2024 UDA Dance Nationals by Ashtyn O’Neill
The UDA Dance Nationals occur every January at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. It is a three-day-long competition among college level teams with outstanding new choreography, skills, and energy that are brought every single day. These competitions and routines often go viral on social media, and this event is now being named the “Dance Super Bowl.”
Over this past weekend, the 2024 UDA Dance Nationals took place. All dances were amazing; however, there were three dances that the fans went crazy for. These being LSU’s Michael Jackson Inspired HipHop, Minnesota’s Jazz to “Dream On,” and Ohio State’s Jazz to “My Way.”
LSU’s hip hop was choreographed by Carsen Rowe, Nathan Cherry, Geovanna Garavelo-Bortoleto, and former LSU Tiger Girl, Sammy McFadden. This dance stood out due to the musicality and cleanness of the routine. Through the use of some of MJ’s most iconic moves they also made their hip hop style stand out above the rest. LSU is known for bringing the energy with their dances, which was clearly displayed in this routine. LSU earned first place in the hip hop category, with a score of 97.222.
Minnesota's jazz was choreographed by their head coach Amanda Gaines with help also from the dancers themselves. What really blew people away about this dance was the amazing technique of these dancers. In the middle of their final turn sequence, every single dancer mastered the skill of performing an aerial in the middle of their turn sequence, and going right back into turning after without putting their foot down. The turns they were doing and an aerial is technically very challenging already. Combining them into the same skill, however, was something that we had never seen at the UDA championships.
Minnesota's major competitor in the jazz category was Ohio State. Ohio State's jazz was choreographed by Travis Wall. What really made this dance stand out above the rest was the insane amount of emotion that the Ohio State dancers show while dancing. These two dances went viral for being so outstanding, however these two dances were in the same category and there can only be one winner.
Minnesota ended up getting second in the jazz category with a score of 98.4286, and Ohio State took the championship win with a score of 98.9206. With these scores being very close, this win was controversial over the media with a lot of people being upset. Ohio worked hard to achieve the win, however, and no one can deny that they were outstanding.
If you haven't already seen these dances, it’s highly recommended that you do. Overall, every dance at the championship was very entertaining and shined in its own way.
Over this past weekend, the 2024 UDA Dance Nationals took place. All dances were amazing; however, there were three dances that the fans went crazy for. These being LSU’s Michael Jackson Inspired HipHop, Minnesota’s Jazz to “Dream On,” and Ohio State’s Jazz to “My Way.”
LSU’s hip hop was choreographed by Carsen Rowe, Nathan Cherry, Geovanna Garavelo-Bortoleto, and former LSU Tiger Girl, Sammy McFadden. This dance stood out due to the musicality and cleanness of the routine. Through the use of some of MJ’s most iconic moves they also made their hip hop style stand out above the rest. LSU is known for bringing the energy with their dances, which was clearly displayed in this routine. LSU earned first place in the hip hop category, with a score of 97.222.
Minnesota's jazz was choreographed by their head coach Amanda Gaines with help also from the dancers themselves. What really blew people away about this dance was the amazing technique of these dancers. In the middle of their final turn sequence, every single dancer mastered the skill of performing an aerial in the middle of their turn sequence, and going right back into turning after without putting their foot down. The turns they were doing and an aerial is technically very challenging already. Combining them into the same skill, however, was something that we had never seen at the UDA championships.
Minnesota's major competitor in the jazz category was Ohio State. Ohio State's jazz was choreographed by Travis Wall. What really made this dance stand out above the rest was the insane amount of emotion that the Ohio State dancers show while dancing. These two dances went viral for being so outstanding, however these two dances were in the same category and there can only be one winner.
Minnesota ended up getting second in the jazz category with a score of 98.4286, and Ohio State took the championship win with a score of 98.9206. With these scores being very close, this win was controversial over the media with a lot of people being upset. Ohio worked hard to achieve the win, however, and no one can deny that they were outstanding.
If you haven't already seen these dances, it’s highly recommended that you do. Overall, every dance at the championship was very entertaining and shined in its own way.