Through performance and teaching, the Syrens Dance Director defines her devotion to dance

“I think dance is not only a passion, but a way of life. If you can’t think of your life without it, you are a dancer.”

Kim Roudebush not only lives out her definition of a dancer but as Director for the Syrens Dance Team, she works to help other dancers move forward in their own dance journeys. The Syrens cheer on the GDFL’s Indianapolis Tornados minor league football team, and recently we featured some photos of the squad and an interview with Assistant Director/Syren Jess. Now, UltimateCheerleaders learns about Kim and her busy life on and off the field, and as a dance instructor, maybe she will nudge some of the guys into learning that dance can be beneficial to our lives as well.

An Indianapolis native, Kim’s dance life started early. “I have always loved performing, from a very young age,” Kim explains. “I think my very first performance was a group tap number in the middle of the mall at about age seven. After that, I danced most of my childhood and all through high school. I was the dance captain of our high school dance team, choreographed for our local middle school, as well as dances for my high school. I was also a part of the Hip Street Rhythm Company and our high school competition dance team choreographed by Dance Magic.”

After graduation, the love of dance took Kim to Columbia, Missouri. “After high school I auditioned for the dance program at Stephens College and became a dance major,” Kim recalls. “This consisted mainly of Ballet, Modern, Musical Theatre, Acting, Pilates, and ethnic dances such as West African and Flamenco.”

After college, Kim’s career path did not include dance, but she continued to include dance in her life, which connected her eventually to the Syrens. “After college I took modern, hip hop, ballet, and jazz,” Kim remembers. “I was dancing with a local modern dance group and a good friend of mine was a Syren at the time. She reached out to me and asked if I would like to be the Director. Although I had never been a cheerleader, I am always up for a challenge and to work on new types of dancing style. This was more like NBA meets NFL, and it is more dance than cheer. I had experience with choreography and directing in high school and college, so that came easy for me.”

“This is my third year as Director, and because this is a volunteer national league, we do provide a more flexible schedule to the dancers than NFL or NBA,” Kim continues. “However, we still have two nights of practice each week and we arrive three hours early to every game, for practice and preparation. I had thought about being either a Colts Cheerleader or Pacemate, but you need to be able to commit to their schedule and it is a lot more dedicated than ours. I give all pro cheerleaders a round of applause for their level of dedication.”

But Kim is very dedicated to the Syrens and puts considerable time and effort into the squad. Asked about her motivation to do so, Kim answers, “My first motivation comes from the love of dance. My second motivation comes from helping other dancers develop their skills. It is great to see someone start at level one and end up at level three by the end of the season. My goal is to prep them for the demands of pro level.”

Being Syrens Director involves diverse tasks. “Besides choreography and directing,” Kim explains, “there are a lot of other pieces to the puzzle, like coordination of sponsors, philanthropy, marketing, rehearsal space, uniforms, and mixing and cutting of music.” Asked about when she plans out choreography, Kim says, “I am usually thinking up choreography at home or in the studio. I will usually find myself sparked with creativity over a specific song.”

So as the Syrens have increased their visibility throughout Indianapolis over the past few years, what does Kim envision for the future of the squad? “Each year I have been here, my goal was to top the previous year, and so far that has come true,” Kim replies. “My goal is to increase the number of events in addition to the games. Our team has already had great success since last year. We were nominated as the 2012 GDFL Championship cheerleaders representing the entire national league at the championship game in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. We would love that opportunity again. We have performed at Indiana Fever games at half-time and will be performing pre-game on September 13th. We are also performing and teaching the warm-up at opening ceremony for the Indianapolis Heart Walk on September 14th, and a mini dance clinic for kids at Indy Family Fest on October 19th.”

And not only is Kim Director, Kim is a Syren herself, performing on the sidelines. “I love to perform with the team,” Kim says, who is also a Colts, Pacers, and Reds fan. “They make me so proud. What keeps me dancing is the love of dance, our fans, and our team, the Indianapolis Tornados.”

Being both a Syren and the Syrens Director is in addition to Kim’s busy day job. “I work for a national independent adjusting firm out of Knoxville as a Recruiter and Marketing Representative,” Kim says. “I have been with the company for a little over two years now, and absolutely love it! I have been in the insurance industry now for about eight years. I do travel some, so it is great having a wonderful Assistant Director like Jess to take over practice when I need her to. The best part about my job is I get to work from home.”

In addition to her career and the Syrens, Kim says, “I enjoy spending time with my rescue beagle Annie Belle and spending time with my family. Dance would be my main hobby but I also enjoy working out.”

As far as getting away from home, Kim says her favorite vacation destination and dream locales are, “I would say Roatan, Honduras was one of the most interesting places I have ever been. I think Bora Bora would be my next choice for a vacation.”

But no matter where she is or what she is doing, dance is part of the equation. “I think dance is not only a passion but a way of life,” Kim says. “If you can’t think of your life without it, you are a dancer. You are able to express yourself without words, and tell a story through movement. It is the ultimate rush to go out on that stage, field, or court and be able to do what you love to do as well as connect with the audience.”

Kim has also taught ballroom dancing at Arthur Murray. So Kim, is it a good idea for men to learn some dancing skills, and how do you help self-conscious guys to get the most out of their dance potential? “There is nothing more attractive than a man that knows how to dance, or a man that has enough courage to at least get out there and try,” Kim answers. “What I did when teaching the guys is find out what sport or hobbies they were into and then relate the dance moves to something to do with that sport or hobby.”

So, it seems as if both the Tornados and their Syrens are looking to increase their performance level every season. This past weekend, the Tornados easily won a spot in the GDFL final four, and look to win the title in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Kim also has the Syrens trajectory moving in the same direction. Maybe in a couple weeks, both the Tornados and the Syrens will be dancing. Dancing in the streets, celebrating a GDFL championship that is!

We thank Kim for sharing her experiences with UltimateCheerleaders, and wish her continued dance throughout whatever experiences come next!