You will always see them on the sidelines of a football or basketball game, but the dance team has much more to offer. The team traveled to Orlando, Florida over winter break to compete in the Universal Dance Association Nationals from Jan. 12-14.
The team is relatively new to this high-profile competition; this is only its second time competing in UDA Nationals. The yearly competition brings together collegiate dance programs from across the country and allows dance teams that normally support athletic teams from the sidelines to take center stage.
While the team is recognized by the athletic department as the official dance team, it still receives club funding from Student Government because the NCAA does not recognize dance as a Division I sport.
However, the UDA Nationals are extremely competitive, with dance programs from schools like Ohio State, Minnesota and LSU all traveling to Orlando.
“The college competition is a whole other caliber,” senior captain Jenna Tempkin said. “It’s completely different. It was a lot of learning curves … to understand what we were getting ourselves into.”
Junior captain Anna Van Ormer competed in high-level competition back in high school but cited UDA Nationals as a unique challenge.
“College nationals is definitely more intense, it’s more stressful, but it’s also way more exciting,” Van Ormer said.
The team competed in the Hip Hop and Pom categories this year.
Competing in UDA Nationals involved a lengthy preparation process for the team, with required dance camps back in August, a preseason to update the freshmen on sideline dances, 10-15 hours of practice each week, performing at football and basketball games and an early return from winter break for higher intensity practices.
“We were back here on Jan. 4, and then had practice more or less all day from that day to the day we left the 11th,” Tempkin said.
Junior Camille Gitow described these last practices as “very intense.”
“Preparing for nationals was a big undertaking,” Gitow said. “It was a lot mentally, but it was very worth it and the support system on the team is really great.”
Throughout these practices, coach Melissa Diehl helped the team clean up and correct choreography. Diehl joined the team as a coach just last year, having connections to the team that ultimately brought her to Lafayette. Diehl referenced her “experience with the dance team world” as significant in aiding team dancers in growing from last year’s performance at UDA Nationals. She also helped to implement a new strength and conditioning program.
The connectivity and togetherness of the team also facilitated the team’s growth this past year.
“Even just the team camaraderie from last year to this year … just a complete 180,” Diehl said.
The team earned event scores of 73.7302 and 85 in Hip Hop and Pom, respectively, on a scale of 100.
“It was incredible, and I’m extremely sad that I don’t get to do it again anymore,” Tempkin said. “But it was a very fun way to end my almost 14 years of dance competition,” Tempkin said.
“I definitely just want to push everyone as hard as they can,” Van Ormer said about the prospect of competing next year.
Beyond just numbers and raw scores, the team came out of Nationals proud of its accomplishments and for its recognition by the school.
“Most of the time, they’re cheering on other teams — cheering on the football team, cheering on the basketball team,” Diehl said. “This is what they got to do for themselves.”
Gitow referenced team conversations with Brianna Braswell ‘16, a former team captain who now works in admissions for Lafayette.
“We talked to her and she said that this has always been the dream, that this has been what the girls have always wanted to do and work towards, and the fact that we’re doing it now is just really amazing,” Gitow said.
