Eyes staring, cameras pointing in every direction and, with one wrong move, everyone would see that you have messed up. The GHS JV show choir, Evolution, makes sure that they are not the ones who make the big mistake.
6:45 a.m., three days a week, the team is up and ready to take on their day. Beginning with stretching and vocal warmups, they primarily work on dancing and cleaning up their routine at practice. The group ends up repeating moves as many times as needed until they perfect it so the team can sweep people off their feet.
“The season has been going well,” sophomore Christina Johansen said. “We have gotten along with all the freshmen that moved in this year. We have been getting first in a lot of our competitions and then we beat one varsity group at finals at Glenwood, so I believe that we have been doing very well.”
Evolution has been working hard to be able to go to finals at competitions. One of their main goals was to place higher than at least one varsity group this year and they did just that.
“Six groups usually make finals, but we went to a competition where seven groups made finals,” choir teacher Mr. Patrick Ribar said. “By right, being a prep group we should have ended up seventh. We didn’t. We got sixth and we actually beat a varsity-level group at finals, which was a big goal.”
The show choir team did a lot of practicing to get to where they are. The members have encouraged each other by giving one another helpful advice.
“The biggest accomplishment for the whole team is that we have gotten so much closer,” Johansen said. “We work together as a team, give each other constructive criticism, and help each other out.”
Evolution works on the finest details, making sure everything is the best it can be. They spend countless hours every day practicing and perfecting their moves.
“We do not start with small details, we have to start with big things,” Mr. Ribar said. “Once they learn the big things, then they can apply them to figure out the little things. The better they are at the small details the better their group.”
The team makes sure that they do everything the way they should. They make their dancing and singing flawless with a lot of help from watching other teams and seeing what they need to improve on.
“I tell them things, and they see other groups and they start taking these huge strides forward. ‘You have to have a lot of energy guys,’ and they see how other groups have energy and they go, ‘oh, that’s energy,’’’ Mr. Ribar said.
Evolution does not strive to win, they work hard to not lose. As long as they do not place dead last, and they are all trying to the best of their ability, everyone is satisfied.
“For myself, my biggest goal was to get better breath support and get in the front row, which I did,” Johansen said. “Also, to have sharper moves and better facials.”
She was able to get all of her goals accomplished with the help of her coaches and teammates encouraging her. The season is not over yet and Evolution hopes to keep improving within themselves as individuals and as a group.
Every time they walk on stage and sing or dance, they perform to the best of their ability. The team is constantly enhancing each and every time the curtains open and they perform in front of the many people watching and cheering them on.