A blend of voices, a mix of colors and costumes take the stage as North Stars and Vocal Pointe enter their competition season. Show Choir Director Eleanor Kopp described how the show changes each competition.
“Now that the season is underway, our groups are focused on implementing judges’ feedback from week to week and elevating our shows to the next level,” Kopp said. “While competition is exciting and trophies are rewarding, our goal is to make each performance the best it can possibly be.”
Senior Kate Franklin spoke about what the show choir community means to her.
“I love getting to sing and dance, but the community that being a part of Show Choir is invaluable to me,” Franklin said. “The relationships that I’ve made mean so much to me, and being able to do something that I love some much with people that I so deeply care about is an amazing opportunity.”
Junior Bella Zigler added how working together influences the success of the group.
“We, as a team, are looking forward to going up against big schools and placing or even bringing home trophies back to Columbus North and we, at the least, look forward to working with one another to try our very best up on stage,” Zigler said.
Kopp explains her role as choir director.
“Being a show choir director is a lot like coaching an athletic team,” Kopp said. “Beyond teaching the material, my most important role is motivating the groups to challenge themselves and work together as a team. Growth in our focus and teamwork directly impacts their onstage performance.”
Senior Henry Manzilla spoke about how for him, Vocal Pointe is an opportunity to express himself.
“For me, [Show Choir] means expressing myself,” Manzilla said. “I like music. I have been involved with [music] since elementary school and just being in VP, being able to dance and sing with all my friends, it’s really quite freeing.”
Franklin described what a typical practice is like.
“We always begin our practices by stretching and warming up, then we do a run of the show,” Franklin said. “After that the dance captains and our director, Ms. Kopp, pick parts of our show to clean and work on. This can include working on a section of vocals, checking foot work in a dance break, making changes or edits to the choreography, and many other things. At the end of practice we often have a short conversation to review practice and talk about what is coming up in our season.”
Manzilla described pre-show traditions before competitions.
“We have this little tradition where we would go backstage and everyone in VP would huddle up and we would chant “Go VP, GO VP GO!” and it all gets us pretty excited for the show,” Manzilla said.
Kopp explains how the team recognizes their success.
“When we make it to finals at a competition, everyone gets glitter for a little extra sparkle onstage to celebrate,” Kopp said.
Zigler added that she feels that the hard work is worth it.
“It overall has taught me to endure through long hours and hard work because it is truly all worth it in the end,” Zigler said.
