While Lip Sync is the most highly anticipated Spirit Week event, few people know what goes on behind the scenes. The people who understand the extent of the work and background of the routines are the Lip Sync grade leaders. Each leader uses a combination of their dancing experience and their personal vision to choreograph a dance to a theme of their choice.
The Lip Sync leaders are able to choose the theme of their grade’s dance. The freshmen’s theme is Cheetah Girls, the sophomores’ theme is Trolls, the juniors’ theme is Sing, and the seniors’ theme is Barbie.
“We really just liked [Cheetah Girls]. Last year we were thinking we wanted to do Cheetah Girls, in eighth grade, but we did Descendants.” said Zoie Hite, a freshman Lip Sync leader.
“In middle school we didn’t have much control over ourselves, so, […] we wanted to switch it up.” said Taniya Davis, a freshman Lip Sync leader.
“Our theme this year is trolls. We chose it because of the beat and the well known music. It’s very upbeat and fun!” said Lily Polski, a sophomore Lip Sync leader.
“Our [theme] is Sing. […] I love the soundtrack, and I could envision a story.” said Arianna Henderson, a junior Lip Sync leader.
“Our theme this year is Barbie. […] [with] the big movie this year, I feel like there was so much media coverage on it. And it’s also a new thing and an old thing, which we know from our past things that the judges love old topics that they can relate to.” said Genevieve Selk, a senior Lip Sync leader.
While you don’t need to have dancing experience to join Lip Sync, most of the leaders have extensive dancing backgrounds ranging from ballet to hip-hop. Other leaders, while they have some experience, play the role of the enforcer, keeping the dancers in line and ensuring that they learn the dance.
“I did ballet for a year. I’m not really a dancer […] I’m a gymnast.” said Hite.
“I do cheer [and] I kind of dance a little bit.” said Davis.
“I’ve been a dancer for about 6 years and enjoy acro and jazz dance. I am [also] a member of the varsity cheer team, which has taught me a lot about synchronization.” said Polski.
“I’ve done dance since I was a little kid. I was on and off again. I started hip-hop back up three years ago, [and] I was on the dance team last year. I [also] do competitive dance outside of school.” said Henderson.
“I used to be a gymnast [so] I can do stunts and stuff. Faith, the other leader, she usually choreographs it. I feel like I’m more of the, ‘I can get people in line, I’m not afraid to yell at people’.” said Selk
With Lip Sync leaders coming from various dancing backgrounds, each grade’s choreography has a style that combines multiple genres of dance into one smooth performance.
“[The style is] kind of like jazz and a little bit of pop, but mostly jazz. And then we have flips and stunts.” said Hite.
“We created a jazz and hip hop [choreography] that is complex but looks very good on the court.” said Polski.
“It’s very much like a poms sort of thing […] very arm movement heavy, [with] simple and sharp moves.” said Henderson.
“Hip-hop is probably the main [style], and jazz. […] We don’t do a lot of [stunts]. […] We try to keep it where it’s not just some people doing stunts. We like to do dance moves that everyone can do.” said Selk.
While Lip Sync dances last under five minutes, the dancers and leaders put in hours of practicing to make it happen. The Lip Sync leaders’ hard work and impressive choreography are what make Lip Sync the most popular Spirit Week event.
