How to Prepare for Spring Pep Squad & Spirit Team Auditions
Almost every young girl’s dream is to become a prestigious member of her Junior High or High School’s Pep Squad. The school staffs’ adoration, cute uniforms and instant popularity that goes along with membership, are just a few of the ‘perks’ associated with the honor of promoting ones school name and mascot. The majority of school pep-squaders (as we call them in my day) are made up of girls who come from years of dance school training and competition stage experience. girls who have played sports or opted for a musical instrument or academic tutoring find themselves unprepared and highly incapable of learning complex audition material, let alone being able to perform it with confidence. Too often, parents set up private lesson ‘cram sessions’ a week to a few days prior-to auditions, to help better prepare their daughter for the audition process. Rather than spending four times the amount of money and gaining only a small percentage of positive results, the prospective auditioner should consider enrolling in basic dance classes, months prior to the onset of choreography clinics.
Mothers inevitably ask, ‘What skills will my daughter need to be accepted on the squad?’ The answer to that question is a difficult one, as it’s the auditioner’s overall impression that is ultimately more important than the breakdown of actual specific dance skills required. Overall, a Spirit leader must display self-confidence, poise and character. They must have the ability to retain and duplicate choreography and move rhythmically with grace and ease. When selecting squad members, the judges look for leadership qualities that will aide in crowd interaction and participation. Our popular urban music of today brings a hip-hop feel to pep rallies, appealing to young and old alike.
Song-leaders and pom-pom teams combine and incorporate both hip-hop and technical dance moves, using jumps, turns and tricks, requiring the mastering of jazz-move basics. Color-guards and cheerleaders are required to march on beat while chanting and moving in unison to a simpler form of choreography. Unfortunately, anyone who has not been previously exposed to a dance class atmosphere, will find a spirit clinic overwhelming, to say the least. To increase ones chance of making a Spirit squad, enrollment in basic hip-hop and jazz classes is a must. ‘Level-1’ jazz and hip-hop classes will introduce the basic movement skills that will be required at the first clinic. Starting technique classes early in the year assures the competitor months to master and perfect each new challenge, offering better chances for acceptance in the spirit department.
