The West Virginia University Dance Team added two national titles to its collection last weekend when it competed in the 2021 NCA & NDA Collegiate Cheer & Dance Championship.
The WVU Dance Team won national titles in D1A Jazz and in D1A Team Performance at the championship. The team typically travels to Dayton Beach, Fla., for the championship, but competed virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team previously held two national titles. It now holds four.
WVU Dance Team Head Coach Lindsey Florence said despite COVID-19 restrictions and the virtual nature of the competition, the WVU Dance Team still faced a large range of intense competitors at the championship.
Last year’s competition was canceled due to COVID-19, so the team was grateful to be able to compete at all, Florence said.
“As one senior mentioned, and it will always stick with me: ‘This experience, even though it was virtual, helped take away the pain from last year.’ So, that meant a lot to me as a coach because last year, everything just stopped come March and April, and we weren’t able to compete,” Florence said.
She said this season, the dancers weren’t sure for the majority of the season if they would get the opportunity to compete, and the team wasn’t able to start working on routines until March 1.
“So not only is the fact that we won really exciting, but all the dancers are very proud of themselves because they won after just putting in one month of work and really intense focus and passion, determination and dedication to get these dances ready to compete and win a national title,” she said.
Florence said she has been proud of the team as a whole because each member maintained a positive outlook on their situation as they faced various challenges presented by the pandemic. The team members had to endure virtual practices, adjust to wearing masks when in-person practices resumed, and get tested for COVID-19 weekly.
“We are very fortunate that we are in an art form where we don’t have to necessarily kick a ball or have any sort of contact to do what we love. We can spread out, find our distance and let our passion shine and together do what we love. We are just so grateful that we got a shot at an experience this year to do that,” she said.
She said from a coach’s perspective, it has been rewarding to watch the WVU Dance Team members persevere and persist in a year where there has been so much uncertainty regarding its activities.
The WVU Dance Team’s work isn’t quite over. The team decided to extend practices throughout the remainder of the academic semester, because of the late start this season. Fall team auditions are coming up May 8-9. Camps will be held over the summer to prepare the team for football games, basketball games and other fall events.
Florence is hopeful next spring the WVU Dance Team will be able to once again travel to Daytona Beach to compete in the championship.
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