When their feet hit the mat and the crowd roared inside the United Supermarkets Arena Wednesday evening, two Texas Tech student organizations — Vitality Dance Company and Dancers with Soul — took to the dance floor with a mixture of precise choreography, big smiles and a rush of cheers echoing through the arena.
S.O. Sing features two main divisions for rankings: Greek life and student organizations. In the latter division of this year’s S.O. Sing, where four total student groups competed, Vitality Dance Company took home first place, and Dancers with Soul was a runner-up for second.
For Madeline Moss, a second-year pre-nursing major from Gilbert, Arizona, and member of Dancers with Soul, performing at the annual Homecoming event was not just about the tradition — it was also about simply getting up and dancing.
“S.O. Sing has always been one of our biggest events we look forward to every year,” Moss said. “We’re a hip-hop organization, so when we see anything involving dance, we hop on it.”
Moss said Dancers with Soul dedicated long hours rehearsing and practicing prior to the competition to make sure every foot placement and motion is as precise as possible.
“It is exhausting,” she said, laughing. “But everyone shows up because we all love it.”
Members of Beta Theta Phi perform at S.O. Sing at United Supermarkets Arena Oct. 8, 2025.
Makayla Perez
Despite being a returning performer, Moss admitted that preparation doesn’t get easier, but the roars of the surrounding audience always makes the hard work meaningful.
“The most challenging part is probably working on the same dance for months, always nitpicking and cleaning every rehearsal,” Moss said. “But it is all worth it when you hear the cheers of the crowd.”
Moss admitted performing in front of a large group of people was intimidating, especially going up against the Greek organizations, which are known for their strong presence at S.O. Sing.
“It is scary because Greek life is like the popular kids, and we’re not Greek life,” she said. “But stepping off the mat after putting everything out there felt so good, and hearing all the cheers was so worth it.”
Moss said she hopes Dancers with Soul’s performance at S.O. Sing will help give the organization more visibility and distinctiveness across campus.
JoJo Arce, a fourth-year creative media industries student from Dallas and performer with Vitality Dance Company, said the organization didn’t compete in S.O. Sing until last year, in which the group also took first place.
Arce said Vitality Dance Company’s choice to take part in the competition again this year was a no-brainer as they wanted to extend the winning streak.
“We’d never done S.O. Sing before last year. We are completely student-run, and we thought, ‘Why wouldn’t we do it? It’s a dance competition, and we are dancers,’” Arce said. “We won in the student org section last year, so we wanted to keep the streak going, and we did.”
A S.O. Sing performer sings during the homecoming event at United Supermarkets Arena.
Makayla Perez
Since Sept. 1, Vitality Dance Company has practiced every Sunday leading up to the event. After rehearsals, the group always took one extra hour to fine-tune choreography to be as perfect as possible, Arce said.
Arce said taking the time to sharpen even the smallest details is what contributed to the organization’s win.
“We only met once a week, so making everything look clean in that short amount of time was really tough,” Arce said. “But everyone in our org is super talented, and we pulled it off.”
Despite the initial intimidation in front of the crowds and other organizations, Arce said taking home first at the competition was rewarding in the end and well worth the stress.
“As a student org, you’re not as well-known,” Arce said. “But getting everyone to interact and compete with them was very fun.”
In the Greek life division, Kappa Alpha Theta and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) took first, and Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Alpha Order placed second.