Typically, afternoon activities for the Choate student fall into two discrete categories — athletics and theater. Bring It On: The Musical, which Choate will stage this spring, combines the two through the art of cheerleading.
Ethan Luk ’20, a Bring It On cast member, said the musical is about a girl who wants to lead her cheerleading team to Nationals before she gets redistricted. He said that the musical features “betrayal” and “friendship” as the main character works to build a team from scratch at her new school. In preparation for the production, cast members have been learning real cheerleading routines, which play a prominent role in the musical. These sessions take place in McGuire gym.
Nia Soto ’18, one of the leads in the show, explained, “The training is split up depending on each person’s part. The students who do most of the cheerleading have training at least three times a week with two hours for each training session.” She added that “everyone has to train for every part in a cheerleading squad so that everyone is able to do any part if needed.”
Luk said that the practices usually begin with cheerleading basics, which include a variety of jumps and toe touches, before advancing to more complex moves such as cartwheels, flips, and tumbling maneuvers. Students are taught by Alysa Worthy, the coach from the Wallingford Vikings Cheer Team.
Members of the musical said that they believe this training will have a significant and positive impact on group dynamics and production quality. Lily Kops ’18, who plays Skylar, one of the show’s protagonists, said, “There are people who have all different skill levels. No matter what skill level you come from, however, it’s been a really fun process to see everyone learn how to fly and do stunts. Everyone’s really supportive because we’re all new to it.”
Noah Trudeau ’20, another cast member, said that the training “will definitely aid in our onstage chemistry, and if one of us makes a mistake or falls, the rest of us will be there to help and support them. Cheerleading is obviously a strong team bonding exercise in general, so I think it only increases our chemistry as a group.” At the same time, Trudeau noted that all cheerleading routines are not “required” for all cast members: “It can be a big stress, with all the stunting and flying. All the cast members only do what they’re comfortable with.”
Despite the difficulty of the new skills being learned, Deighna DeRiu, Bring it On’s director, said that the team “has a wonderful enthusiasm and willingness to try, and although most have never tried cheerleading before, they are picking it up very quickly.” Soto shared insight on the difficulty of the training: “It’s not easy. We do basic things, just jumps and turns, and sometimes do some exercises very close to the ground, but people still fall! If we didn’t have training, some people would definitely get hurt.”
The amount of time and training put into Bring It On shows how passionate students are about the show. Cheerleading is a difficult sport that is brand new to many cast members, but everybody is trying to learn it as quickly as possible. After reflecting on his experience with the cheerleading training so far, performer Max Patel ’19 concluded, “Everyone has one goal: to have a good show. [It’s] gonna be lit!”
