Roots Tech Before Conference Party

For the first time ever, Roots Tech (a family history conference/genealogy work) hosted a huge party for everyone over 16 years old in the Utah area. This party was before Roots Tech actually started, as a way to kick off this fun event for Utah residents. This event took place at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was free for anyone 16 and older to participate and you could stay as long as you wanted until the party was officially over.

If you follow World of Dance, you would recognize Derek Hough, a dance contestant and competitor! He hosted the first hour to two hours of entertainment at the Roots Tech Party! The party started at 6pm and lasted until midnight. Derek started everyone out with introducing himself and sharing his life experiences of dance, and what dance meant to him. He shared lots of videos of his childhood growing up and how he came to be a dancer. He then invited some people up to the stage for dance lessons in front of the audience.

He also jumped into the audience and took lots of selfies and photos with people which got everyone super excited for the rest of the party. Derek talked a lot about how his family would spend time dancing together in the kitchen and outside. He realized that dance made him happy and that he felt closer to his family when they danced together. He is now world famous and dances for a living! It was awesome to hear about his journey and what his plans include to dance more in the future.

After hearing motivational tips about success and hard work (especially in the dance world), as well as pursuing your dreams, the BYU Ballroom team performed two dances. These dances were incredible! If you have never seen the BYU Ballroom team, they are amazing and so fun to watch! The costumes are very bright and colorful and match the tone of the music. The dancers rehearse for hours and most of the time take global titles for being so amazing around the world. The BYU Ballroom team is a must see at the party. After their performance, Derek invited the audience to attend his “dance lessons” for the evening. For the rest of the night, attendees could learn the salsa, rumba, and a few other ballroom like styles from Derek and dance around with other attendees. If you got tired of dancing, or wanted to do another activity, there was an escape room to try out in the other conference rooms, a showing of the Sundance Film Festival winner, and a game room. There was also lots of concession stands to purchase snacks and food throughout the evening. If you hadn’t purchased your tickets for the Roots Tech Conference (the next day), you could purchase them at the party as well.

Lastly, for the younger audience members, there were some simple crafts and karaoke to participate in. Keep an eye out for next year’s before conference party!