On January 17-19, college dancers from around the country met in Orlando Florida to compete for the title of the best collegiate dance team in the country.
Each team competed in a series of competitions with categories ranging from jazz to pom. The teams went through rigorous training and spent months perfecting a unique and satisfying performance.
Rival schools Ohio State and University of Minnesota competed for the title of first-place jazz winner. Ultimately, after an intense competition, Ohio won. However, not many agree with this decision, feeling that Minnesota should have won.
“I think that Minnesota should have won for jazz as their piece overall, taking story and performance into account, was better,” sophomore Harlow Kochnover said. “Ohio State had insane technique, however the judges gave them the title last year because they told a better story. With that being said, the judges should come to an agreement on what they are looking for in the jazz category, since each year the category moves more towards contemporary/lyrical and away from jazz.”
On the other hand, some viewers agree with the judge’s decisions.
“I agreed with the final decisions…they were able to deliver a creative and emotional performance to a song with no lyrics. Last year when they won the jazz category as well, many argued that their win was more about their excellent song choice rather than the quality of their dance; however, this year’s routine proves that their talent and skill shine through no matter the music,” junior Rafi Sibony said.
However, Minnesota was not the only team with controversy. Many believe, compared to last year, Louisiana State University didn’t meet the expectations.
“LSU hiphop stood out to me because it was not at the same caliber as it usually is. Their props made great visuals, however they were very distracting and took too much away from their dancing,” Kochnover said.
Many agree with Kochnover’s stance on the matter.
“LSU is known for being one of the best and they placed 6th. But, there are certain guidelines that need to be followed in order to score higher but because they went a different route in order to be unique, they missed out on a lot of the technicalities of scoring,” junior Grace Lee said.
Aside from these few instances, many believe that overall every team stepped up in their performances this year.
“I liked this year so much better because I feel like this year a lot of schools stepped up, and as someone just watching and not judging, it was so difficult to predict who would win because they were all insane,” Lee said.
However, some viewers believe it didn’t entirely match the standard of last year’s performances.
“Last year’s dances were outstanding, and it felt like all the teams this year worked hard to meet those high standards. However, I don’t think the overall quality quite matched the excitement of last year’s dances, even though there were still some truly great performances,” Sibony said.
