Reporter 

The number of people trying out for Dance Co and Drill has gone from 60+ girls to less than 30 girls. So, Drill and Dance Co have decided to start allowing people to do them both. It works because they learn different techniques, skills, training, and goals. Being in both actually helps you develop more skills and master them faster, but some may wonder if the stress would be too much to handle. 

Senior Meghan Duffy is the experimental person to answer and solve all those problems and questions. Duffy has been on Dance Co since her sophomore year. This year she wanted to do Drill, but also stay in Dance Co. Katherine Call, the dance teacher, actually came up with this idea. She knew both her and Alisha Lee, the drill coach, were getting fewer and fewer people to try out for their teams. 

So, the two coaches came to an agreement to share her and if it worked they would do that with more people and in the following years. 

“Both teams are full of super nice people, they’re all so cool, I get along with everyone. Not everyone knew I was on both teams until I would miss practices and when they found out, they would help me and catch me up on things I missed out on,” said Duffy.

So far, she says, things are going well with both teams for Duffy and she loves performing with them. Students rising to this challenge will definitely have more opportunities and double the fun, but also double the responsibilities.

Homework, schoolwork, Dance, and Drill. Sounds a bit overwhelming but it actually keeps you busy but you also have loads of fun. It really helps that the coaches have good communication between each other and work out the schedules. Drill has early morning on B-days and its first period as well, they also have after school practice starting at 3. Meanwhile, Dance Co has early morning on A-days and has the class for fourth period on B-days. They also practice after school on B-days til 3.

Meladi Hodges, the current student teacher, and Dance Company co-coach. She is a former Alumni to Granger High School. She was in both Dance Co and Drill when she was in High School. Drill and Dance Co offer different training and technique classes. Drill team is more about precision, dancing very strong, and it comes with dedication, hard work, and fun. 

While Dance Co is more creative and you can choreograph your own dances it is also a lot of fun. So both of them end up balancing each other out. You always have to make sure to get enough sleep and take care of yourself, because it does take over your life. 

“I did it only for one year, my senior year. But it was nice because there were different people on both teams, so I got to know more people. And it was just a different style of dance with both Dance and Drill,” said Hudges. “ I think it’s a great idea, I think if you want to be successful in the dance world you have to be versatile and trained in all genres.”

Many people hope for this to work in future years and with larger groups. Duffy is indeed the guinea pig this year. The coaches plan to stay on good terms and have good communication this can indeed continue to work. Larger groups would have more challenges but it would definitely be worth it in the end. 

They would have to figure out a few combined performances, like homecoming and Tville Dayzz Parade. Assemblies would be easier because they’re far just be scheduled to perform far apart so the dancers can make a quick change. They are doing this in order to offer dancers the best dance education they could get, they ought to be able to explore both. 

“I think it’s a great opportunity for her, it will definitely be a challenge for everyone involved, building time management skills, awareness of schedules, and how to make sure she is putting her all into both teams,” said Call.