Started: Beginning of Year
Choreography: Kate Darch & Kimberley Davis
Music: Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy
Absolutely Nothing
Two Tribes
Performed: Bayswater Dance Festival
Mandurah Festival Of Dance
Awards: Mandurah Festival Of Dance (3rd)
Dancers: Me, Lori McLinden, Emily Erikson, Deanne Walker, Rebekah Foster, Kelly Crossman, Janelle Barden, Danielle Zink, Emily Harris, Kyla Johnson, Nicole James, Emma Karvinen.
Practise: 6:45pm - 8:15pm Monday nights.
Starting off with the bouncy 'Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy', the choreography begins with three groups: three girls to one side, chatting and laughing; five girls to the other side in a line, pretending to sing in chorus; and four girls situated around the main prop - the front-half of a fiberglass jeep, the colour of the green found in camouflage material - only a little darker than that of the material of the girls' army dresses.
Lori McLinden, standing on the jeep's bonnet, quickly marvels the audience with a front-flip to the floor, returning to another pose soon after. Then the formation quickly changes to a triangle - Lori and Danielle Zink sharing the point. After some quick and bouncy dance moves, the formation changes yet again, as all twelve girls run to the very front of the stage in a line. Then the audience is greeted with an unlikely surprise - as the girls rips their little army dresses apart at the front, revealing a darker green tank-top with the words 'ARMY CORPS' written in gold glitter, as well as tight black short made of vinyl to match the long boots they're wearing. The music has suddenly changed to a heavy Tom Jones song.
The line suddenly begins to split from the centre, as Emily Erikson and Deanne Walker each lead their half around the side of the stage, to begin 'reforming' the line halfway back upstage. From here, the line separates, and the girls spread out to form three lines. All girls except Lori and Danielle strike a combat-like pose, as Danielle thrills with a double leap to the floor, followed by Lori coming from the other diagonal leaping and touching the back of her head (now forming a two-person front line).
Here, the music suddenly changes to an even rougher tune, 'Two Tribes'. The girls go to the floor, and between army rolls emerge again to line-by-line disappear offstage into the curtains. Just as soon as they disappear, they re-appear in the same order, now cannoning the next step, before running to form a circle. Emily E, Lori and Danielle make a small triangle in the centre of the circle, preparing to do straddle after straddle jump, and the remaining girls circle and leap around them.
As the circle ends 3/4 around the stage, the girls run to their finishing pose, just in front of the jeep. Three take their places on the jeep, the rest striking combat poses on the floor in front.
Overall, 'War' is not a bad routine... the length may be made a bit longer and the steps a bit slower, but all together it's not bad choreography. Practise lessons for this particular routine are sure to leave the girls out of breath nearly every time. And did I mention the jeep had headlights?