The College Dance Nationals, held by the Universal Dance Association, has found a much bigger audience this year.
The national dance competitions have been around since 1981, but generally they have only been watched by the dancers and fans of certain college teams. But this year, routines from the competition have been blowing up all over TikTok and Instagram, which non-dancers have been enjoying and commenting on.
Many social media users have been saying how they admire the work of the performers and wish they could achieve something so challenging. The attention has been appreciated by the dancers, especially because college dance teams are not a part of the NCAA, which is another highly debated topic among the dance community.
As in most previous years, the University of Minnesota and Ohio State University have been very close in skill level, performance, and point range. Viewers of the competition have been debating who should have won the jazz competition. Ohio State ended up taking the title.
Ohio State’s dance to “My Way” by Frank Sinatra has been seen as groundbreaking because of its extreme emotion and incredible technique overall. Meanwhile, Minnesota has been applauded for its synchronization, specifically in the turn sequence featuring a le seconde fouette that turned into an aeriel and then went straight into more fouette turns. This sequence has become a trend for people to try to re-create.
Louisiana State University took gold for the hip-hop section with their dance to “Smooth Criminal.” LSU has always excelled in this area, and with this incredible team getting attention, it has entered the big three schools in college dance.
Matthew Greco has received a lot of spotlight for being the only man on the Minnesota dance team as well as one of the few in his division. His high jumps and many complicated turn sequences have been featured in many videos on various social media platforms.
Dancers are already preparing for next year’s nationals by working on new choreography and skills, since the competition gets harder every year.
