Betsy – Minnesota Swarm Performance Team
Minnesota Swarm Performance Team member Betsy is a natural performer.
She began studying Russian Classical Ballet at the age of 4.
In Russian Classical Ballet she explains the dancer perfects every single detailed movement before advancing. The main focus is on strength and endurance. It’s very precise and nit-picky, but it does develop muscles in a way that helps prevent injury. She says the training definitely helped her become a more disciplined and patient person.
Besides dance, her house was always full of music. Her mother was a band director, so she learned discipline early by studying piano, French horn and voice. She has also been lucky enough to act at Chanhassen Dinner Theaters and what is currently known as Stages theater. She continued dancing and singing through high school and then at Gustavus Adolphus College, where she majored in Political Science and with a minor in Japanese Studies. Betsy is half-Scandinavian and half-Japanese, and knows enough Japanese just enough to get by in Japan.
By her senior year of college Betsy decided to go to attend William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, and put her love of dance and performing on hold. She currently practices in a small firm in several different areas of law, and is constantly challenged at her job and staying busy running from depositions to arbitrations to the courtroom. She enjoy her days the most when she has several things to juggle at once.
She followed the Swarm Performance Team for a year before she tried out because she had a friend on the team. She had always wanted to be part of a professional dance team, but law school got in the way of that dream.
Since making the team, the reaction from the universal reaction form people has been “How do you have time?” And then, people are usually interested in learning more about the team. She has had no problem using my “friends and family” tickets when people have learned about how awesome the games are.
And while performing, whether it’s acting, singing or dancing, is Betsy’s favorite thing to do. She also enjoys cooking. She says most of the time the things she makes are good, so the her actual talent should be described as “exceptional at following directions.”
Most exciting for Betsy is her spring wedding in Costa Rica. Her fiancé Sam actually lived across the street during high school and they graduated together in the same class. Despite the proximity, they didn’t become friends until after high school. She is so thrilled to be marrying a guy who supports her, challenges her to keep growing, and makes her laugh. It also doesn’t hurt that they can simply walk across the street to celebrate holidays. They chose Costa Rica because they wanted to do something different, where people hadn’t all been to. They heard that there were a lot of exciting things to do, like zip-lining, rappelling, white-water rafting, and surfing. And Betsy asks, “Who doesn’t love a country where monkeys just walk around everywhere?”
