13 April 2021
HCS- The Hoover High School Buccanettes dance team had one goal when competing in the DTU National Dance Team Championship: build on what they did last year.
As a team, they did not know what the year would hold for them or how Nationals would look. Due to COVID-19, the Buccanettes had to enter the competition's Virtual Division instead of competing in person in Orlando, Florida. The varsity team competed in the Large Varsity Jazz and Small Varsity Hip Hop categories, while the junior varsity team competed in the Junior Varsity Jazz category. All three categories contained strong competition from all over the country.
After the preliminary round, Buccanette Head Coach Alicia Wilbanks said the Varsity Buccanettes were in seventh place for Jazz and second place for Hip Hop, and Junior Varsity Buccanettes were in second place for JV Jazz headed into finals. For the first time since 2016, the Varsity team advanced to finals in both the jazz and hip hop categories.
After it was all said and done, the program notched honors never seen before. When the music stopped, the Varsity Buccanettes took home the National Championship in the virtual Small Varsity Hip Hop category, and the Junior Varsity Buccanettes were crowned National Champions in the virtual JV Jazz category.
If winning two national championships was not enough, the Buccanettes also had their highest finish in program history for varsity jazz.
"It was incredible," Wilbanks said. "It was something we have dared not hope for several years. It is always a goal in any competitive activity to win, but it is incredibly difficult, so challenging, and these teams are from all over the country. We compete against private schools, public schools, magnet fine arts schools from all kinds of powerhouse states that are really strong. Advancing to finals is the best thing in the world. Making the top five is amazing. Winning a National Championship is something we, of course, always hope for, but we never really expect. For us to win this year in both Varsity Hip Hop and in JV Jazz was amazing."
