On Dec. 14, the final dance/drill competition of the year was held at Wilsonville High School.

The Dance & Drill Coaches Association (DDCA) and the Wilsonville Dance Team joined forces to host the DDCA Invitational, the wrap-up event of 2024.  

The DDCA Invitational is the culminating event for the Modern, Contemporary, Novelty, and Solo/Duo/Trio categories. Moving forward, Modern and Contemporary styles will find their place within the Traditional Category, one of the categories offered at the OSAA Dance/Drill State Championships. Novelty concepts could evolve to be performed in the Show Category moving forward, but most teams choose to leave behind the quirky Novelty category until next season. Solo/Duo/Trio categories are done for now, until the Fall of 2025.

At the DDCA Invitational, Modern and Contemporary categories had foreseeable outcomes, based on past events. Holding ground all season in Modern was Canby, winning first against Sprague. Both teams shared beautifully unique perspectives for the style. Also remaining at the top of the podium with their contemporary routines was Valley Catholic and Clackamas, in their respective 1A-5A and 6A divisions. Canby was just behind Valley Catholic, as they have been all season, and Lakeridge snagged the second place spot behind Clackamas. 

Along with Modern, 1A-6A combined divisions included Jazz, Novelty, and Kick. School classifications are combined into one division if the entries in the category do not quantify enough to remain separated.  

Jazz is a category that continues throughout the full Dance/Drill season, and last weekend's event had a competitive group of teams sharing their work. Tigard claimed the top spot against 5 other teams. We will likely see many of these Jazz routines continue on throughout the season, as teams work towards qualifying routines for the State Championships.

Forest Grove has been the only Kick routine this year, and they kept the energy vibrant with an outstanding performance. Kick is a category that continues throughout the Dance/Drill season; however, it remains to be seen if the DDCA Invitational was Forest Grove’s final hurrah for the 2024-2025 season, or if any other teams will enter the category for the State Championship journey.

Novelty had a bit of a chaotic day with two teams unexpectedly dropping their routine due to team illnesses and uncontrollable circumstances. Clackamas was one of these teams, an unfortunate development after having continued success in the Novelty category. In the end, West Albany edged out Sprague for the top spot by just under a point. 

Pom and Hip Hop will also remain on the program into the new year as the OSAA Dance/Drill State Championships come into focus. Over the weekend, both of these categories had 1A-5A and 6A divisions. West Albany shook things up with a first place finish among the 1A-5A Pom Category groupings, and Forest Grove took top honors for the 6A crowd. 

In the Hip Hop category, Lakeridge had a healthy lead with a first place win and Superior rating. Clackamas’ Contemporary and Lakeridge’s Hip Hop had the only Superior ratings of the day, which means they scored an 85 or higher out of 100 points.  

Scappoose landed the first place spot for 1A-5A Hip Hop, a commonplace achievement for Scappoose in this category. Not far behind was Parkrose who snagged the second place spot.

The long day wasn’t quite over with the team events, as there were a couple dozen solos, and a handful of duos. The trio category remained vacant this season.Each solo group is created based on the number of entries. Last weekend there were enough entries to create divisions for grades 9-10, grade 11, and grade 12. Grade 12 was further divided between 5A and 6A schools. The duos were combined into one group with mixed grades. The highest scoring solo/duo of the day was by the 9-10 grade soloist, Tobin Williams from Forest Grove, receiving an amazing 88.67 and the only Superior rated solo.

Forest Grove and West Albany both had outstanding days, with Forest Grove's first place finishes in the team and solo/duo categories, and West Albany taking home two first place trophies in the team events.

Drill down, a novice and advanced finalist round for 2024, was again primarily dominated by Cleveland dancers. Novice top three, all from Cleveland, were Saoirse Finn (1st), Phoebe Howarth (2nd), and Alyssa Middleton (3rd). Advanced top three were Gabby Fields (1st) and Haper Nichols (2nd) from Cleveland, and Addison Schrotzberger (3rd) from Scappoose.

First place achievements are listed below, with names and schools.

DDCA Invitational - First Place Performances

• Contemporary (1A-5A): Valley Catholic (84.79)
• Contemporary (6A): Clackamas (85.00)
• Pom (1A-5A): West Albany (77.67)
• Pom (6A): Forest Grove (79.88)
• Hip Hop (1A-5A): Scappoose (79.83)
• Hip Hop (6A): Lakeridge (85.33)
• Kick: Forest Grove (69.50)
• Modern: Canby (84.42)
• Jazz: Tigard (81.88)
• Novelty: West Albany (78.67)
• Solo Grade 9-10: Tobin Williams - Forest Grove (88.67)
• Solo Grade 11: Izzy Rinehart - Tigard (82.17)
• Solo Grade 12 (5A): Addison - Scappoose (83.25)
• Solo Grade 12 (6A): Bella Terzenbach - Sprague (81.63)
• Duo: Knoxx Campbell & Eva Torris-Bustamante - Forest Grove (78.46)
• All Results

Absent form the DDCA Invitational, but having an eventful weekend nonetheless, was Lake Oswego, Sherwood, and Pendleton. These outstanding teams represented Oregon well at the Dance Team Union regional event held in Seattle, Washington, at Timberline High School. Oregon was honored with regional success in several categories, with first place wins in Varsity Jazz (Lake Oswego), Varsity Pom (Sherwood), and Open Category (Pendleton). For the teams that participate in the national circuit, this DTU event is an important step towards national recognition. Oregon is lucky to have these amazing teams stepping out and dancing beyond Oregon to represent our great state.

Next up for Dance/Drill is a much deserved break. Part II of the Dance/Drill season begins in 2025 and marks a shift in the trajectory, as the Jazz, Hip Hop, Show, Pom, Traditional, and perhaps, Kick, find their pathways towards the OSAA Dance/Drill State Championships. Dance/Drill competitions resume in January.