The Crimson Girls, WSU’s dance team, took to the floor of Bohler Gym last Sunday for their hometown friends, families and supporters to showcase their two Universal Dance Association nationals routines before they flew to Orlando, Florida, to take on the biggest week of their year.
The Crimson Girls took a hip-hop and a jazz routine to nationals and are hoping to improve even more this year, possibly taking a top-five spot in the hip-hop category and increasing their score in jazz.
LSU alumnus Payton Adamson is the director of spirit and head coach for the WSU Crimson Girls. Since her first year as the team’s head coach four years ago, they have experienced exponential growth.
“We’ve definitely had a significant amount of growth in the last four years,” said Coach Adamson. “We are always hoping to better ourselves every year and be proud of the product we put on the floor.”
The dancers have worked overtime on these skills and routines. They usually start practice working on lifts and watching their routines back before spending a large portion of their days fine-tuning routines.
Saraiah Acpal is a junior and has been on the team since her freshman year. She is passionate and excited about these routines and this team to take on the nationals floor.
Acpal recognized how important dance is to her and her team, and they are ready to give it their all. The team made ninth place two years ago and seventh place last year in hip-hop, and they are hoping to continue this pattern all the way to the top.
“Five or above and that is 100% possible,” said Acpal. “We are ready to show up, show out and show who the Cougs are.”
The Crimson Girls spend so much time being the best they can. While most students go home for winter break, the girls are together until just a few days before Christmas and come back soon, if not immediately, after. They spend so much time together that they become a family and truly bond as a team.
“As an athlete, you just bond with your team. Right after finals end, we start hitting practices hard with a nine-to-five-style schedule,” Adamson said of the team’s schedule during nationals season.
The UDA teams that compete in nationals usually give some sort of hint about their routine, and this year, every team used their profile photos to give the hint. The team’s photo this year was SpongeBob wearing a cowboy hat playing the drums. Adamson explained a bit more about what their profile meant and how this image related to their two routines.
“It’s a nod to the jazz routine, we wear the bowler hats and also the drum solo in the hip-hop routine,” said Adamson.
Little things like this add up and create traditions in the dance world.
The showcase brought in an estimated 200 people compared to last year’s 100. The team is so grateful for the opportunities they have been given and how people continue to show up for them as they work harder and harder every year.
“We are happy to have the support of our local community to see us off,” said Adamson.
The dance world calls nationals “Super Bowl” weekend. Fans of this “Super Bowl” can support the Crimson Girls by checking out their Instagram @wsucrimsongirls or watch the routines live from Jan. 16-18 on the varsity website.
