Last Saturday, the Blue Brigade traveled to Dripping Springs High School to compete in its final competition of the contest season. For many of the seniors, this moment posed as bittersweet as it was their final high school dance competition. The competition wound up a success, with Blue Brigade winning many awards, one of which was overall grand champion for the classic division, which not only came with a medal but also $300 to put towards future competitions through Crowd Pleasers Dance Competitions. Other awards included first runner-up high platinum for the officer contemporary number, first place high platinum in officer jazz and officer lyrical, as well as officer grand champion for the large classic division. The officers also earned second runner-up grand champion, which pitted the group against all teams regardless of size. As a team, the Blue Brigade won first place for its contemporary and pom numbers and first runner-up for its jazz and hip hop performances. In the team pom category, the dancers were also honored with the High Point Award for the classic division.

We are proud to present a gallery celebrating the team’s success as this week’s Tuesday Top 10 photo essay.

PRACTICE PAYS OFF: Sophomore social officer Chloe Seckar-Martinez gives it her all in the pom ensemble at the Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition on Saturday. The Blue Brigade traveled to Dripping Springs High School and competed with 28 routines, finishing as grand champions in the classic division, regardless of size. 

“One of my favorite parts of contest was hearing our name being called as the grand champions,” Seckar-Martinez said. “Last year, we were unable to claim [the title of] grand champions, so doing it my sophomore year was so exciting. Being able to celebrate with my team is something that I’m always grateful for.”

Seckar-Martinez said that lots of preparation goes into making the dances run smoothly and together.

“We have practiced each dance since around the start of September,” she said. “We have spent months cleaning every little detail in order to make ourselves look like one unit.”

In order for the dances to look clean the dancers have to work both at school and at home. Depending on the dancer, they might review by going over the counts, playing the music or resting their body. 

“To personally prepare for the dances I was in, I made sure my body was healthy and that I was taking care of it, either with stretching, or massaging my legs,” Seckar-Martinez said. “I also made sure I knew all of the dances and practiced on my own time, so that I could do my part for the team.”

Seckar-Martinez’s favorite routine, team pom, was the team’s highest scoring routine. It received a High Point Award and a first-place award in the classic division. 

“The energy that we brought to the stage for pom was so electric and so contagious,” she said. “I love the choreography and how I can be very sassy with it, and have a lot of expression as I dance. The audience was also cheering extremely loud during this dance, which just made it so much more fun and so much more energetic.” 

In order to go full out and be as expressive as possible, the team has to feel confident in their all routines, including solos, duets and group dances.

“Contest season is no joke,” Seckar-Martinez said. “We are constantly practicing and getting better. Sometimes it gets really hard to stay motivated and keep our energy up, but being able to win was the most rewarding part of it.”

Now that the team had a successful contest season, its members can begin to work on the spring show, which is in April.

“I was just so proud of everyone,” Seckar-Martinez said.

Caption and photo by Carson Duncan.

FAREWELL CONTEST: Blue Brigade co-captain Sophie Leung-Lieu performs her final solo at contest in Dripping Springs last Saturday. Leung-Lieu performed to the song  “The Fools Who Dream” from the movie Lalaland. 

“I have loved that movie since it first came out and I chose it [the song] because it had a lot of emotion and nostalgia for me,” Leung-Lieu said. 

The officers on the team are required to perform self-choreographed solos as part of their try out, so this was not Leung-Lieu’s first time having to come up with her own choreography. 

“I have choreographed myself a solo for contest for the past two years and wanted to finish the contest season strong with my last solo.” Leung-Lieu said. “Choreographing it was fun but challenging, and I will definitely miss preparing a solo for contest each year.”

The team had a successful weekend, receiving Grand Champions of their division along with other awards.  

“Our team did really well and I am so proud that all of our hard work during contest season payed off,” Leung-Lieu said. “We spent so much time working on all of our dances and it was so rewarding to see us succeed at contest.” 

Lots of emotions were being expressed at the contest, as it was the last for many seniors, including Leung-Lieu. 

“It’s definitely a bitter-sweet feeling to be a senior at contest for the last time,” she said. “It has been pretty exhausting working so hard on all of our dances so it is nice to be done, but working hard and making memories with the team are what I’ll miss most about it.”

Caption and photo by Carson Duncan.

A LEAP OF FAITH: Catherine Haikola, Blue Brigade junior lieutenant, performs with Gaby Alvarado in the officer’s contemporary routine this past weekend at the Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition in Dripping Springs. The team spent most of its competition day changing in and out of costumes, drilling dances and then performing. 

“While I’m dancing, I’m trying to remember all of the things we talked about [during practice] in order to perfect all of our routines,” Haikola said. 

Haikola said she loves the team bonding, awards ceremony and dancing with her teammates throughout the day. Haikola also described feeling inspired by the impressive talent the other schools showcased during the contest. 

“My favorite part of the day was getting to watch other teams dance and seeing their cool pieces,” she said. “I hope next year we do as amazing as we did this year.” 

For its officer contemporary routine, the Blue Brigade received first runner up in its division, a fulfilling way to finish its contest season. 

Caption and photo by Harper Maxwell.

VIENNA WAITS FOR YOU: Sophomore Jill Hoffman performs her solo at Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition in Dripping Springs on Saturday. This was Hoffman’s second solo as part of the team, as well as her tryout to be an officer for the 2024-2025 season. 

“I feel really good about my performance.” Hoffman said. “It was a very cool experience to be able to perform something that I created, and I am very happy with how it turned out.”

Hoffman’s solo is set to “Vienna” by Billy Joel. 

“First, I really listened to the music to get a feel for the dynamics, I made a list of skills that I really wanted in it and added more around them,” Hoffman said. “It was quite a long process and the final version was nothing like the first.”

As the team’s contest season comes to a close, it begins to prepare for its spring show. At the show, the team performs its contest dances but also learns new dances, one of which being “Last Dance,” a traditional closer to the show. 

“I am super excited to learn ‘Last Dance’ because it is a classic and such a crowd-pleaser,” Hoffman said. “It’s also just so fun to perform and know that dancers decades ago did the same dance.”

Caption and photo by Carson Duncan.

DEDICATION EQUALS SUCCESS: In Blue Brigade’s recent competition, members of the drill team had the opportunity to perform solos, duets and group performances. While the team in the fall semester is driven towards performing at pep rallies and football games, the spring semester is dedicated to competitions. 

For junior Gaby Alvarado, the competitions shed a new light onto the work Blue Brigade does, as well as open up doors for more performances, extended dance time and new routines. 

“My favorite part of the competition was getting to watch everyone’s individual solos,” Alvarado said. “It is always so much fun seeing how others who may not get the chance to choreograph set themselves up for executing [the dances].” 

In addition to the performing aspect of the competition, Alvarado specifically mentioned the behind-the-scenes work that brings all the performances to life.

“It’s so fun because it teaches office tryout candidates, and teaches them to put themselves out there,” Alvarado said. “It really shows how people operate outside of a team setting where we all have to dance as one unit.” 

This competition in Alvarado’s eyes was particularly successful given the team’s drive toward success, as well as the individual work on solos. 

“Watching dances/solos that do well at competition gives us insight of what ultimately goes well at contests and what the judges are looking for,” Alvarado said. “I also enjoy watching dances from other teams as an officer. It sparks so many ideas from choreography to costumes.”

By the end of the show, Alvarado said she felt a sense of pride in the team and how far it has come this season. 

“It was just so amazing to see the team’s effort and dedication pay off in such an amazing way,” Alvarado said. 

Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Carson Duncan.

BUTTERFLIES ON STAGE: Sophomore Olivia Pittman performs her solo at the Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition in Dripping Springs this past Saturday. In addition to her solo, Pittman competed in two ensembles: a duet with sophomore Chloe Seckar-Martinez and a dance with her fellow social officers. 

Pittman was nervous at first but also filled with sadness as it was the last dance competition of this school year. 

“I also was slightly nervous because this was by far our biggest and hardest contest,” she said. “But it was sad that it was our last contest.” 

While dancing, Pittman was focused on projecting energy and confidence to the judges. 

“I was very focused on remembering all of the cleans that we made to our choreography,” she said.

Pittman doesn’t often suffer stage fright but admitted she did at this competition.

 “Even though I have gone through my solo many times, being alone on a stage with a lot of people is very nerve-wracking,” she said. “I was also nervous because we were doing our solos on an auditorium stage as opposed to a gym floor, which I had not had much practice on.”

Focused during her solo, Pittman said she likes to think a couple steps ahead while she dances. 

“I was focused on remembering the next moves and doing them to the best of my ability,” she said. 

Pleased with her own dances and those of her teammates, Pittman was very proud of herself by the end of the day.

“I thought I did a good job, and all of my team members are so supportive,” she said. “They were telling me I did well as well.” 

Caption by Priya Thoppil. Photo by Carson Duncan.

PERFORMING WITH PASSION: With her team in the audience cheering her on, freshman Blue Brigade dancer Peyton Robenhorst dances her solo on Saturday at the Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition at Dripping Springs High School. 

Before she joined the drill team, she hadn’t had any previous experience competing at dance contests, but after performing, she felt proud of what she and her team had accomplished.

“After my first contest season, I feel like we’ve grown as a group and now understand each other and the competition environment better,” Robenhorst said. 

She loved that the team got to experience winning together and is excited to do it again next season as a sophomore. For next year, Robenhorst hopes she will have even more opportunities like this past weekend to venture out and make new connections in the dance world. 

“At our next contest, I would love to talk to more people and make friends with someone I might not be friends with now,” she said. 

After the long contest season, Robenhorst will now be anticipating the preparation and performance of Blue Brigade’s spring show.

Caption and photo by Harper Maxwell.

A FINAL GOODBYE: Senior lieutenant El McGinnis performs her solo “To Build a Home” on stage during Blue Brigade’s final competition last Saturday at the Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition in Dripping Springs. For McGinnis, the dance brought mixed emotions.

“Doing this solo makes me happy and sad because it is the last solo I will ever do at competition,” she said.

As the competition was the final one of the season, and this is McGinnis’ final year in high school, the experience felt all the more important.

“It [the competition] was a lot,” McGinnis said. “A lot of dancing and a lot going on with so many people there, but it was still fun watching the other teams perform and seeing the competition.” 

The Blue Brigade was announced the grand winner in its division at the competition. Even though everything went smoothly on stage, the dances hadn’t always been that perfect. The team put in much work behind the scenes.

“We would practice every morning,” McGinnis said. “It was a lot of work and stress trying to clean all the dances and make them look presentable.” 

But for McGinnis, the hard work paid off. 

“All the work we put in was worth it because we won, after all, and will remember this win for a long time,” she said. 

McGinnis felt very proud when she found out McCallum had won. 

“Winning felt great,” she said, “especially with this being the last contest and knowing how hard we have worked.”

Caption by JoJo Barnard. Photo by Carson Duncan.

ONE LAST HURRAH: Blue Brigade co-captain Kylie Reeves performs the officer lyrical dance at her last contest on the team, the Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition in Dripping Springs on Saturday. Reeves has been on the team for four years and has committed lots of time and energy into it. 

“I’m feeling very sad and nostalgic for it being my last competition,” Reeves said. “I loved performing all of the dances, especially the small ensembles.”

Reeves and the rest of the team had to put lots of time and effort into preparing for the long day. They had many early mornings and weekend rehearsals where they ran, cleaned and worked on all of the dances. Along with that, the dancers had to make sure they were practicing on their own time. 

“I practiced with the team and on my own,” Reeves said. “I worked with one of my friends to help choreograph my solo and I also made sure I was stretching everyday.”

The officers have worked all year with the team to try to perfect the dances. All of their hard work really showed on stage while they were performing. 

“We, as officers, made sure to communicate with one another about daily schedules and meeting with Honey [Blue Brigade director Nancy Searle] when necessary to make decisions,” Reeves said. “We had officer practices where we worked to clean our dances together. For the team dance we were each assigned one to clean.”

The officers performed a total of three dances, one of which was to “Always Remember Us This Way” by Lady Gaga. 

“I really love the officer lyrical because I really resonate with the dance,” Reeves said. “I feel as if my emotions and dancing shine through.”

The officers had a successful weekend, taking home two first place awards, for their lyrical and jazz, and one second place, for their contemporary. 

Caption and photo by Carson Duncan.

GIVE IT YOUR ALL: Smith Bohls, junior lieutenant on Blue Brigade, performs her self-choreographed solo for a panel of judges at Blue Brigade’s third and final contest of the season, the Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition. This past Saturday, the team traveled to Dripping Springs to perform their solos, duets and group dances. 

Dance contests are an all-day experience, keeping the team focused on its routines and determined to dance its best. 

“When I’m performing almost everything is going through my head—we’ve worked all year for this, so you want to give it your all,” Bohls said. “I’m constantly thinking about how I’m performing and my facials, specifically projecting upwards to the judges.” 

After all the hard work and time Blue Brigade has dedicated to its competitions, Bohls is hoping to have an even more successful season next year, her senior year. 

“I’m really excited for next year’s contest season because so many new people are trying out for the team,” Bohls said. ”We will have a good bunch of new people who are excited and feel welcome, so I’m hopeful for what next year will bring.”

Caption and photo by Harper Maxwell.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE: Sophomore Paige Mitchell goes into a turn of her self-choreographed lyrical solo at Saturday’s Crowd Pleasers Dance Competition. Mitchell enjoyed the opportunity to design her own dance, though the process wasn’t without some difficulties. 

“I liked getting to create my own dance and be able to tweak and change things about it but it was challenging to create counts and specific timing in it,” Mitchell said. 

This year was Mitchell’s first opportunity to perform a solo at Blue Brigade’s contests. While on Saturday she didn’t receive any individual recognition, at the previous contest she was fourth runner-up in her category. 

“It definitely was a fun experience and I learned a lot from the whole process of choreographing and competing at the contests,” Mitchell said. 

Caption by Francie Wilhelm. Photo by Carson Duncan.

More coverage on Blue Brigade:

A Knight of glitz and 'glamour'

'Starry Knights' return to their proper alignment

Not throwing away their shot at redemption

Blue Brigade ends tough year with triumphant show