The Wayne State College Aristocats Dance Team is preparing for their upcoming national competition on Jan. 17, 2025, at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
This will be the second year the team has competed in a national competition. The team’s goal this year is to make it to the final rounds. To do this, the team needs to place in the top 11 in open division.
“We got to see how close we were last year, and this year we really want it,” dancer Izzy Saenz said. “We’re really hungry for it.”
The team has been choreographing a dance that follows the many rules set by the national competition. One of the stricter rules they are required to follow involves timing. The team’s dance must be between one minute and one minute 30 seconds. If the dance is under or over time, they may lose points and miss their chance at qualifying for finals.
“You have to be very mindful about your time,” Saenz said.
The team practices four times every week.
“We have been focusing on regular material on Tuesdays and Thursdays and competition material Mondays and Wednesdays with the addition of the occasional Sunday practice,” Saenz said.
The team currently has eight new members and seven returning members, making the team relatively young, especially considering the team only started participating in Nationals the previous year.
Last time the team was in Florida, it had one dance prepared for the competition. This time around, they are preparing to compete twice.
Like last season, the team is preparing a dance in the pom category. The team decided to add a jazz dance this season now that they have an understanding of how competition functions.
“What we try to do is create the best team to go to Nationals,” Saenz said. “It’s us making sure we put our best foot forward because we all want to do really well this year. Some girls … might be in jazz but not in pom or the other way around, or they might be in both. It just depends on if a style clicks better with them,” Saenz said.
To decide who is on which team, the dancers go through a series of check offs to see who would perform best in each category.
“Our first check offs are next week, and that is when the coaches will decide who’s ready,” Saenz said.
“As team leads, we don’t make decisions, but we do have input,” dancer Eden Broberg said. “Your attitude both inside and outside of practice is representative of our team.”
The team will be hosting fundraisers to help pay their way to Florida.
“We are a fundraiser-based sport, so we really accept any kind of donation,” Saenz said.
The team has links on their Instagram, Facebook and the WSC website that people can donate through.
They are also planning to partner with Runza, so a portion of sales go to the dance team. The date for this fundraiser has not been set, but the dance team would love WSC support when the time comes.
