The United Dance Association Nationals — nicknamed the "dance Superbowl" — is the ultimate goal for collegiate dance teams across the nation. After a six-year hiatus from UDA, the Arizona State Dance Team will return to Orlando, Florida, to compete at UDA this weekend.
ASU's dance team has earned consistent accolades in the competitive sphere, securing its spot as a dance powerhouse. They've received top placements in D1A jazz and pom, a style of dance placing emphasis on precise arm movements, jumps and skills.
The team won four national titles from The College Classic in the jazz and game day categories. On social media, Sun Devil fans missed seeing ASU in the high caliber of UDA, despite its success in other competitions.
"It's every athlete's dream to dance on that stage," Kendall Hedstrom, a member of the team and a freshman studying business, said.
In 2020, the athletics director asked the Sun Devil dance team to focus more on game days and sideline performances. Bianca Caryl, the head coach of ASU dance team, said that the team enjoyed their time at TCC and the creative freedom they were given.
This year, though, the team decided it was time to make their highly anticipated return to the grand stage.
Mia Basila, a senior studying sports business and captain of the competition team, said she and her teammates created a PowerPoint presentation to convince the athletics director to compete in UDA again.
Basila said she feels very grateful to Graham Rossini, the athletics director, for making the team feel heard and supporting them in their return.
"I've always looked up to ASU (and) watching them when they did go to UDA," Brooke Volkert, a member of the team and a freshman studying early childhood education, said. "When I found out they were going back to UDA, it was just so unreal that we get to go."
ASU has a long history as a top-performing team at UDA. As a traditional jazz team, their iconic winning routines include "Welcome To The Jungle" in 2019 and "Titanium" in 2013.
Caryl said she is excited to be back in the same environment as the team's D1A peers.
This year, their choreography maintains ASU's trademark artistry while delivering clean turn sequences and unrelenting tricks. Caryl said their jazz routine embodies storytelling.
The routine is inspired by the facade of social media, something that Basila said the team really connected with.
"We do a hand motion where we put our hand up and we're smiling, and then right when we drop our hand, we drop our face," Basila said. "That represents what you see versus what you don't see."
With their return to UDA, the Sun Devil dance team also took a new direction in their style. After competing in pom for eight consecutive years, the team has decided to perform in the hip-hop category this year.
Caryl said to make this switch in genre, she curated a team that is technically skilled in traditional jazz as well as proficient in hip-hop.
Their hip-hop routine delivers both high-energy moments and smooth grooves, carrying a strong performance from beginning to end. Basila said the team pushed themselves to explore new styles such as Chicago hip-hop.
"Our hip-hop dance is super authentic, and it's not like any other hip-hop that you're gonna see on the stage," Hedstrom said. "It's gonna be really unique for the audience."
In order to prepare for UDA, Basila said the team underwent an intense practice routine. They continued rehearsal over winter break and practiced for five hours a day leading up to the performance.
Caryl said her athletes are more committed than ever before.
Throughout the road to nationals, Hedstrom said the team has grown closer by having trust in the process and each other. She also said they show up for each other every day and practice a "we over me" mentality.
"We're not expecting anything," Basila said. "I'm just excited to walk out of that castle hand-in-hand with my teammates and kill it with them."
Edited by Kasturi Tale, Senna James and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at ajanusee@asu.edu and follow @lexijanusee on X.
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Lexi Janusee is in her first semester with the State Press. She is a freshman studying Journalism and Mass Communications with a minor in Theatre. Lexi also works for Blaze Radio, and is an on-air host for Open Mic.
