Sports

CSS Dance Team takes on Orlando

By Hailey Hokanson (hhokanson@css.edu)

February 7, 2025

While students returned from Winter Break and jumped back into classes, members of the Saints Dance Team set off to Florida. The dancers competed at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla. for the Universal Dance Association (UDA) College Dance Competition. The event ran from Jan. 16 to 18 and swept the nation by storm through social media. 

St. Scholastica was one of eight Minnesota-based teams who helped bring home the title: “The State of Dance.” The Saints Dance Team captains, junior Psychology major Grace Norlin and junior Ex-Phys student Greta Zenner, are used to the annual competition but new to the national audience. “I’m used to going since freshman year, and it’s awesome to see how much it’s grown in attention throughout the years,” Zenner said. “It’s become a surreal experience.”

The Saints brought 11 dancers and two coaches on the trip. Their busy schedule began on Thursday morning as they flew from Minneapolis to Orlando.. After landing, they were able to stop by their hotel before heading to the ESPN campus. “We were able to practice on the same type of floor we’d be competing on, but since so many teams needed to practice, we were only given 20 minutes to run our routine,” Zenner said. 

After a team meal and a night’s rest, the dancers spent the morning getting ready to perform before heading to the campus once again, this time in hair and makeup. “Friday was our jazz day, and it was pretty much get there, dance, and head back to the hotel,” Zenner said. “Once we got back there, we practiced our hip-hop routine in the parking lot because that was the only open space we had.”

During their jazz performance on Friday, the team danced to “The Bolter” by Taylor Swift. The Saints scored a raw score of 81.45 with zero deductions and finished with an event score of 77.5714. This put them in 20th place, missing finals by only five placements. “Our main goal was to do better than we had the year before, and we ended up doing that,” Norlin said.

The following day, they competed in the hip-hop category to “Hit ‘Em up Style (Oops!)” by Blu Cantrell, a dance that Zenner and Norlin liked the best out of the two styles. The routine finished with a raw score of 75.0667 and an event score of 71.4921 to bring them to a final placement of 21st place in the Open Division.

Despite missing the cut for finals in both routines, the excitement didn’t end. They spent the rest of the weekend watching the final dances from teams across the nation, including the popular Minnesota and Ohio State routines. 

Along the way, they connected with dancers from back home, including a few that Norlin had attended high school with. “I watched a few girls that I was classmates with in high school, and it’s so fun seeing how well they do with their teams,” Norlin said. “It’s such a big community, especially in Minnesota. It’s nice to be in such a big community of dance.”

Perhaps the most exciting moment of the weekend came from meeting one of the most famous dance coaches in the world—Abby Lee Miller of “Dance Moms.” The team noticed her while they were announcing final scores, and Norlin immediately jumped on the chance to ask her for a selfie with the team. “At first, she started scooting away, because she’s in a wheelchair, but then she just started directing us,” Norlin said. “She’s exactly like she is on TV. She was just telling us where to stand and ordering us around while taking a picture. It was awesome and a pretty cool moment.” 

After watching finals on Sunday, the team headed to Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World for a dancers-only party after park hours. Along with teams from around the nation, they rode on rides and experienced the theme park like few get the chance to. They made sure to carry on one of the Saints traditions: riding Mickey’s Runaway Railroad as a team.. 

After returning home, Zenner and Norlin enjoy their much-needed break. “We’re pretty much done with the season now,” Zenner said. “Now we just prepare for team tryouts in the Spring and then start it all over again in the Fall.” 

A trip to Orlando led to one memorable experience after the other for the Saints Dance Team. Now, with their mouse ears and dance shoes safely tucked away, they can enjoy some peace and relaxation after their journey down south.