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Hey, I’m Steph and I would love to be your president next year! Most of you will know me as comp rep last year... although you may know me better as "sick girl", the keen covid fresher, or the double winner of 'biggest drama queen' (my proudest moment). However, for those who don't know me, I am currently on my year abroad in Bordeaux, and I am going into my fourth year studying French and linguistics. As much as I am loving my time in France, I miss Modern so much and I am so so excited to be back! Because of this, you may have met me at intercomp in November or Leeds Comp in February, and I am coming back one more time for Dance Ball in May... I have embarrassingly quite literally travelled thousands of miles for Modern but you have to admire my commitment to the society if nothing else :)


Being on a committee is such a fun experience, and during my time at uni I have been treasurer, secretary, and, of course, comp rep. As well as being on the contemporary, jazz and lyrical competition teams, I helped choreograph the inter contemporary and jazz comp routines last year, which I absolutely loved. This time on committees and in leadership roles has certainly given me the experience required to fulfil the role of president, as I already know all about the society and the responsibilities that each position has. I have also experienced three incredible presidents and I would love to follow in their footsteps! I am ready to take on a new challenge and think this role would be perfect for that!


Whilst I’ve been in France I’ve seen how much the society has grown thanks to Liv, Amy and the rest of the committee’s hard work, from the incredible tiktok page (which I am a massive fan of), to the merch revamp (I have been living in my new hoodie in France!). I would love to expand on this next year, and I also have many propositions on how to further improve the society. I will touch on just a few of them now but I honestly have countless ideas!


• Improving relationship with other dance societies – the relationship Modern has with Ballet and Irish is so great, and this is mainly due to there being several crossover members. I would love to improve Modern’s relationship with the other dance societies by doing joint socials and style-swap workshops, where a society of a different dance style tries one of our styles and we try their style! This would enhance the LUU dance community and perhaps encourage new members to join!


• Make Let’s Dance 2024 even bigger – as a previous comp rep, I know how proud we are as a society to have such a popular competition. We could build on this by adding a workshop, increasing attendance at the post-comp social, or even upgrading to a larger venue.


• Strengthening the alumni community – the hardest part of leaving uni for Modern members is leaving the society! An alumni social once a semester would be such a nice way for past-members to stay in contact with or meet current members (plus who doesn’t love an Otley Run?!)


• Supporting charities – I believe that every large society has a responsibility to fundraise and make a difference, and I know how much money can be raised at events such as pub quizzes and workshops! At the start of the year members should be able to vote for which charity they’d like to support to ensure we choose an issue that is relevant to us.


• International opportunities – having spent a year abroad, I think international experiences are invaluable! I would love a trip abroad to be organised, where we can take dance classes and watch performances, but also have a good time together and go out! Of course, I would recommend France but any other suggestions are welcomed ;)


• Inter lyrical team – I know this has been a popular idea for many years now, so if it was possible and if we could find enough competitions that have this category, an inter lyrical team would be a great way to get as many members involved with competitions as possible!


• Further inter team support - I love the new proposed idea of official inter team choreographers, and I think this would be really beneficial. I would like to further suggest that in one class before comp season starts, the advanced and inter teams swap so that Erica and Vicky can spend some time with the inter team and give their professional input.


I am so excited to come back to Modern next year and be dancing with everyone again! For anyone who hasn't met me yet, I can assure you I spend more time dancing than doing my actual degree so you would be in very safe hands ;)
Thank you for reading my (long and poorly formatted thanks to LUU Engage) manifesto, and I’ll see you all at dance ball very soon!