On Saturday, the Harvard Crimson Dance Team made history when they competed for the first time in the Division 1 Pom category at the annual Universal Dance Association College Nationals in Florida, and they did it Elle Woods-style.
Donning brand new, all-pink costumes, the team’s 13 members performed a two-minute routine to a medley of songs from Legally Blonde: The Musical. The team’s official Instagram shared video of the routine with the caption, “WHAT LIKE IT’S HARD!? So proud of our team for making program history today as we competed in Division 1 Pom at UDA College Nationals for our first time ever. This routine meant so much to us—Elle Woods taught us to always be true to our hearts and we did just that.”
Reese Witherspoon, who brought the iconic character to life in 2021’s Legally Blonde and its sequel, 2003’s Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, was tagged alongside Broadway actress Laura Bell Bundy, who played Elle Woods in the original Broadway cast of Legally Blonde: The Musical.
Legally Blonde: The Musical was written by Heather Hach, with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin. It adapts iconic moments from the first film, like Elle deciding to follow her ex-boyfriend Warren (Matthew Davis) to Harvard and Paulette (Jennifer Coolidge) learning how to do the “bend and snap” from Elle to get the attention of the hot UPS delivery guy.
Harvard Crimson Dance Team’s routine features three songs from the musical: “Omigod You Guys,” which opens the show as Elle thinks Warren is going to propose; “Whipped Into Shape,” one of Brooke Windham’s workout tape songs; and “Bend and Snap.” The routine ends with Witherspoon saying, “What, like it’s hard?” which is one of the most iconic lines from Legally Blonde.
Although Harvard Crimson Dance Team didn’t place in the top 10 at UDA College Nationals 2024, they did go viral. Legally Blonde: The Musical OBC actress Orfeh, who received a Tony Award nomination for her performance as Paulette, shared the video on TikTok. “Now, I KNOW you’re going to ??? this ??? stay till the end)!!!!” she wrote in the caption, where she also revealed that the team’s favorite part of the routine is “Bend and Snap.”
“Mine too,” Orfeh confessed. Orfeh’s video has garnered nearly 463 thousand likes, and the Harvard Crimson Dance Team’s Instagram post has racked up nearly 40 thousand views since Saturday.
Legally Blonde 3 is still in development purgatory, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a wealth of available Legally Blonde art, as proven by this now-iconic dance routine. Elle Woods continues to leave an impact more than 20 years after her debut, and we aren’t even a little bit surprised.
(featured image: MGM)
