This weekend, all of the focus is going to be on the Nittany Lions’ dance and cheer teams. From January 16-18, the Lionettes, the Penn State cheer team, and the Nittany Lion will compete at the United Dance Association (UDA) Nationals in Orlando, Florida.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of UDA, it’s essentially the Super Bowl for former dancers and fans. Each year, routines make their way to TikTok and usually spark heavy debates. You’ve probably seen Ohio State’s 2024 routine to “My Way” by Frank Sinatra on your “For You Page” countless times.

Last season, the Lionettes debuted a jazz routine to “Somebody to Love” by Queen that quickly became a fan favorite on social media despite a 10th-place finish. This year, their routines will surely be loved once again, especially after news broke of the team losing funding.

If you’re gearing up to watch your first UDA nationals, or just want a refresher, here’s your guide to the busy weekend ahead.

How UDA Works

For UDA, Penn State competes in the IA division against other FBS schools.

For cheer, Penn State debuts two routines: their gameday routine and a gameday live routine. The Lionettes will debut two routines over the weekend, one in the pom category and one in the jazz category.

Both dance and cheer have multiple rounds throughout the weekend. Cheer will have a semifinal on Friday and Saturday with the finals on Sunday, and dance will have jazz preliminaries on Friday and pom preliminaries on Saturday, with the semifinals and finals on Sunday.

UDA Schedule

Cheer will kick things off for Penn State on Friday morning, performing its gameday routine at 10:42 a.m. Awards will immediately follow to see which schools will reach the finals. Cheer will perform its other routine at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Dance, on the other hand, has to go through three rounds. The Lionettes will perform their jazz routine at 4:46 p.m. on Friday and look to make it to the semifinals on Sunday. They will perform their pom routine at 10:05 a.m. on Saturday, also looking to make Sunday’s semifinals.

On Sunday, the competition will take place from 8 a.m. to 1:20 p.m., with Penn State’s competing times still unknown.

Lastly, the Nittany Lion will compete against ten other Division IA mascots on Saturday at 4:08 p.m. 50% of scoring is attributed to a preview video that mascots have to send in, where the Nittany Lion ranked second overall. The mascot routine is set to be a silly, sketch-like routine to make the crowd laugh.

UDA action will kick off at 8 a.m. on Friday, January 16. Folks can stream live on Varsity TV throughout the entire weekend.