Last April, during the 24-25 school year, the entirety of the Blue Brigade team learned they would be taking a five-day team trip to Honolulu, Hawaii for this school year’s spring break from March 13-17 in 2026. What they didn’t know at the time was that they would be greeted in Hawaii by a major storm, impacting the first night of their vacation.
After the plane landed, the team arrived at their hotel to learn the rain knocked out the power, meaning their phones remained at a low battery from the flight, the refrigerators couldn’t maintain the food they brought and worst of all, the elevators couldn’t carry them to their hotel room on the 20th floor.
“We waited at the elevators for a while hoping for them to turn back on, but in the meantime, some of the girls chose to walk up 20 flights of stairs with their luggage,” junior Lauren Brewer said. “Eventually some of the workers came to help us with the elevators and get them running.”
Despite their situation, senior captain Chloe Seckar-Martinez didn’t mind the rain; she actually felt the unpredictability of the event made her value the team even more.
“Although we were hungry and without power, it was one of my favorite moments because I got to be scared with the best roommates,” Secker-Martinez said. “We were talking and supporting one another through the scariness that the storm brought, which was very special.”
The flooding did impact many tourists during what was intended to be their relaxing spring break, but it more so affected those living in Hawaii. According to Governor Josh Green, the consecutive storms resulted in destruction not seen in over 20 years. Between the waist-deep water, landslides and power outages, the damages and recoveries from the storms will be both financially and emotionally costly, with thousands evacuated and repairments up to $1 billion.
New data actually reveals that the March storms across all of Hawaii dumped 2 trillion gallons of rain over the islands. This contributed to the slippery concrete the team had to dance on when they performed at Pearl Harbor, their singular opportunity to perform a few of their own routines.
“Unfortunately it was raining very hard, but we still made the best out of it, laughing through some of our modifications and even mess ups that came with the rain,” Secker-Martinez said.
The Blue Brigade director, Nancy Searle, heard about the Pearl Harbor performance opportunity through a travel agency, which meant they also had other, more educational experiences during the trip. For example, after their performance, the dancers had the opportunity to explore inside the USS Missouri Battleship Museum.
“We got to see the bedrooms and living rooms where soldiers used to lounge,” sophomore Sophie Perez said. “The battleship gave a glimpse of what life was like for the people onboard during WWI. Additionally, we could see the USS Arizona memorial from the ship, which was built to honor the soldiers who died during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.”
The team also got to watch others perform in Honolulu. On their third night, they went to “Rock-A-Hula” which is a hula show with Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson impersonators, traditional Hawaiian dancers and a 14 year-old fire dancer. Freshman Reese Irelan mentioned this show as being one of the most entertaining experiences during her trip.
“During the luau they performed traditional Hawaiian dance with a twist of pop influence,” Irelan said. “This was my favorite event because everyone in the audience was cheering and the show was so interesting to watch.”
A different, more interactive experience was the hula class all the dancers took during their first full day, where they learned three moves that are traditional to hula dancing, and more specifically, Hawaii.
“We also got to learn some vocabulary and history about dance and the traditions in Hawaii,” Secker- Martinez said. “For example, we learned that if you are single you put the flower in your hair on the right, and if you are taken, on the left.”
The rain eventually clearing on the final day of the trip was enough for the team to make their way to the beach. Since they were vacationing with a travel agency, they were taken to a “secret beach” on Kualoa ranch, where they were one of the only drill teams given access. Although they mentioned the water being cold initially, it was a relief for the entire team.
“It was the one day of the week that the sun came out and we got to do a bunch of activities like paddle boarding, turtle watching and kayaking,” Perez said. “The beach was super beautiful and I had a great time with my friends.”
Since the majority of the Blue Brigade team was there, the different classes were able to socialize in a more relaxed environment, encouraging better team bonding. They ate meals together, coordinated their outfits, and managed to make light of the storm throughout the trip.
“My favorite part of the Blue Brigade trip was getting to bond with everybody on the team outside of our usual practice environment,” Brewer said. “Doing all of the activities, such as our beach day and hula class, made us bond better on a bigger level than what we were used to.”