Texas Dance Team Makes Program History at 2025 NDA College Nationals

By Hope Vanderburg

Reporting Texas

The University of Texas Dance Team debuted their jazz and hip-hop routines to the public at their nationals showoff on April 5. Hope Vanderburg/Reporting Texas

Longhorn pride shined bright in Daytona Beach, Florida over the weekend as the University of Texas Dance Team took the stage at the National Dance Alliance College Nationals.

“It’s really awesome that we get to prepare for something as grand as it is,” said Texas Dance Team Assistant Coach Kelby Fipps.

As a D1A school, the competition is fierce and pressure is high.

“The divisions are the biggest in the competition because it’s D1A, so it’s super competitive,” said Texas Dance Team Co-Captain Taylor Chan.

The Texas Dance Team was created back in 1977, but the team only started competing at NDA in the jazz and hip-hop categories within the past decade.

“We’re kind of underdogs in this competition as well. There’s a lot of big names,” Chan said.

What the audience and judges may not know is the Texas Dance Team is a student-run program. While many of their competitors receive university funding, these UT dancers face a different kind of challenge.

“We sell merch, we do profit shares, we do stuff around the university,” Chan said. “Anything that could help support us get to nationals.” 

However, they don’t use being newer to the game or being self-funded as an excuse. It’s an opportunity for them to take control of their own destiny as student dancers.

“It’s very student-oriented, so it’s what our team wants,” Chan said. “We find a lot of pride in that.”

With their motto “nothing given, everything earned,” the team has been focusing on what they can control and setting their expectations aside.

“Regardless of placement, we’ve worked so hard together towards the same goal,” said Texas Dance Team Co-Captain Caroline Buchhorn. “I hope (the judges) can see how bad we want it and how bad we’ve been working for it.”

The work certainly paid off as the team made finals in the jazz category, placing ninth overall out of 24 schools. They also made program history with their highest score ever in jazz. 

Texas Dance Team Head Coach Emily Anderson said, “It’s the best feeling ever to work really hard and see the results at nationals.”