Herndon High Dance Team Headed to Nationals This Weekend

A group of students from Herndon High School will be trading the icy temperatures of Herndon for the warmth of Florida this weekend.

It's not your typical vacation, though—the school's dance team has earned itself a spot in the National Dance Team Championships.

After taking first place with their home routine at the Universal Dance Association camp over the summer at James Madison University, the team will head to Orlando this weekend to compete in the championships against 300 other schools from across the country.

At Nationals, dance teams compete in divisions based on team size and grade/age level, and have the option of entering up to two categories such as Jazz, Hip-Hop, Pom, and High Kick. Herndon will be competing in the Jazz and Pom categories, even though they came in first place for Hip-Hop at the local UDA Fairfax Dance Championship competition in November.

"The competition is tough, but it makes them stronger dancers, teammates and competitors," said Herndon's dance team coach, Suzanne Mansfield.

Each year,  there are an estimated 10,000 spectators in attendance at Nationals. The competition will be recorded and broadcast on ESPN2 around March or April and is expected to reach more than 90 million homes this year.

Give the team a good-luck shout-out in the comments below!

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