Whether you’re paying attention to college dance or not, you’ve probably come across clips of the dances in the past few weeks on social media. January 12-14, the Universal Dance Association(UDA) hosted a dance competition at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at The Walt Disney World Resort. For over 35 years, the UDA Dance Team National Championship has been the most prestigious national championship in the country and the perfect opportunity for dance teams to get together and celebrate each other at the Most Magical Place on Earth. This year the top competitors being raved about are Ohio State with 1st place in jazz and Minnesota State with 2nd place in jazz. Ohio State passionately danced to the song “My Way” by Frank Sinatra which sent the media into a frenzy. Minnesota State danced more technically and shocked the media with their amazing turns.
The Ohio State University Dance Team left it all on the floor with their jazz performance, choreographed by Ricky Ruiz. One look at the performance video proves their hard work really paid off! “When we first came in, they were hesitant and holding back. Something that was a huge part of their nationals prep was not comparing themselves to their competitors … to not think of themselves as apples to apples or oranges to oranges. We wanted them to be the “banana” in a sea of apples and oranges. So standing out through their performance and dancing was a huge push from Carsen and me!” said Anna of TRIBE99.
In Minnesota on Sunday, the University of Minnesota Dance Team was one of the top Google searches.”It felt amazing. It was the best I’ve ever performed,” said Grace Kisch, a senior dancer on the team. Kisch and her head coach, Amanda Gaines, say the attention is great, but they’re still focused on the competition. “We were a little bit aware [of the online attention], but I don’t think we were that aware that it’s gotten to the extent that it has, which is just so cool,” said Kisch. This year’s jazz routine is to the song, “Dream On” by Aerosmith. It’s a tribute to the team’s 2004 performance of the same song, which was the first year the team became double national champions.
