Over the weekend, the Laduettes traveled to Disney World to compete in the National Dance Team Championship.

According to http://uda.varsity.com/nationals.aspx, about 330 dance teams performed last year. Every year, about 10,000 people attend the event, explaining why the competition is shown on ESPN2. A captain, senior Haley Bussard, said the team qualified to go to Nationals when they placed first at the Universal Dance Association camp.

“First we dance prelims for Pom and then we wait until semis are announced,” Bussard said. “Then we danced semifinals for Pom. Later in the day we dance prelims for hip hop and semifinals again.”

This year, the Laduettes did very well, securing a spot as one of the top twenty teams in the nation.

“We had a great team and amazing choreography this year,” junior Jordan Kaplan said. “We all poured our hearts on the dance floor so we’re really proud of how we did.”

Freshman Grace Moore said that being on this competitive team is very difficult. However, the Laduettes undoubtedly had fun at nationals according to Bussard.

“My favorite part of the experience was dancing on the nationals floor with my team with all the lights shining down on us,” Bussard said. “It puts us in the spotlight and it gives us a chance to show everyone how hard we’ve worked.”

Moore said the Pom team consists of all the Laduettes and that there is also a subsection called competition. This group dances at competitions and games with the rest of the dancers. Being a dancer on the competition part of the team provides an entirely different experience.

“[My favorite part is] the challenge of going out in front of the nation, on a stage that I’m not used to, and competing,” Moore said. “Just giving everything you’ve got as a team to display your potential.”

The fun of competing brings the dancers together, even though the team has girls from every grade.

“[It] is just like joining a new family filled with laughs and love,” Moore said. “All of the grades are extraordinarily close and we all love one another so much.”