BYU, Weber State cheer and dance teams bring more hard bodies back to Utah’s national ‘dance capital’

SALT LAKE CITY — It never goes out of style and far exceeds expectations. But every time BYU’s Cougarettes dance team takes the stage to perform on the biggest stage in sports, co-head coach Stacy Bills gets a thrill in her heart.

Such was the case this past weekend in Daytona Beach, Florida, when the Cougarettes — who have already made history as the first group to win back-to-back national championships in jazz and hip-hop — took part in the 2024 National Collegiate Music festival performance.

The butterflies last until the first notes of the song, a collaboration with choreographers Shandon Perez (hip-hop) and Rudy Abreu (jazz).

“I wish I could say I was cool, cool, collected. But before the music started playing both moves, my heart was beating out of my chest,” Beers told KSL.com. “We keep things very tight and confidential. We don’t pass a lot of people when we press play.”

However, there is no need to be nervous.

Beals said the 24-dancer team, which has eight freshmen, more than the Cougarettes have in a year, did what previous teams have often done and won their eighth National Jazz Champion and 10th Hip Hop Champion.

The program has also won eight team performance championships in the NDA’s Division IA, the highest level of competition organized by national universities, and two national championships in 2005 and 2006 under the United Spirits Association.

Last Saturday marked the program’s third consecutive year of dual national championships and the second time a documentary crew filmed the Cougars’ season-long journey.

That adds another layer to newcomers and veterans like Cougarettes president Cienne Bethea and team captains Madison Cenname, Halle Larsen, Elsie Tuler and Audrey Barney: The world is watching.

In fact, the whole world watches the show that some call the centerpiece of the dance capital of the world.

“Win or lose, I know the whole world is going to be watching, and that adds another layer of ‘all eyes are on you,'” Beals said. “But they’re in the right place mentally to handle that pressure.”

BYU’s success marks another strong showing for Utah programs at the annual dance and cheer championships, including Division I champion Weber State’s first national jazz title in program history.

The Wildcats also won the Division I hip-hop championship as well as the large coed and small coed cheerleading championships, finishing with a score of 98.3429 during the program’s seventh straight cheerleading championship. .

This is the fourth hip-hop title for Erica Williams’ Wildcats, including two in the past four years, and she will represent Team USA at the Top Hip-Hop at the ICU World Championships in April Category competition.

“While it’s all happening at the same time, I don’t know if there’s another university that can do this,” said Summer Willis, Weber State’s spirit team advisor and cheerleading coach, who was 25 with the Wildcats. Won the national championship eight times in three seasons. “It was a really big year, we won three great championships, won our conference championship and so much more. It was a phenomenal performance for the university.”

The Weber State cheerleading team also won the national championship in the coed division, marking the program’s seventh consecutive coed title. Josh Hill and Hailey Smith each took first place as the co-stunt team for Weber State, which earned three of the top five in the discipline.

Weber State has grown into a force in the college cheerleading world, blending local talent with national prospects from junior college strengths like Navarro College and Trinity Valley in a prime location on the Wasatch Front.

“Utah is the dance capital of the world,” she said. “You see a lot of competitors at every dance show in Utah, and that’s also because the state has great youth, recreational and high school programs.”

Utah Valley also recently won the national championship, becoming a legitimate contender for the dance and cheer championships on the Wasatch Front.

And there seems to be no end in sight for this run.

“Talent breeds talent,” Beals said. “When your students are surrounded by the best in the country, watching a few videos can be a teaching tool that makes everyone better.

“It’s kind of like Texas football, where the programs push each other,” she added. “The dance community in Utah has taken on a life of its own, and I love it because we all push each other to be better.”