This past weekend the UCSD Dance Team competed in the Universal Dance Association  (UDA) Nationals at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando, Florida. The Dance Team National Championship is renowned as the most prestigious college championship in the country. Although the national competition is for all collegiate dance teams across the nation, we were proud to be one of the few teams from California to compete in this competition. We left early in the morning on Thursday January 16th, and worked towards our practice time on the floor on Friday, and competed in Prelims on Saturday. Following Prelims we had the honor and opportunity to compete in finals on Sunday. While adjusting to the 3 hour time difference, we woke up at 4 am everyday to get ready to compete at 9am.

At UDA, there are three categories: Pom, Jazz, and Hiphop. Like most dance teams in this national competition we competed in two categories, specifically in Pom and Jazz. Our Jazz routine, “Run Boy Run” was choreographed by our new coach, Kate Schneiderman. This piece was a fierce, intensive routine filled with turns and tricks that accumulated into receiving 15th place in the Jazz Division in finals. As the last time the UCSD Dance Team made it into finals was in 2016, we were excited to be back on the board as one of the top Dance Teams in the nation for the Jazz division.

Our Pom Routine, also choreographed by our coach, was based on a “California” theme using a mix of songs from “California Girls” by Katy Perry to “California King Bed” by Rihanna. This piece won 5th place at Prelims and 4th place in Finals, making this the highest award UCSD Dance Team has ever placed in UDA.

With our great and historical accomplishments this year with the UCSD Dance Team, we are excited to see this program grow further and become stronger as UCSD moves up to NCAA Division 1.