Dancers from the Perkins School of the Arts who performed at the USTD National Championship competition. Top row: Victoria Abuiz, Ally Kennedy, Janessa Landers, Stephanie Marco, Chase Benjamin, Brandon Chandler, Camille Gordon, Chelsea Landers, Trevor Terry, and Andrew Van Allen, Bottom Row: Emma Cresci, Mikey Perkins, Anna Fregans, Temprance Dockray, Jessica Czachowski, and Isabella Natoli. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH — The Perkins School of the Arts dancers recently attended the United States Tournament of Dance National Championships, and one 13 and older group placed first out of approximately 1,300 entries with their adagio dance performance titled "More Than Words."

The competition, which took place over the weekend of July 17, saw dance groups from across the nation, according to Perkins School owner Mike Perkins. He said there were groups from Manhattan, Baltimore, Nashville, and more.

What's more, he said most other schools brought along large amounts of dancers and ensembles, some pushing 100 groups eligible for entry. The Perkins School only brought six.

"It’s pretty cool because we’re competing against studios three times our size that have way more members than we do. I mean we brought six that were eligible, some brought 100," said Perkins.

From the 1300 entered groups, judges select the top 30 performances, who then go on to perform their pieces a second time. The second performances are judged and ranked, which gives the final placing of each group.

"It’s a big deal. We were first place out of 1,300 entries," said Perkins School instructor and alumni Alexis Race. "For our students that are from Norwich, and Oneonta, and Binghamton, and the surrounding areas of Chenango County, its a big deal to them."