Towson Dance Team First At Nationals

By Alissa Katz
Dance Team file photo by Casey Prather / The Towerlight
Towerlight Online

The Towson Dance Team took their 12th consecutive national title with precision dances, which are a combination of hip-hop, jazz, funk and pom routines.

The Towson University Dance Team typically performs throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region and at Towson University sporting events and numerous community events. However, they went to Daytona Beach, Fl. this past week to compete against other universities for a shot at the national title.

Almost 5,000 student athletes and 15,000 spectators convened to see the competition. The National Cheerleading Association and National Dance Alliance Collegiate Championship is the largest college cheer and dance competition in the world, according to a press release from TU.

They Division I competitors from Harvard University, James Madison University, Columbia University and Boston University, among others.

Thomas Cascella, professor in the department of theatre arts coached the team of 27 members.

“We’re extremely excited and proud to represent Towson University once again at the national championships. The team spirit and cooperation of this group of young women makes them champions. I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of our team,” Cascella said in the release.

Senior communication studies major Amanda Cieri is one of the dance team’s officers.

“We were all really excited that we won,” she said. “We go down hoping we do our best. It’s not about winning for us; it’s about going on the floor proving to everybody that we did our best. This year, we really came off really happy with what we did ... We’re all so dedicated to this performance.”

Their winning piece was described as a hyper-paced bump- and-grind precision dance, according to the release.

This helped set them above their competitors.