Each April, 11 months of physical and mental dedication culminate for the N.C. State dance team.
That’s when the squad travels to Daytona Beach, Fla. to compete in the National Cheerleading Association’s Cheer & Dance Collegiate Championship.
Senior co-captain Alyse Dason, who will be performing in her fourth and final competition, likened nationals to the men’s collegiate basketball tournament.
“It’s basically the NCAA tournament of dancing and cheerleading,” Dason said. “Similar to basketball, we are ranked by judges before the competition based on a tape of our routine.”
Tapings are submitted by December, and if the routine is scored high enough, the team travels to Florida to perform it live.
Formed as a club sport in 1994, the team quickly established itself as one of the nation’s best dance programs. State has finished in the top 10 each of the last six years, including a second place finish in 2001.
Even with the past success, the team has seen a number of changes.
This year’s team features a new, young coaching staff that is very familiar to their surroundings. Coach Erika McInnis, assistant coach Kristin Smith and choreographer Jamila Wright all spent multiple years on the Wolfpack dance team.
McInnis is no stranger to the nuances of dance. The N.C. State alumna was a three-year team member and has coached numerous local dance teams following her graduation in 2002. She has also served as a judge in various competitions.
“It’s great to have a coach with as much experience as Erika,” co-captain Katie Franklin said. “She knows what moves are in style or moves that the judges will find aesthetically pleasing.”
In addition to her coaching duties, McInnis works in Greensboro as a high school counselor while taking classes to complete her master’s degree in school counseling. McInnis makes the hour-long commute from Greensboro to Raleigh four times a week.
“When Erika comes into practice, she takes charge,” Franklin said. “We still have a great time, but we maintain enough focus to be successful. Her personality motivates us to stay organized and do the best we can.”
The live routine for nationals consists of blending an introduction and ending segment with three 30-second segments of pom, funk and jazz.
“Our segments during basketball games are only 30 seconds long,” Dason said. “There is a lot more that goes into preparing our routine for nationals.”
Preparing for the competition not only involves perfecting their own routine, but scouting their competition.
“We’ll have nights where we meet and watch tape of other teams performing,” Dason said. “We can learn different moves and styles and adapt them to our own.”
The top seven Division-I teams receive a paid bid to the competition. State’s routine scored 9.0 out of 10, placing them third behind the University of Louisville’s leading score of 9.4.
Senior Ashley Sutton said she believes McInnis is the reason for the successful taping session.
“We’ve never been ranked as high as third in our taping,” Sutton said. “Taping the routine can be a long and grueling process, but Erika helped us focus and complete a successful taping in just a few tries.”
However, the success comes with sacrifice. The team practices four days a week and performs at all home football and basketball games. A typical practice includes up to two miles of running and a half-hour of stretching before the three-hour session even begins. Junior Amanda Ladd said there is a misconception about how much skill is necessary to dance.
“A lot of people don’t realize how challenging dancing can be,” Ladd said. “Along with it being physically taxing, it requires the right mental focus to execute your moves in sync.”
