It’s that time of the year! College dance nationals are back and some are calling it “the SuperBowl of dance”. The event is hosted by UDA (Universal Dance Association), which was founded in 1980 to help promote the sport. They provide training for high school and college students with the best instructors and choreographers. They also provide summer camps and clinics for dancers on many college campuses. This year’s nationals happened from January 17 to the 19th being held at Walt Disney World Resort ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida with over 300 college teams all over the country competing in Hip Hop, Jazz, and Pom.
This year’s nationals was big given that people are still talking about the “Big 3” from their captivating performances in 2024 at UDA. They are the University of Minnesota (UMN), Ohio State University (OSU), and Louisiana State University (LSU). UMN pleased the crowd with their jazz performance to “Dream On” whereas OSU performed a heartfelt jazz routine to “My Way”. LSU performed a hip hop tribute to Michael Jackson, turning into a worldwide phenomenon following the performance. Minnesota got second while Ohio took first in Jazz, and Louisiana managed to win in the Hip Hop category.
This year these teams came to win once again, bringing so much energy, intense facial expressions, unity, and stunning costumes. The judges had a hard job because of how intense the competition was. The OSU and the UMN are tough competitors fighting for first in both the Jazz and Pom categories out of the 32 teams in the D1A division. OSU started off the weekend bumpy but finished strong taking home the win in D1A Jazz with a raw score of 102.15. UMN came in second with a raw score of 101.5167. For D1A Pom, UMN finished first with a raw score of 103.4 and OSU came in second with a raw score of 102.3833. As for LSU, they got sixth in D1A Hip Hop due to some prop malfunctions giving them a raw score of 95.8333, allowing the University of Nevada to earn first place with a raw score of 102.65. First place in D1A Jazz wasn’t the only thing OSU took home this past weekend, either. After nationals both OSU’s dance and cheer teams traveled from sunny Orlando to Atlanta where they went to support their football team taking home the win against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff (CFP).
This event did not disappoint those who were counting down the days from last year’s Nationals. Big congratulations to Ohio State on their exciting wins they had that week, and good job to all the competing teams who showed valiant effort and impressive skill. Until next year UDA Nationals!
