While dance is typically a sport that is not followed by a large audience outside of those who are dancers themselves, the Universal Dance Association’s (UDA) nationals have brought a new wave of interest in competitive dance to many people, especially online. The event has been happening annually for over forty years, but over the past few years have been much more tuned in due to social media publicity of the event. With the competition in nearly two weeks, anticipation is rising for what teams attend and who will give the best performances this year. While the competition has hip-hop, Pom, and Jazz categories, Jazz is the most similar to traditional dance competition routines and is part of the competition that receives the most viewers and discourse.
In 2024, the Ohio State University (OSU) and the University of Minnesota (UMN) both performed groundbreaking routines on the UDA stage that skyrocketed the popularity of the teams and the event. The dances were posted on TikTok and quickly gained traction from millions of viewers. This started conversations online about which team should win first place as well as debates over whether artistry or tricks should be valued more in these performances. There were even multiple trends on TikTok inspired by the dances. OSU won first place with their dance My Way, and UMN came in second place with Dream On with only 0.5 points less than OSU.
While OSU took the win last year, many argue that UMN deserved the victory because they had more of a focus on tricks, turns, and group synchronization while OSU focused more on powerful expression and less traditional technique. This debate of whether artistry or tricks should be prioritized could either persuade the teams to go further in the direction they were in or try to find a perfect balance between the components.
Going into this year’s competition, it is expected that both UMN and OSU will give each other a run for their money. Both teams have posted on social media in the past few months about their preparation for the competition, and they are showing up ready to give it their all. Louisiana State University (LSU), who placed third overall in last year’s competition, will also be returning in hopes of taking the victory. While LSU wasn’t as closely competitive as the first and second-placing teams in the jazz division, the school is extremely athletics-oriented and won first place in the hip-hop division last year. LSU also received extreme praise for its groundbreaking hip-hop performance of Like A Boy in 2022. There could be a chance that LSU will focus more on its jazz performance this year and emerge in first or second place in the category.
The UDA competition begins on January 17th and will be streamed on Varsity TV and the FloSports App. If you visit the UDA website you can find all of the schedules for the competition. It will be an exciting and close competition this year, and you should consider tuning in on the action!
