This past weekend, the Rosary Varsity Dance Team took 1st place in the small/medium advanced pom category of UDA’s March Madness Virtual Competition. The Royals edged out 11 other teams from around the country to take the top spot.

Junior dancer Kate Curry shared, “We found out we won a week later. They announce the winners on a video slideshow. It is very stressful waiting the long 7 days to hear back… but it was definitely worth it!”

Both Kate and fellow dancer Daly Holman ’21 expressed how odd it felt to compete virtually. Daly said, “It is very weird to perform virtually because we get to do our routines over and over until we get a video we like, which is not normal.”  Kate added, “Competing virtually is much different than in person because we don’t have an audience of over a hundred people watching us like at an in-person competition. It is much more difficult to perform to our full ability because of the lack of adrenaline that we would usually get from the large cheering audience, making this win much more memorable!”

Junior Lily Demman explained that it does indeed feel strange not to hear fans and parents cheering during the routine, but that any additional sound would interfere with the recording of their routine.  Nevertheless, Lily said it’s “still fun either way to be able to compete.”

While most of the varsity dancers were performing, some team members had a different role in the Royals’ win.  Junior Reese Loya ruptured her Achilles tendon in August of 2020. As she recovers, she has been serving as the Varsity Dance Team Student Assistant, which Reese said, “requires [her] to give [her] opinions, recommendations, and corrections on the routines in order to ensure that [the team is] ready to compete against national ranked teams from across the country.”  Reese added, “I always try my best to give constructive criticism in a positive manner to both encourage and help the team.”

While the competition format was different, there’s no denying the consistency of the historically dominant Rosary Dancers.  They have continued competing and improving even during a global pandemic. They support one another and believe in the legacy of the program.

Kate Curry offered some advice for any potential future Rosary Dancers: “Joining the team freshman year was a great way to become friends with both upper-class and underclass students. By spending almost every hour of every day with my teammates they have become more like my family. Some advice I would give to students wanting to become dancers at Rosary is to take lots of technique classes and be confident! If you come into auditions with a big smile and a big personality you will truly stand out!”

Rosary is proud of the dance program’s talent and tenacity.  Well done Royals!