The Wayne State College dance team, the Aristocats, competed at the Universal Dance Association’s National Finals in Florida from Jan. 17-18.
The dancers performed two routines in open division, pom and jazz. They placed 18th and 22nd respectively.
“What I am most proud of my team for is doing two dances,” Isabelle Saenz, the Aristocats’ dance captain, said. “I am pretty proud for going out there and putting our heart on the stage twice because it is very difficult to do two dances.”
While the team did not reach their goal of making it to finals, a snippet of their dance was included in a post by well-known dance instructor Abby Lee Miller.
“The entire rest of the trip, we were like, ‘we might not have made it to finals, but we sure made it on Abby Lee Miller’s post’ and that’s a medal within itself,” Saenz said. “Any recognition from someone that influential in the dance community is a huge win for us, especially as a small-town dance team.”
Along with performing, the Aristocats enjoyed watching other teams perform and learning from them.
“Some of the girls, me included, love to go see the other teams too,” Coach Josie Miller said. “I think getting to be surrounded by these amazing teams, you have this fangirl moment. It is cool getting all of this new creativity in our brains and getting ideas that are not just local.”
After performing and watching the other teams perform, the dancers and coaches were also able to spend some time at Disney World.
“I love Disney!” Saenz said. “It holds a special place in my heart, and getting to bring these girls along and show them what I love and seeing their reactions was just so fun. I love sharing my joy of Disney with these girls, and we all get to share the love of dancing.”
The whole trip was a bonding experience for the team. It gave them a lot of time to spend together and have fun.
“They form all of these bonds and then they take that to the floor when they are performing,” Miller said. “There’s hard times and they push each other through it, so I think that’s a really positive thing to see. I don’t think that I tell them enough, but I am very proud of them.”
The team had many ups and downs throughout the season, but they were able to persevere and make it to nationals and perform as a team.
“I want to say that we are stronger than ever,” Saenz said. “We have had a lot of bumps on the way, and any journey that you go through is going to have these bumps. I am very thankful for these girls, and they can bring a smile to my face no matter what is going on in my life.”