Last Wednesday, Blue Brigade kicked off their competition season with their annual show-off of all their competition pieces in front of family and friends in the McCallum gym. The show-off prepares the dancers for upcoming competitions as it stimulates a competition-like environment with the team performing in front of an audience and performing all their pieces back-to-back in full costume. The team performed a variety of pieces including group performances, duets, and solos in a multitude of genres including jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and acrobatic. In addition, the show-off allows the dancers to showcase all the hard work they’ve put into their pieces since the beginning of this school year.
Blue Brigade is officially in the full swing of competition season, with their first competition already completed last Saturday for the MA Dance Contest at Hays High School. The team will continue competing at the upcoming Crowd Pleasers Dance Contests this Saturday in New Braunfels and February 22. Following football season, contest season gives the dancers a chance to perform in a high-energy, competitive environment and have the opportunity to win awards and receive critiques from expert judges. With months of preparation behind them, the team is ready to take the floor and make their mark this season.
We are proud to highlight Blue Brigade and their annual show-off for this week’s Tuesday Top 10.
GETTING IN THE GROOVE: Sophomore Campbell Epperly performs her solo as part of the show-off at McCallum last Wednesday in order to prepare for Blue Brigade’s first contest of the season held last Saturday at Hayes High School. Although her performance was just practice, she wanted to show her best work in order to prepare well for the contest.
“I was honestly so scared because I had never done my solo that full out before,” Epperly said. “I was worried I was gonna be out of breath, and eventually that happened and I got off timing. However at the same time, I was thinking that no one in the crowd knew what my solo was truly supposed to look like, so I just performed it the best I could.”
However, for their first contest, Epperly ultimately chose not to compete her solo and will only be participating in the last two contests. Since it’s her first year on Blue Brigade, she decided competing her solo would be too much too soon, however while not competing, Epperly was able to get more comfortable with competing in group dances before performing a solo on stage.
“I’m really glad I was able to see what the competition was all about,” Epperly said. “Seeing other people perform and learning who I’m up against was really helpful for me. This weekend, it was interesting to understand and learn the difference between just performing on a stage and instead actually competing at these contests.”
Caption by Harper Maxwell. Photo by Daniela Di-Capua.
PUSHING THROUGH: Junior officer Chloe Seckar Martinez and the rest of Blue Brigade perform a group number for their show-off at McCallum in preparation for their contest season. Seckar-Martinez, who helped choreograph and teach some of this year’s routines, said stepping onto the competition floor for the first time last Saturday was a moment of pure reward.
“We have gone through the hard preparation this year together, and being able to perform these dances the best we ever had in front of the judges was the best feeling,” Seckar Martinez said. “This team is so talented, and knowing that all our hard work paid off is such a great feeling.”
Seckar-Martinez said between daily 7:30 a.m. practices, late rehearsals twice a week, and full-day Sunday intensives, the dancers pushed to refine every detail.
“The most challenging part is definitely the amount of time that goes into preparing each and every dance,” Seckar Martinez said. “It’s hard doing jumps and tricks that often because it takes a toll on your body, but it has been very worth it. Even though these practices may be tiring, we get to bond as a team and have fun together.”
With years of contest experience behind her, Seckar-Martinez has learned to focus on the joy of performing rather than striving for perfection.
“When I step on stage, the biggest thing going through my mind is to perform big,” she said. “The judges are sitting so high up in the stands, which forces us to make every movement larger and more expressive. When I start putting too much pressure on myself, I tend to make more mistakes, so I always remind myself to just have fun doing what I love.”
As an officer, she said she’s worked to bring that same mindset to her team, reminding them to leave everything on the floor, embrace the moment, and trust in their preparation.
“I’ve learned that even on the hardest days, I can push through with a smile on my face,” she said. “This contest season has made me a stronger dancer, a better leader, and more prepared for the future.”
Despite the long hours of competition season, from 4 a.m. wake-up calls to back-to-back performances, running through formations in the practice gym, and mentally preparing for the next routine, Seckar-Martinez said they hold an important opportunity for the team to bond closer together.
“Contest days are truly my favorite because I feel like we grow closer as a team,” she said. “No matter how early we wake up or how late we finish, those moments together make all the hard work worth it.”
Caption by Mira Patel. Photo by Daniela Di-Capua.
LEAPING INTO COMPETITION SEASON: Freshman Reese Clinchard executes a split jump, during her contemporary solo to ‘Chasing Pavements’ for the Blue Brigade Showcase. ‘Chasing Pavements’ is a special dance to Clinchard because as a freshman, it is her first competition solo on Blue Brigade.
“It’s really fun because I’ve done a few solos in the past but it’s my first time doing it at a competition,” Clinchard said. “I really like contemporary dance and it’s one of my favorites,”
Overall, Clinchard is eagerly anticipating the upcoming competition season, where she’ll get to perform her solo as well as the other group dances she is a part of.
“I’m looking forward to competing with my teammates, and just dancing and having fun,” Clinchard said.
Caption by Elizabeth Nation. Photo by Daniela Di-Capua.
FEELING JAZZY: Juniors Jill Hoffman, Chloe Seckar-Martinez, and Paige Mitchell perform their officer jazz dance to the song “Rich Girl”. Junior Jill Hoffman (far left) said she enjoyed debuting this dance for friends and family to see after all the team’s hard work.
“This performance helps us get ready for having audiences like at contests,” Hoffman said. “Consultants come in and give the dancers corrections just like they do at competitions so that they are more prepared.”
Overall, Hoffman said she’s enjoyed the community she has found with the other officers this year.
“My favorite part of the officer dances is being able to dance with such a kind and talented group of girls,” Hoffman said.
Caption and photo by Josie Linton.
‘GIMME DAT’ WIN: Blue Brigade showcases its contest jazz dance “Gimme Dat” for family and friends last Wednesday in the McCallum gym commencing the team’s contest season. Currently, the team is preparing for its upcoming competition that will be held at New Braunfels High School this Saturday.
“To prepare, we have worked on cleaning each detail of the dance at all of our 7:30 practices before school at some afterschool practices on Tuesday and Thursday, which went till 6:30, and then we also had two all-day Sunday practices from 8-4:30,” Seckar-Martinez said
Seckar-Martinez said that getting the opportunity to perform the routine for parents was a great step in their preparation for the contest season, as it gave them a chance to work on the final details before heading off to compete.
“With this particular dance getting to perform ahead of time helped us to really see what details we still needed to clean and gave us a good idea on how the dance would look when we perform it for the judges,” Seckar-Martinez said.
Caption by Evelyn Jenkins. Photo by Josie Linton.
CONTEST READY: Juniors Olivia Pittman and Chloe Seckar-Martinex perform their duet in front of a home audience as part of their annual show-off before contest season. The event gave dancers the chance to perform their group, solo, and duet pieces at McCallum before heading into the season’s high-stakes competitions.
“We performed all the dances we’re competing with at the contest,” Pittman said. “This duet with Chloe is something we choreographed ourselves.”
Both Pittman and her duet partner, Seckar-Martinez, took full creative control over their routine, a process that differs from team dances, which are choreographed by hired professionals.
“We began preparing for the contest around October, and Chloe and I started choreographing our duet during Thanksgiving break,” Pittman said. “For our choreographic process, we cut the music beforehand and talk about the direction we want the dance to go in, but other than that, we just set up a day and start choreographing together.”
Having choreographed three duets together over the years, the duo has developed a smooth creative process, and this year, Pittman said they chose an upbeat jazz song, a shift from their usual contemporary style.
“The way it works is that there are team routines almost everyone is in, but solos and duets are up to the dancers,” Pittman said. “The contest showoffs give us a chance to perform in front of an audience before the real thing.”
With weeks of preparation behind them, the team now looks ahead to contest season with their second competition in New Braunfels coming up this Saturday.
Caption by Mira Patel. Photo by Daniela Di-Capua.
FIRST CONTEST SUCCESSFUL: Junior Jill Hoffman and the Blue Brigade performs a contemporary dance to “Rumor Has It” by Adele at the Blue Brigade Showcase held last Wednesday.
The annual showcase offers an opportunity for the team to perform its competition dances before its first contest. According to Hoffman, Blue Brigade spends months preparing these dances before they step onto the competition stage.
“We start in November learning the dances, then, after winter break, we have everyday practice to clean and polish the choreography,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman said that her favorite dance to perform is the group contemporary dance to “When We Were Young” by Adele.
“The [team contemporary dance] is my favorite,” Hoffman said. “It’s super intricate choreography but also super flowy and pretty.”
On Saturday, the team danced its first competition of the season at Hays High School. Hoffman said that the team was successful and took home several awards.
“We did great,” Hoffman said. “We got the highest adjudication possible and had a lot of fun.”
Caption by Katie Martin. Photo by Josie Linton.
FLIPPING INTO COMPETITION: Freshman Kyeri Hickman flips during her dance “Ice to Love Him”. Although Hickman is used to tumbling in Blue Bridgade performances due to her background as a competitive gymnast, this performance was a new experience for her as this is her first competition season as a dancer.
“I’m a competitive gymnast, so the showcase was all so new, I knew it was just family and friends though so it wasn’t very intimidating,” Hickman said.
As a gymnast, Hickman is often seen a lot in pieces with tumbling, but lately, things have been a lot more dance-oriented.
“Lately [I haven’t been tumbling much] because it’s more focused on dance rather than tricks, but whenever I can [tumble] I will,” Hickman said.
Even though Hickman has never been to a dance competition she said her past as a competitive gymnast helps her feel more confident for the competitions.
Caption by Piper Norfolk. Photo by Julia Copas.
THE POM ENSEMBLE: The McCallum Blue Brigade took the stage at the gym last Wednesday Wednesday to host its annual pre-contest showcase. The team performed all of their dances for a small audience, to help them prepare for the upcoming competition season. Sophomore Lauren Brewer, a member of the pom ensemble, said the show-off helped the team grasp what competition would be like.
“The show-off helped a lot with preparing for the contest because it gave us a chance to perform our dances in front of an audience and practice on a gym floor before the contest,” Brewer said.
To be in the pom ensemble, the team goes through tryouts, and a selected few become part of the dance.
“Our pom ensemble is a super fun dance because it is upbeat and I really like the choreography and songs in the mix,” Brewer said. “It’s also a fun experience to get to be in the dance as it is a selective group of dancers.”
Caption by Sienna Martens. Photo by Julia Copas.
SOLO SENSATION Jill Hoffman, a Blue Brigade officer, took the stage with her jazz solo in the recent Blue Brigade showcase. Hoffman expressed her excitement with the choreography and dance style explaining that jazz was a new endeavor.
“This year I chose to do a jazz solo which I had never done before, it was definitely a little bit harder but it came out super fun and sassy,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman said her solo was simply inspired because of her desire to shake it up from her usual style. Despite this piece being challenging due to less experience in the genre, she said she thought the piece came out great.
“What inspired me to make my solo is that I was finding myself getting bored with previous solos that were more lyrical, so I decided to change it up,” Hoffman said.
While Hoffman said the performance ended up being fun she also explained the intense preparation and the nerves that came with it.
“Usually before I do my solo I try to run through it in my head a few and then take some deep breaths right before I go on,” Hoffman said
Ultimately, Hoffman said the long hours of practice paid off when she had the audience cheering and amazed by her performance.
“My favorite part of my solo is the ending because I get to showcase more of my style and sass rather than tricks and technique,” Hoffman said.
Caption by Eva Sanchez. Photo by Julia Copas.
![WISHFUL WINDOW SHOPPING: Senior Mia Plemons observes the displays in the MAC during the 5x7 gallery night. Although not a member herself, Plemons feels a connection to the program through her friends and peers. “I have a lot of friends in art,” Plemons said. “And I’ve seen a lot of their work and it’s all really nice and beautiful, and I really enjoy seeing some of the nice pieces people have made.” Plemons didn’t manage to secure a piece of her own, but left impressed by all the ones she saw. “I didn’t [have a favorite], every piece of art I saw was just absolutely breathtaking,” Plemons said. “I think they should definitely do more things like this in the future. I think it’s definitely great for people in the art program to get their art out there and getting experience with making things that people buy.” Caption by Noah Braun. Photo by Lilah Lavigne.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/54188247349_62510240f2_o-e1733894950394-1200x976.jpg)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
![HIGH KICKS, HIGH SPIRITS: On Friday, Oct. 18, McCallum culminated a festive spirit week with the homecoming pep rally. During the pep rally, the class winner of the hallway decorating contest was announced as well as the usual spirit stick award.
Sophomore and Blue Brigade member, Peyton Robenhorst noted how festive the student section was.
"It felt good to perform for the homecoming game," Robenhorst said. "I knew a lot of people were going to [cheer for us]."](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/homecoming-blue-brigade-pep-rally-1200x675.jpg)
