Growing up with two parents teaching at McCallum, senior Chloe Seckar-Martinez always admired Blue Brigade from afar, not knowing that one day she would be leading the team. After four years on Blue Brigade as a freshman line member, sophomore social officer and junior lieutenant, Seckar-Martinez was promoted to captain. Seckar-Martinez has been dancing since the sixth grade and started out as a competitive gymnast. 

Even from her early officer roles, Seckar-Martinez has been viewed as a leader on the team according to assistant director, Jami Friedman.

“We saw her as a social officer her sophomore year,” Friedman said. “Even as a sophomore she was a leader and role model to everyone on her team, just always pumping up the energy and supporting everyone and being super encouraging.”

Once Seckar-Martinez reached her junior year, the lieutenant tryouts were a bit more complicated with the team, judges and Blue Brigade director, Nancy Searle (or ‘Honey’ which is what the team calls her), weighing in on the decision. 

“She was selected as a junior lieutenant and that was partly voted on by the team and we had outside judges come in and also me and Honey pick.” Friedman said. “So she was picked for junior lieutenant, did amazing, had great leadership and preparation, positivity throughout the entire year.”

When trying out for captain the process was similar, but slightly more extensive. Candidates had to create posters to show what they would bring to the team. Then, they had to answer several rapid fire questions from the team, who then voted for the candidate they think should be captain. Each candidate also must choreograph their own solo and perform it for randomized judges and the entire team. Each candidate had a private interview with the director, Honey and Friedman. 

Out of all of these steps for the tryout, Seckar-Martinez believed earning the votes of the team was the most important. 

“The team has to vote for who they want to be officers and captain, which I think is also special,” Seckar-Martinez said. “You want not just the directors who see you from one point of view to vote for you, but you want the people who are actually experiencing life with you to vote for you too.”

Seckar-Martinez didn’t have the most common dance background during her childhood. She didn’t even take her first dance class until middle school. 

“I was a competitive gymnast until ninth grade,” Seckar-Martinez said. “I learned a lot of my dance tricks and performance quality through gymnastics, but I didn’t take my first dance class until sixth grade.”

Once Seckar-Martinez got to Lamar Middle School, she majored in dance for three years, which is where she picked up all her basic skills like ballet, jazz and tap. Seckar-Martinez’s biggest inspiration for her involvement in dance is her family.

“I’d always dreamed of being on the drill team,” Seckar-Martinez said. “My parents worked here [at McCallum] when I was growing up so I’d always be attending the kiddie clinics and always going to the football games and just admiring the drill team.”

It wasn’t just Seckar-Martinez’s parents who contributed to her love for Blue Brigade though. Her sister, Addie Seckar-Martinez, served as a co-captain on Blue Brigade during her time at McCallum, inspiring Seckar-Martinez to join the team. 

“It’s weird because I feel like she was so old and you admire your older sister so much and now I’m like ‘holy cow I’m that age,’” Seckar-Martinez said. “It was always my dream though. She absolutely loved it and I knew it was something I wanted to accomplish and hopefully do, and Blue Brigade is absolutely my favorite thing in the entire world.”

Once Seckar-Martinez made the team her freshman year, her dance skills began to improve. Blue Brigade helped to shape her into the dancer she is now.

“Blue Brigade just really allows you to be the dancer you are,” Seckar-Martinez said. “When I started freshman year I was not the best dancer, I didn’t get the dance foundation that many dancers who came in did. They kind of took that and accepted me and tried to utilize me in other ways.”

Because of the way Blue Brigade welcomed Seckar-Martinez’s unusual dance background and skills, she was able to lean into those differences.

“I feel like that was one of the biggest things I realized is that I didn’t have to be like everyone else,” Seckar-Martinez said. “I was able to stick out and I feel like that’s what we do on Blue Brigade, we’re not trying to find copies of every single person, we are trying to find people who are different and unique and who can embrace their own qualities and their own best strengths and weaknesses.”

It was this same acceptance she felt on the team that pushed her to try out for captain and help others feel the same way. 

“From the moment I stepped onto the team, one of the biggest impacts I wanted to make was leaving an environment where people felt safe to make mistakes and where they felt the most motivated to encourage people, even on the hardest competition days.” Seckar-Martinez said. 

According to sophomore social officer Owen Fronk, Seckar-Martinez helped Fronk feel more comfortable on the team.

“She inspires me everyday with her enthusiasm for the team and dedication to every person on the team.” Fronk said. “She always radiates positivity and it spreads to the whole team.”

When Fronk first joined the team and had to complete her first audition, Seckar-Martinez played a role in calming her nerves. 

“One of my first auditions on Blue Brigade, she was the person who was filming it and she told me to have confidence and it really helped me relax and dance the best I can.” Fronk said.

Friedman believes that Fronk isn’t the only person who has benefitted from Seckar-Martinez’s presence on the team.

“She is really inspiring and knows how to push people and motivate people to try something new and try even harder than they think they could. I love that she always came into practice super prepared and always with a smile on her face just ready to go.” Friedman said. “If she had a bad day you would never know because she just always came with the biggest smile on her face.”

It is this exact supporting and uplifting community that is the reason behind Seckar-Martinez’s love for Blue Brigade. 

“I love the community, it is absolutely everything,” Seckar-Martinez said. “I have made some of my best friends in Blue Brigade and I don’t know what I’m going to do without them, without practicing at 7:30 with them every single morning. It’s crazy but it is the most joining environment, it is so supportive and embraces the mistakes we try not to show.”

Even with Seckar-Martinez being the main captain for the team, she continues to give credit to her fellow senior officers and the work they put in.

“I think the best thing about us officers and seniors is we ensured that although maybe I’m named captain, we are all captains,” Seckar-Martinez said. “We’re all guiding and supporting each other and asking each other for opinions and questions so it’s very much not a singular role.”

Seckar-Martinez has committed an immense amount of time and effort to earn this position and is looking forward to continuing her year as Blue Brigade captain.

“It’s been such an adventure, but it’s one of my favorite things,” Seckar-Martinez said. “I’ve had the most joy in this role. Being a captain is such a different experience in so many different ways, you have so much more of a responsibility but it’s in the best way.”