Understanding Show Choir

If you live in the Midwest, you have more than likely heard of show choir. For those of you who don’t know, show choir is like dance team but with singing. Our season is pretty much all year round. Auditions are in the spring, around late April or early May, two or three dance camps in the summer, then once a week practices when school’s starts. Competitions are in January through March and as those months draw nearer, we begin to have practice twice a week. Show choir is definitely a full time commitment.

            Our show consists of five songs. An opener, a second song, a ballad, a novelty, and then a closer. Many directors will incorporate a theme into their show as well. Whether there’s a theme or not, the show should tell a story. The opener sets the stage with the emotions and setting. The second song, in many cases, is more moody and expresses anger. A good ballad is usually a tear-jerker. The ballad is supposed to be filled with hope and tell the audience that it’s going to be ok. The novelty is supposed to make people laugh, while the closer gets the crowd on its feet and ready to cheer at the end of the show.

            We spend one half of the rehearsals cleaning the choreography and the other half going through the music. A great show choir group has good diction, tall vowels, and their sound isn’t breathy. Singing in show choir isn’t just about memorizing the words. It takes a lot of work and effort to sing well while dancing. Try running around a building then have to run your whole show, going full out. Now that’s hard. Many directors will make their kids do physical activity before running their show in practice to get their stamina up.

            Many people say show choir is not a sport, and many schools don’t consider it one either. It may not be classified as a sport, however you do get just as much physical activity as a gym class would give you. It takes a good deep breath to support what you’re singing, and taking a good deep breath is tiring even without the dancing. Especially if you go all out. The way you practice your show is the way you’ll perform it because people tend to get stage fright and switch to autopilot. When someone goes all out while performing their show, they usually come off the stage drenched in sweat. People say it’s gross to sweat during show choir because you’re in a cute little outfit and don’t want to smell bad, but the people that sweat are the people who are working the hardest.

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