The GHSA Dance State Championships will occupy Akins Arena at the Classic Center in Athens, Ga. on Saturday, Feb. 22 for a non-stop day of action that will crown champions in four classifications. After being divided into a four-classification format (Class 7A, 5A-6A, 3A-4A and A-2A) from 2021-24, this year’s new landscape is reshaped with Class 6A, 4A-5A, 2A-3A and A. Once again, each classification will have an overall champion and a state runner-up and teams will compete as coed or all-girl in the genres of Jazz, High Kick, Hip Hop and Pom.
Saturday’s championships are also the culmination of a full season of competitions and the first-ever state qualifier that took place earlier this month at McIntosh and Stilwell Arts. Among the teams competing this year are reigning champions and top qualifiers that have worked to polish their routines throughout this season.
SETTING THE STAGE
South Forsyth made history last year by taking the Class 7A title with a 97.48 score. It was the War Eagles’ first-ever Dance state title and that score came via the War Eagles’ Hip Hop routine. The program also had a 96.93 score in the Pom. This year, state qualifiers may only participate in one routine and South Forsyth will perform a Pom routine on Saturday. Class 6A is now the state’s highest classification after the reclassification shuffle and South Forsyth will headline a star-powered field that includes last year’s runner-up Mill Creek (Jazz) in addition to Westlake (Hip Hop), Peachtree Ridge (Hip Hop), North Gwinnett (Pom), Buford (Jazz), Etowah (Pom), Brookwood (Hip Hop), Mountain View (Jazz), North Forsyth (High Kick), West Forsyth (Pom), East Coweta (Jazz), Parkview (Hip Hop), Lambert (Hip Hop), Carrollton (Hip Hop) and Denmark (Pom).
Two-time defending Class 5A-6A state champion McIntosh will be a team to beat in this year’s new Class 4A-5A field, but will have to square off with four-time defending state champion Starr’s Mill—which has won a state title in all four previous years of competition. While hosting the state’s top programs on Feb. 15, the Chiefs were in championship form as they scored a 95.73 in the Pom and a 95.43 in Jazz. The only team that surpassed McIntosh’s scores was Starr’s Mill—which was able to score a 96.95 in Jazz. McIntosh will perform its Pom routine at state, while Starr’s Mill will perform Jazz. Starr’s Mill has an opportunity to capture a state-record fifth-straight state title after winning back-to-back in 5A-6A from 2021-22 and taking Class 3A-4A these last two years; the Panthers won last year’s crown with a 98.38 Pom routine—marking the highest score of any of the state championship routines. South Paulding (Hip Hop), Allatoona (High Kick), Blessed Trinity (Pom), New Manchester (Hip Hop), Woodland (Hip Hop), Seckinger (Jazz), Dutchtown (High Kick), Lakeside-Evans (Hip Hop), Greenbrier (Hip Hop), Jackson County (Jazz), Newnan (Pom), Tri-Cities (Hip Hop), Creekside (Hip Hop) and North Oconee (Pom) join Starr’s Mill and McIntosh in the 16-team Class 4A-5A field.
BREAKING IT DOWN
There will be 14 schools competing for the Class A title this year, including three-time defending Class A-2A state champion Stilwell Arts and 2021 Class A-2A state champion Thomasville. Class 2A-3A has a 16-team field—like Class 4A-5A and Class 6A—and will be the only classification on Saturday out of the four that does not have a defending state champion competing within it. Class 2A-3A features Fayette County (Hip Hop), North Murray (Jazz), Gilmer (Pom), East Jackson (Jazz), Carver-Columbus (Hip Hop), Jefferson (Pom), Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (Pom), KIPP Atlanta (Pom), Whitewater (Jazz), Washington (Hip Hop), Murray County (Pom), Oconee County (Jazz), Stephens County (High Kick), Ringgold (Hip Hop), Heritage (Hip Hop) and Lovett (Hip Hop). The Class A field of performers will be Vidalia (Hip Hop), Pepperell (Pom), Banks County (Pom), Savannah Christian (Pom), Fannin County (Pom), Washington County (Pom), Rainey McCullars (Jazz), Dublin (Hip Hop), Coosa (Hip Hop), Bremen (Jazz), Model (Jazz), Barrow (Hip Hop), Thomasville (Jazz) and Stilwell Arts (Jazz).
