On Saturday night, the Manual Dazzlers dance team hosted their annual send-off for the Universal Dance Association national competition. The send-off was hosted at Manual in the large gym.
At the send-off, the Dazzlers performed each routine two times each, one as a warm-up and the second time full out. In between their dances, dancers from Dance by Trish 2 performed for the audience. There were also raffles for various items and trips.
“Send-off is always pretty nervewracking because it’s the last thing before nationals and all of our friends and family are seeing our dances for the first time but I’m really proud of the team and I think we did really good,” Chloe Matheis (12, YPAS) said.
This is the Dazzlers’ first year going to the UDA nationals, which is the largest and most prestigious dance competition for high schools. The Dazzlers qualified for UDA Nationals by winning the superior award at a camp in July.
The Dazzlers will perform their hip-hop, gameday and pom routines. They will be dancing in the medium category for hip-hop and pom but in the large category for gameday.
In December 2023, the Dazzlers won state in both categories they competed in: hip-hop and gameday.
“This team is built for UDA and I really think that we are going to go out there and UDA is not going to know what hit them,” Head Coach Kirstie Adanick said.
The Dazzlers will begin UDA prelims on Friday at Walt Disney World. If they advance they will perform on Saturday for the semifinals and if they make it through Saturday, they will compete in the finals on Sunday.
They will perform their pom routine at 1:54 p.m. on Friday, their gameday at 3:23 p.m. and their hip-hop at 8:29 p.m.
