This past weekend, music and dance groups held auditions for the 2021-2022 school year. Making full use of in-person facilities and spaces, each group kicked off the season by holding open auditions in the dance studios or tents. Co-Heads of Downbeat, Keynotes, Yorkies, Blue Strut, and Hypnotiq reflected on the highlights of their respective experiences and shared their audition processes and plans for the upcoming year with The Phillipian.
Keynotes:
Jane Park ’22: “[Holding auditions] was so rewarding in that it was my first time being in charge of audition processes, and to see people passionate about singing and knowing I’m part of a club that can actively foster that… it’s a great collective of people who are really invested in music, and it’s really cool when you see that collective energy manifest into a performance.”
Downbeat:
Kate Horton ’22: “Right now, we’re prepping to perform at the first Dramalab of the year. We’re also prepping a song to audition for Grasshopper… We’re hoping to perform at [Abbot Cabaret,] potentially, maybe even put on a Downbeat show in the spring.”
Han Chin Toh ’22: “[We’re hoping to perform at] a cappella night, which hasn’t happened in about two years already. I think the last time it happened was my [Junior] year. We’re hopefully trying to bring that back this year, get the groups together again, and revive everything.”
Yorkies:
Sean Meng ’22: “It’s Yorkies tradition to do auditions in public. It really forces the kids to project, and you want to see their stage presence as well… it’s been such a pleasure for me and [Co-Head Troy Keller ’22] to organize it. It reminds us of when we first auditioned… we’re thinking of hosting our own show, just a casual [Susie’s] type of thing, where we perform a small repertoire of songs. [We’re hoping to do] one thing for each term: the Yorkies show fall term, Yorkeling in winter, and AbbCab in Spring Term.”
Hypnotiq:
Amara Neal ’22: “We just want to build a more inclusive dance community, because oftentimes we have seen that the Dance Department can be very intimidating to people who have never danced before, but we want Hypnotiq and these new dance classes and workshops to open new pathways for people who haven’t danced before.”
