Catching an entire stadium’s attention at the half-time show takes many hours of practice and dedication from the performers. Extra practices, extensive teamwork, and dedication to wow everyone with their performance. On Oct. 10, Berkley High School will hold its annual homecoming football game, drawing an audience of students, parents, families, and kids. With such a large crowd, it is a wandering thought of what goes into the preparation of such a big game, with a specialized halftime show performed by the dance team and marching band.
The Berkley Marching Band captivates audiences with exciting halftime performances. The marching band begins their halftime show performance over the summer at band camp and continues their practice in the mornings and during school until the homecoming football game. Senior Quinn Loree, a section leader in the marching band, states that “we do most of our work over the summer.” The band attends a summer camp, and that is when they first begin their practices for the school year. Also at their summer camp, they begin to prepare their half-time performance. Loree also mentioned that around the end of September, they reach the end of their after-school practices.
The marching band decides their performance through their director, Mr. Thomann, who works really hard to make sure that the performance isn’t only put together, but that it is also a show that fits the band itself. This year, Berkley is undergoing lots of construction, which includes construction on the parking lot where the marching band practices. As a result, they’ve had to practice in the East Gym this school year. This indoor space is much smaller and more confined than their previous outdoor practice area in the parking lot. Because of this, Mr. Thomann decided to add a theme of being boxed in to their halftime performance, since their only available practice space is so small that they wouldn’t be able to practice a bigger performance. Consequently, their field performance will feature a compact formation rather than a spread-out arrangement.
The second addition to the half-time show is the dance team, which brings an upbeat and exciting rhythm to the field. The dance team doesn’t typically perform at halftime like the marching band, so the homecoming football game is an important time for them! Nadia Fobbs, a senior captain on the school’s dance team, says, “all three of us captains choreographed the dance and picked out the songs.” This differs from the marching band because it gives the students the ability to choose the choreography and music, which can help to incorporate many different ideas into one for their performance.
The dance team practices two times a week after school, and when they first begin these practices in September, they start to prepare for their halftime performance. The dance team captains also vote on their favorite songs for the performance and make their own remix of the songs together. All in all, the majority of the Berkley dance teams show reliance on student captains to come up with ideas with each other.
The dance team’s first big performance for the year is the homecoming halftime performance, which can bring a lot of mixed emotions. Fobbs also added, “Knowing that you have your team around you is really helpful.” This also shows the importance of your teammates and the impact that everyone has on each other to add to their dynamic when performing. Not only do the practices affect their performance, but also the teamwork brings the dancers together for their routine.
The last piece of the homecoming halftime performance is finally finding out the winner of the homecoming court. Each grade over the course of many voting rounds nominates candidates, and students vote for their winner selection in every vote. During the halftime show, the winner is announced, and they get to walk across the field with the help of Student Leadership.
When October 10th finally came, it was time for the Homecoming game! The halftime performance from any perspective was outstanding, and very fun to watch. Owen Roth, a member in the marching band says, “It was a fun performance because it was our last one at a game for the year.” This also demonstrates the importance and preparation for this performance, and how much the band looks forward to it. Roth also added, “One of the props was 8 yards in front of the front side instead of 4.” This unfortunately got in the way of the show for the band performers, but overall from the sidelines you wouldn’t ever notice this flaw. The dance team’s performance had a great vibe musically, and had fun choreography for the dancers, and for people in the stands to watch. Overall, all of the dedication and practice helped to make an amazing performance.
The halftime show is an important element to the homecoming football game, and leaves everyone looking forward to seeing the performances differ each year. All contributions to the performance are important to the outcome!
