Kicking off the 2019-2020 Year with the Freshmen Follies
Written by: Blythe Freshwater Moseman
Welcome back to school! The year is already off to a rollicking start. The Freshman Class of 2023, led by their dynamic student leaders, culminated their New Student Orientation weekend with a dance-off on August 19 at 7pm for the whole student body’s enjoyment. The freshman formation color groups practiced all weekend to hone their skills, buy outlandish props, and choreograph dances. But the real question is, which group should go on to America’s Got Talent?
The night opened with the loveable Emcees senior “Medium Nick” Howard and sophomore Kazden Ammons welcoming students and introducing the first dance, which was performed by the winning group of student mentors, among them Callie Brezillac and David Romanko. The student mentors performed a hospital rendition of “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. The vote is tied about whether the funniest part was a rogue ambulance bowling over David numerous times or the sight of Kaz in a unicorn onesie.
The first freshman group to brave the chapel stage was Team Black, who did an interpretive dance of “Chase That Boogie.” They were followed by Team Green, all decked out in luau outfits and dancing to “You’re Welcome” from the movie Moana. Team Purple was a little deceptive, given that their outfits were completely black. They danced to “Comin’ in Hot” by Lecrae and Andy Mineo. The big surprise of that dance was the Tobasco Sauce outfits some of their dancers came out in!
The Light Blue Team performed “Get Back Up” from the movie Trolls. Their outfits were brightly colored and many of the girls’ hair had copious amounts of hairspray in it to make it stand straight up. They did an awesomely choreographed dance, but the peak was the massive canoe they brought in and carried across the stage. We all were wondering where they got it, and how they got it through the doors.
Dark Blue Team followed their lighter counterpart with a throwback to the early 2000s: “Best of Both Worlds” by Miley Cyrus. They had their own mini dance-off on stage, with a mix between country hoedown-style moves and 2019 trending moves. Everyone was singing along to the memories of their awkward middle school stages.
Kaz and Medium Nick kept the mood light in between acts by throwing candy, showing off their own dance moves, and even jumping rope with insane skills. Speaking of insane, the Gray Team slayed their creative interpretation of “Killer” by Adamski and Seal. They set up the stage like the classic game of CLUE and had their dancers “rolling dice” by somersaulting, “moving their players” by dragging each other around, and “finding the murderer” by slowly killing all their players off. It was a fantastic display of teamwork, although it took the audience a few minutes to figure out the analogy of their dance.
The Yellow Team brought all the Christian homeschoolers in the audience a great deal of joy by recreating “Where’s My Hairbrush” from VeggieTales. With painted faces and a good deal of comedic acting, this team brought fond smiles to many of the audience’s faces. We’re all wondering where they found a free-standing door, though… and where can we get one?
The Red Team took a particularly unique perspective on “Dear Future Husband” by Meghan Trainor: they capitalized on the “future” and brought in cavemen, millennials, and aliens, all connected by a massive time machine. Each couple (prehistoric, modern, and future) had their own relationship struggles and woes, but the greatest woe of all was the fate of the poor T-Rex. He got hit by an asteroid from the future couple’s argument. RIP.
While the judges were contemplating a very difficult decision, Kaz called his fellow basketball team members to the stage, along with Paige Bostwick and Anna Hutchinson, for a riveting, high-energy dance to “Church Clap.”
When Britney Feickert marched toward the stage for the judge’s announcement and asked, “Who do you think won?”, no one was surprised when Ben Staggs (‘18) yelled out “Me! I did!” He was of course met with the classic Mean Girls quote, “Who are you? You don’t even go here…”
After a dramatic drumroll, the winners were announced: Yellow Team (“Where’s My Hairbrush?”) took the bronze, Purple Team (“Comin’ in Hot”) snagged the silver, and Red Team (“Dear Future Husband”) captured the gold. Maybe their win will inspire other future husbands to capture the gold in a little band with a shiny stone in it.
For other engaging events, check out the new activity calendar! Let’s make this year a great one!
