The Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) and Universal Dance Association (UDA) Nationals, also known as the Super Bowl of dance, took place on Jan. 17 through Jan. 19. Deemed the biggest weekend in the competitive college dance world, over 300 small and large college teams from across the United States competed in different categories for the chance to become national champions. Most notably, Lynbrook alumni were on the Rutgers University and The University of Wisconsin teams this year. Among other national dance competitions such as National Dance Alliance (NDA) and Dance Team Union (DTU), UCA/UDA Nationals is the largest and deemed the most prestigious to win. Teams have been competing at UDA for nearly 35 years. The competition was held in Orlando, Florida, at the ESPN Worldwide Sports Complex in the Walt Disney World Resort.
The most popular categories at UCA/UDA are jazz, pop, hip-hop, and game-day. Jazz is the most difficult to win as it is the largest and most competitive category. Colleges are divided into three categories based on the size of their school and the grade of participants at the time of the competition: Division I, which are the smaller Division I schools; Division IA (DIA), larger Division I schools; and Open, Division II and Division III schools. There are three different rounds in each of the categories: a preliminary round, which is only in the jazz category; semi-finals; and finals. Each team that makes it to the next round has to repeat their dance and will be judged based on how they danced in that round.
Approximately a week before UCA/UDA begins, competing teams change their Instagram profile pictures to a theme relating to their dance. Viewers would then try to predict what the profile pictures might mean and how they relate to each team’s dances. Oregon dancers changed their profiles to pictures of seals, and many people predicted they would dance to a song by the artist Seal. This prediction was confirmed when they performed their routine to Seal’s hit song “Kiss from a Rose.” Hofstra dancers changed their profile pictures to a photo of Nicki Minaj; their pom routine was a mix from the singer. This UCA/UDA profile picture guessing game is an activity viewers partake in that provide insight into what the teams have in store for the season.
The dances seen in the jazz category vary from lyrical to jazz type of dances. Only 20 teams in the DIA jazz category move on to semi-finals. This category has been so competitive that for the last two years, the point separation between first and second place has been less than one point. The Ohio State University and The University of Minnesota are rival teams and have fought between first and second place for the past nine years. The teams may be rivals, but they also have rival sisters on different teams. Ava Wagner, a sophomore in Minnesota, and Ellie Wagner, a senior at Ohio, both competed against each other for the past two years and have become prominent faces in the dance world. In 2024, Ohio State danced to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” and the video was reviewed as perfect by viewers. It was unlike any other dance performed, and every dancer on the floor did not miss a beat. The same year, Minnesota danced to “Dream On” by Aerosmith as a salute to the twentieth year anniversary of their championship win; they danced to the same song in 2004. The dance was choreographed by its team members, and it contained skills like no other competed at UCA/UDA. Ohio State ended in the top by only five-tenths of a point. This year, everybody eagerly anticipated what the teams would bring. Ohio State did not disappoint; they danced to Steve Sharples’ “Bolero (Closing Credits),” from Moulin Rouge. Preliminary rounds for Ohio State were not their best, filled with many mistakes, specifically in the turn section where one dancer fell. They placed third in preliminaries but changed their turn section before semi-finals, redeeming themselves and moving to second place in semi-finals. Minnesota danced to “This Woman’s Work (2018 Remaster)” by Kate Bush. Many were wowed by this dance representing a funeral and using red roses as props. The star of the routine, Ava, was in a white dress while all the other dancers were in black. This dance was flawless, and the score in preliminaries was a 95.2. These dances were so close that it all came down to who would dance better at finals. Ohio State came out on top for the second year in a row, making them DIA jazz national champions. Health teacher Jennifer Kramer shared, “Dancers are some of the most underappreciated athletes in the world. Minnesota was so amazing and my favorite jazz routine of the competition, but you have to give Ohio State a ton of credit because they show up and perform when it means the most, and they were flawless in the finals. I am happy for them because they all worked so hard and made it look so easy.”
Although the pom category is often overlooked, astonishing dances have competed in this category. Once again, Ohio State and Minnesota were rivals in this category. Last year, Minnesota beat Ohio State by seven-tenths of a point. Minnesota amazed the audience with their jaw-dropping dance. During the turn section, the music went silent, and they turned with no music. Everybody on the floor was in sync and each dancer hit every single skill. They had a raw score of 102.2. Ohio State was determined to win this year after losing to Minnesota. At the end of their dance the poms the girls were holding turned into what looked like nunchucks; the poms swung around by a string in the poms. Both pom dances were impeccable, and it came down to a three-point margin; however, like last year, Minnesota prevailed. Many people believe Ohio was snubbed first place and that their pom routine was more difficult. Junior Averi Taub explained, “I don’t believe Ohio was robbed even though they were amazing. They won with jazz, and that is more than enough. It gives two of the best teams a championship to bring home for their state.”
Without the presence of Minnesota or Ohio State in the hip-hop category, winners alter every year. Louisiana State University’s Tiger Girls won in 2024 with their unique dance to “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson. LSU Tiger Girls always bring a unique routine, and everybody eagerly awaited to see what they had in store this year. They began their routine with umbrellas, using them as props and danced to “Cry Me a River” by Justin Timberlake. Using umbrellas did not go as planned for the Tiger Girls; in the semi-final round, one umbrella flipped inside out, causing the girl holding it to not be able to close it. In the finals, one umbrella broke and was not able to open. These umbrella malfunctions disappointed the judges and caused them to come out in sixth place. Freshman Taylor Dwyer expressed, “I was so excited to see what the LSU Tiger Girls were going to do this year. When they debuted their performance in the semi-finals, I liked the dance, but other dances like UNLV (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) and FSU (Florida State University) outshined them and deserved the win.” San Diego State University placed second for their performance to “Rap God,” by Eminem. UNLV won first in the hip-hop category; they had eight boys on the floor, which is the most out of any dance that competed at UCA/UDA.
The competition was fierce, and many viewers cannot wait to see what these schools will bring next year.
