On April 1, NC’s TikTok dance team competed at the Renegades, the national TikTok dance competition held at the Hype House in California. Practicing non-stop for the past school year and raising money for the trip, the team felt prepared to show off their moves to bring home the trophy for the first time ever.

“I felt my team of 11 dancers were prepared for the competition. We did not know what to expect, but I prepared my team the best I could,” Coach Michael Dillard said.

At the dance competition, NC competed against 100 other teams from all around the United States, including TikTok influencers such as Tony Lopez, Ondreaz Lopez and Avani Gregg. The teams were allowed to perform for only two minutes to show off their best TikTok dances. The judges critiqued the teams on rhythm, flow, trendiness and how in sync the team danced together. 

“I struggled with keeping up with all of the different trends on TikTok because they change so often. The whole routine was put together by the team, and I did not have much say,” Dillard said.

When NC went on stage and performed, they started off with the popular Renegade dance and moved to a mix of all the different dances from the beginning of TikTok to now. The team received a standing ovation from the audience and the judges were speechless. Other teams at the competition felt that they did not stand a chance against NC, which caused teams to drop out left and right. 

“I was shocked that we received that much applause. Personally, I felt like I could have done better since some of my dance moves were not as polished as I wish they were,” senior Joshua Dixon said. 

At the award ceremony, Charli D’amelio came on stage and announced the top three teams. After not hearing their name for second or third place, NC started losing hope. Chase Hudson (Lil Huddy) walked out on stage with the trophy and passed it to D’amelio who handed the trophy to Dillard as she announced that NC had received first place. 

“I was stunned. This is the first time NC has ever done anything like this, and I was shocked we got first place. We will definitely be back next year to get first place again,” Dillard said.

NC headed back to Kennesaw after the competition and handed the trophy to Principal Matthew Moody to put into the trophy case for everyone to see. As soon as the team came back, they started working on their routine for next year. 

April Fool’s, you fool!

XOXO,

The Chant