Dance I students brought home blue ribbons after winning first division at the Dance Educators Assessment of Learning (DEAL) assessment on Jan. 20 at Liberty High School.

In DEAL, Dance I students are taught a routine, and are expected to polish and perform it all within 45 minutes. They then perform it and are judged.

The three judges assessed not only the execution of the routine itself, but whether or not the students asked questions while they were learning.

Ashlee Cloud, the Dance I teacher, also had to learn the routine along with the Dance I class.

The results are not ranked. During judging, schools are not compared. Their success is based entirely on themselves.

DEAL is an assessment of not only skill, but teamwork and solidarity, showing that in the dance world expertise is not the only thing that will get a dancer along.