Ramapo HS Dance Club Waltzes Into The Arena, Asks Recognition As Sport

WYCKOFF, NJ — Ramapo High School freshman Ava Armando has been dancing since she was 5 years old, and she doesn't intend to let a varsity letter jacket stop her now.

Armando is the star student behind the Ramapo Competive Dance Club, the new school club she founded in November and now wants recognized as an official sport.

Coach Rachel Marsanico, a former member of the nationally ranked Sacred Heart University Division 1 Dance Team, also means to get the dance club the recognition it deserves.

"It’s about building a legacy," said Marsanico . "It’s about putting dance on the map and respected as varsity sport."

Marsanico told Patch it was fate — or a Ramapo mom in her pilates class — that sent word of the newly formed club just as she'd began telling friends how much she missed dance.

"I knew I wanted to pioneer this program and help give back to the dance community that has given me so much. It made me the person I am today," Marsanico said. "I reached out to our amazing (parent advisors), and the rest is history."

The Ramapo dance club's history begins in March, when Armando saw a fellow student wearing a varsity letter jacket, and an idea sparked.

She'd been struggling with the choice to either focus on her passion, dancing, or join a high school sport and run track.

But if there was an official dance club at Ramapo, perhaps Armando could have her varsity jacket and wear it too.

The determined dancer and fellow Ramapo student Alexis Lynch discussed this with their moms in March 2022, and soon that idea was put into action.

Armando and Lynch successfully presented the idea to Ramapo High School Athletics Director Mike Mancino, who asked for a proposal to submit to the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional Board of Education.

The club was approved on Nov. 14 and that month the Ramapo Competitive Dance Club held its first practice.

The girls' moms volunteered as club advisors when no staff member showed interest in the role, Ava's mom Arlene Armando said.

Then a stroke of luck led another mom to Marsanico, who was passionate enough about dance and the new club to volunteer her time.

Once Marsanico was approved to lead the club (along with dancer and choreographer Molly Davison), all those interested in the club rallied together to cover the costs of competition fees, jackets and costumes.

Since November, the 10-member Ramapo Dance Club has participated in five competitions, including high school and college invitationals, and a regional contest.

And they've already snagged a second place prize for varsity jazz:

• West Milford Invitational – 2nd Place
• Ramapo College Annual Invitational – 4th Place
• MSDT Dance Competition – 3rd Place
• Dance Team Union Regional (DTU) – 4th Place
• Sweetheart Invitational – 6th Place

The girls' ultimate goal is to receive official recognition as a sport, which will allow them to join the school's athletic program.

That will mean a budget to pay coaches, transport kids to and from events, and get support from boosters, the Arlene Armando said. A proposal has been submitted to the school board.

The proud mom also noted for Ava, it would mean earning that varsity letter at the end of the season.

Marsanico, however, is just happy she gets to teach girls what she knows about dance.

"Coaching these beautiful and talented girls means everything," Marsanico said. "It started as a way for me to get back into dance, and I soon realized it was much bigger than that."