By Grace Kuryan, Co-Multimedia Editor
Every year, the Marching Band has incorporated a new theme into its halftime show. Previous themes have included Lin Manuel Miranda, love songs, guitar heroes and “The Phantom of the Opera.” This year, the theme is Just Dance. This theme encompasses dances to iconic songs, including “Shut Up and Dance With Me,” “Thriller,” “The Time Warp” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”
Marching band director Christopher Nation chose the Just Dance theme. This year, he wanted a show that would include all the students’ different parts and incorporate songs everyone would enjoy.
“Every year we try to find a show that’s going to appeal to our students and to our audience. This year, we just wanted a show that was really fun, would feature a lot of our students and have music that everybody would enjoy,” Nation said.
This year’s performance incorporates more dancing than those of previous years. The band took additional time to learn the choreography and perfect the steps. Typically, instrumentalists do not have a large dancing role, so the new dances brought along some challenges for the band.
Senior Nick Galasso, a drumline member, found it challenging to learn the movements while playing an instrument simultaneously.
“It was harder to learn the visuals and play at the same time. So, dancing would kind of throw off your (playing style). It’s a big obstacle, but we manage to get around it,” Galasso said.
Through the challenges, the band members kept a positive mindset during band camp, where members learn and practice the performance over the summer.
“Motivation is a huge factor because (we have) a six-hour rehearsal every day. That was something I struggled with, but I made sure to keep a positive attitude and made sure that everything was getting done properly,” said senior and drum major Cooper Ballard.
Band members enjoyed watching “Thriller” during half-time shows. The performance incorporated various dance movements, which Ballard enjoyed.
“(I love) the ‘Thriller’ dance,” Ballard said. “Seeing everyone start dancing is fun.”
Grace Kuryan can be reached at [email protected].
