the Ames Public Library, hosting the Stormettes Dance Line was an opportunity to build on that connection and increase involvement and appreciation in the Ames community.

“This has been a terrific way to connect Iowa State students with the Ames Public Library,” said Susan Gent, communications engagement specialist at the Ames Public Library. “It’s a great opportunity to have kids and adults of all ages get to see their fun performances. They invite everyone to participate, so even if you’re not familiar with this style of dance, it’s still fun and accessible. Their message is extremely positive, and is a great thing to share.”

Participants do not have to be performers, and this is exactly what Evans Linsday wants individuals to get out of their experience with the organization.

“Even if you just enjoy dancing, because there are so many people that do just love to dance, being able to use dance as a form of expression is so important, whether that be for things you can’t say in words or you just need a way to express yourself through a kind of art,” Evans Lindsay said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that we want people to leave the room with; dance gives you new ways to express yourself and new ways to reflect to find a form of confidence for yourself.”

The Stormettes Dance Line frequently collaborate with other student organizations, are active with Monday Monologues on campus and are hopeful to continue their community involvement in future semesters.