The Storm dance team will be making their way to Orlando, Florida on Jan. 17 to compete at the Universal Dance Association national competition.
Throughout the fall, the Storm dance team held multiple performances during halftime shows at football games, recently performed at Yell Like Hell during homecoming week and competed at state and conference competitions. However, the most competitive part of their season is just getting underway.
Sophomore dancer Lauren Long believes the increased difficulty of nationals compared to state and conference makes perfecting one’s craft even more important.
“At state, we are in competition with other D3 colleges, at conference, it is just the dance teams of the ARC, versus at nationals we are in an open pool against all other college teams,” Long said.
Long emphasized the team’s chemistry as a main reason they feel confident and excited to compete at nationals.
“As a collective group, everyone is very supportive of each other, and it is evident that we all want to succeed. It has been very nice to be a part of a group that shares so many of the same values,” Long said.
Another important aspect of the Storm this year has been leadership. The team consists of many first years and sophomores, meaning leadership is important to ensure every dancer is on the same wavelength.
“The seniors have done an outstanding job reaching out to the younger members and making sure they are prepared and adapted. We have been learning to work together as a unit and support each other and under the leadership of the seniors, I think we are accomplishing that very well,” Long said
One of the leaders is Senior Clare Veren. Veren has been on the dance team since she was a first year and has been an important part of the team’s leadership this year.
“I think something that is special about the team this year is that we are all 110% committed to wanting to do well,” Veren said.
While many students probably think about halftime performances when they think about the Storm dance team, it is much bigger than that as competitions are a very important part of the season. Veren also helped explain how scoring at the national competition works.
“Scoring is subjective and there are different areas that a dance is judged on. For example, a few categories could be, music, how well your dance flowed with the musicality, if there were any inappropriate words, etc. Costume, how well your costuming fits your dance style. Technique, were you clean, did you execute the choreography well, and there’s so much more,” she said.
Nationals also provides a unique opportunity for team bonding. The competition is held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World, meaning the team gets to spend time at Disney.
“My favorite memory is having team dinner inside of Disney World last year after performing at the ESPN Worldwide Sports Center for nationals. After dinner, we got to watch the fireworks at Magic Kingdom and explore the park as well. It was so special to experience and brought back many childhood memories for us all,” Long said.
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