Hunter Oberst
News Editor
The Keene State dance team placed second for the open hip-hop category at the Universal Dance Association (UDA) Nationals this year.
This result comes after the team previously placed 10th in last year’s competition which was held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Team captain and Keene State senior Kimberly Kalis said she was overall excited and amazed by the team’s accomplishment.
“It really shows that we worked hard and really made us feel like our hard work paid off,” Kalis said.
Senior team member Marisa Crovo said she was initially shocked by the result, but she knew the team could pull it off.
“It was exciting, it made me want to cry,” Crovo said. “It’s my senior year and we made history. Although it was virtual, it was the best we have done.”
This year’s competition was a bit unorthodox in that it was held virtually in lieu of the current pandemic. Although these conditions prohibited the team from having a physical audience, it didn’t stop them from performing in front of a live one.
Crovo said they set up a livestream so that they could still perform their routine in front of a crowd.
“It was weird,” Crovo said. “Normally we would be in front of a huge crowd, but having it live streamed made us want to push even harder. We wanted it to be the same feeling as it would be in person.”
“I was a little afraid that we wouldn’t get that adrenaline rush, but knowing people were watching us gave us that motivation,” Kalis said. “It still gave the vibe.”
Crovo said that although it was a different experience, it allowed the team to come together and form stronger bonds.
KSC Director of Recreational Sports Lynne Andrews said it is very exciting for the dance team to place second given that this was a completely different type of event than they usually attend.
“It hasn’t been easy for them to practice and then perform in a virtual format without having the energy from a crowd watching and cheering for them as they would receive when they perform at basketball games,” Andrews said. “They should be very proud of the efforts that they have put forward during this challenging year, and then to finish second in their first ever virtual competition is an awesome accomplishment.”
Kalis added that she feels the team was forced to push in a different way this year leading up to the competition. She said the team was focused on conditioning for most of the year.
“It goes to show that when we have that time to condition and really work on our basic skills, it can really set us up greater for when we do perform,” Kalis said. “Because without the basic skills you can’t do much else. I think the team is going to continue to skyrocket from here and having this second place standing in our pocket is motivating and is going to keep us pushing.”
In 2020, the Keene State dance team competed against 10 other teams in the open hip-hop category when they placed 10 out of 11. This year they only competed against two other teams in that category, placing two out of three.
“That definitely played a role in our placing this year,” Kalis said. “As a captain, I definitely look at the numbers and I compare and if there were as many teams I see where we place. But I think that we got the place we deserved. We worked hard and pushed through a lot of hurdles.”
Crovo said she wished more teams had participated in this year’s competition. “We like to see what we’re up against and what other teams have,” Crovo said. “We worked hard and we deserved this. We earned this.”
Crovo said the team’s strongest trait is their dancing ability. She said that going forward she would like to see the team expand on team tricks like kip-ups, headsprings, front handsprings and rubber bands. She said she’s confident the team will continue to improve after she graduates.
“Each one of us is dedicated and we want to be the best we can be,” Crovo said.
Kalis said she thinks this season proves the team can accomplish anything.
“KSC dance team is an amazing team,” Kalis said. “There are a bunch of strong girls on the team and whatever they set their minds to, they do. Now that we’ve hurdled COVID together I know that they can hurdle anything and I’m really excited to see where they go.”
Hunter Oberst can be contacted at:
news@kscequinox.com
