Just a few weeks ago, the Universal Dance Association, UDA, hosted UDA College Nationals at Walt Disney World. The UDA is an organization that hosts a variety of competitions for all levels, spanning from high school through college. This 35-year-old, nationwide competition beckoned hundreds of colleges, universities, and junior colleges to bring forth their greatest talents to highlight at this prestigious level. The goal of the competition is to gather, celebrate, and support one another through dance, while also upholding UDA’s values of service, passion, integrity, respect, innovation, and transparency. Whether you enjoy watching dance or not, there were many routines that you should consider watching. The UDA live streamed all the routines, but most of them are still on various social media platforms, including YouTube for public viewing.  

Though there was an abundance of talent present at the competition, there was one team that swept and achieved yet another national title. The University of Minnesota performed two outstanding pieces in the Pom and Jazz category, placing first in both 1A routines. Prior to attending college, I danced for a number of years. The University of Minnesota has a reputable name in the dance world. Upon watching the routine, I quite honestly got chills. Regardless of whether you are a fan of these styles like I am, the University of Minnesota’s routines are a must watch. Their jazz routine, performed to “Mr. Morale” by Kendrick Lamar was an atypical jazz routine, including contemporary moved choreographed to a rap song. The jazz performance secured a score of 97.087. This was the highest score achieved in the 1A category, clinching the first place slot for the U of M. Last year, at the 2022 competition, the University of Minnesota secured first place in Division 1A Jazz. The U of M dance team has a history of winning this category, and this year was no exception. 

Locking down 2nd place on the 1A Jazz category was the Ohio State University with a score of 96.6. Ohio performed a more lyrical piece, meaning it was more fluid and flowy in nature. Over the years, the Ohio State dance team has built a formidable reputation for themselves, placing high every year. Ohio secured a score of 96.7 at the 2022 UDA Collegiate Nationals. Though their routine was packed full of extreme talent, it was no match for the University of Minnesota. Viewers everywhere have stated their opinion on the close race between Ohio and Minnesota, but most conclude that Minnesota was the clear winner. Both routines are published on YouTube, with the detailed scores being posted on the UDA College Nationals website.  

 I encourage you to take a couple of minutes this week to watch routines from the UDA National Competition. Though I only talked about 2 of the routines, there are a wide variety of other routines to watch from schools including LSU, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and many others. Watching these routines is a wonderful way to appreciate and support the sport and art of dance, and if you watch them, I promise you will not be disappointed. 

Sadie Blace is a Dakota Student General Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].