Dec. 16, 2004

OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami University Dance Team has already established itself as a top dance program thanks to strong performances in and out of Oxford, but on December 10th, the team reached its highest accomplishment yet. Miami was ranked in the top five Division 1A dance teams in the country in the National Dance Alliance (NDA) video competition, earning them a paid bid to NDA Nationals this April.

Earlier in the summer, the team had already qualified to compete at Nationals while attending NDA camp, when the Miami Dance Team placed third in Division 1A in the camp dance competition.

The "Taping" submission took place in December, when Miami and other collegiate dance teams planning to attend this year's Championship submitted a qualifying video to NDA. The tapes are comprised of three thirty-second routines in Jazz, Pom, and Hip-hop, where teams must show versatility and strength in all styles. The fourth section demonstrates the squad's technical ability, featuring advanced turn combinations, leaps, and jumps. The three dances that Miami submitted were all choreographed by team members, and filming took place during the season opener for Miami Men's Basketball vs. Purdue in November.

Miami's 5th place ranking in Division 1A earned them a paid bid to Nationals, which will take place April 6-10 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Paid Bids were only awarded to the top six teams in Division 1A out of twenty-four entering and cover everything except airfare. Miami beat the odds to break into this top tier of teams by placing ahead of powerhouse athletic schools like University of Southern California, Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue and the University of Kentucky, and scored less than four-tenths of a point behind the University of Louisville, last year's back-to-back champion. All of the other paid bid winners have placed high at Nationals for a number of years, and almost all twenty-four teams entering had previously competed at nationals.

Earning this paid bid provides relief to a team that has been working hard all year to fundraise for the trip. Although the Dance Team receives funding from Miami Athletics to cover basic team functions, nationals is not covered and must be raised by the team. Beginning last spring, the team has been raising money by soliciting sponsors, shagging balls at soccer games, selling programs at football games, and now selling a team poster. With less fundraising to do, the team can now focus on preparing for nationals. Miami will continue with rigorous dance training and conditioning at least five days per week, and will begin working on the Nationals routine with the team's choreographer in January. In order to gain as much experience as possible, the dance team will compete in regional competitions and perform exhibitions at high school dance competitions and other events.

About the Miami Dance Team The Miami Dance Team is the official dance team of the Miami University Athletics and can be seen performing at all home men's and women's basketball games. The team performs and competes in styles including jazz, pom, and hip-hop with a strong emphasis on technical skills such as turns, leaps, and jumps.

For more information about the team, including auditions, visit MUredhawks.com under "Athletic Department."

For more information about the NDA Collegiate National Championship and to see full results and scores from the video competition, visit Nationalspirit.com.