Updated as of April 6, 2022 at 10:58 p.m. to include additional interviews.
After months of preparation, the Elon University dance team will finally travel to Daytona Beach, Florida this week to compete in the National Dance Association National Championship from April 6 to 10.
This is the first time in two years the team has attended Nationals and the first time in the team’s history going with a gold bid. The team received the gold bid after winning the Game Day routine competition in August 2021 at the NDA summer camp, and will provide the team with perks such as five free hotel rooms, reduced registration fees and priority hotel assignment.
Although this will be the first time traveling to Daytona for many of the athletes, this is not the case for head coach Elly Dirks. This year will be her fourth time going to Daytona with Elon, but this time, she’ll be watching from the sidelines.
Elon graduate Dirks used to be the captain of the Elon dance team and became the head coach following her senior year at Elon. In her last year as an undergraduate student, Dirks said she started to step up and guide the team because the team was coachless. Since her coaching career began, she said she is grateful to witness the growth of the program first hand.
“I remember when I was on the team and there were eight people. We were struggling,” Dirks said. “Now, we have a team of 18 phenomenal dancers who are all 110% dedicated to this sport and dedicated to growing the program.”
Elon senior Meredith Hertweck said that the team’s connection with each other is stronger than ever as they head to Nationals this year.
“You can tell that this team wants it bad,” Hertweck said. “We want it real bad. And you see it every day in practice.”
Hertweck said the team is driven to get first place, and since they have not traveled to the championship in two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that motivation is even stronger. Hertweck also said that going into the competition with the gold bid has given the team extra confidence.
“You just have a different kind of hunger because it's been festering for a few years,” Hertweck said.
Senior Nyla Rivers said although she wishes she was able to experience Nationals her sophomore and junior year, she is grateful to see support from the Elon community grow tremendously.
“Getting a standing ovation was unheard of,” Rivers said. “We did not get that same support and love from our Elon community my freshman year.”
Dirks said she and the team are motivated after seeing that increase of support from the Elon community, student body and the athletic department. The team hopes to return to the university with more success than before and support from their Elon peers.
“One thing I've really pushed them to do is to show their heart when they're dancing,” Dirks said.
The event will take place at the Bandshell and Ocean Center in Daytona Beach. Elon will compete on April 7 in the Pom Division I competition and on April 8 in the Hip Hop Division I competition.