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For the University of Minnesota Dance Team, the days leading up to nationals feel like the calm before the storm.

“I’m feeling ready,” said senior Taryn Pfeifenberger during a Monday practice. “We just had three awesome performances, so we’re just feeling ready.”

At Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis, Pfeifenberger and 23 other dancers gathered around a TV, carefully watching back tape from their latest performance. They were taking note of whether spacing between dancers needs to be tighter and where the team needs to focus on timing.

“We’re not going full out today, just finding those small details to really hone in on. Checkpoints throughout our routines, like, is our arm bent or straight? How straight is it? Where’s our head angles?,” said Pfeifenberger.

This weekend, she and the team will be competing two routines at the Universal Dance Association’s College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship in Florida — the most prestigious national dance competition at the collegiate level. The routines are pom and jazz.

They are the reigning national champions in pom and were runner ups in jazz last year. Since 2003, the dance team has won nationals 22 times. This year, they’re focusing on the storytelling in their routines. 

“Our pom this year is really special because it talks about what it means to be on the University of Minnesota dance team, which I think is really cool and unique because this program has been around for so long, and the legacy is what keeps us going,” said Pfeifenberger.

She also said their jazz routine is dedicated to those who have lost a loved one.

“We’re just paying tribute to those we lost in time. It’s very meaningful,” she said.

The latest performance the team was watching back was at Williams Arena, where the dance team performed to a sold-out crowd of 8,000 last week for their annual “Best of the Best” showcase. According to junior Maggie Fandel, last year’s show had 5,200 in attendance.

“As a dancer, it was an incredible feeling just to be surrounded by so much support. But again, it just shows how much growth and recognition dance has gotten. It just really shows the reach that this art form and sport has, and it felt unreal,” said Fandel.

Last year, clips of the dance team’s jazz performance at nationals went viral on social media. The videos gained millions of views and has put more eyes on their team and dance as a sport.

But the team didn’t let the attention faze their mission on the floor. Instead, Fandel said they want to use the spotlight to push the sport in a new direction.

“Going into this season, I think we really tried to keep it just trying to better ourselves and what can we do better. I’m not necessarily trying to top last year, but just making something new, pushing the boundaries, that’s something that I feel Minnesota is always trying to do. So with that recognition that we got last year, it’s all about just us and our culture and what can we do to push boundaries,” she said.

Of course, the goal is to push for national championship wins in pom and jazz this weekend. But Fandel said what’s most important is delivering the best routines they can put out.

“We also want to come out feeling confident and like we did our absolute best on the floor, and at the end of the day, that’s all we care about walking off the floor. We want to walk off, watch the routines, feel confident in what we put out there,” she said.

UDA College Nationals is streaming on Varsity TV beginning Jan. 17. The University of Minnesota will compete in jazz preliminaries at 8:49 p.m. central time Friday, Jan. 17 and pom semi-finals at 11:22 a.m.

on Saturday, Jan. 18. The U’s spirit squad is also competing.

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The reigning national champions of pom are hoping to continue their streak and snag the top spot in jazz this year.

U of M Dance Team prepares to defend national championship title in Florida

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