On Monday, April 29 and Tuesday, April 30, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. several performers gathered in room A112 to audition for the Battalion show choir. On the first day of auditions, students were expected to prepare a piece to sing. On the second day, everyone that auditioned was to have the first 30 seconds of the choreography memorized  before hand. After running through the prepared dance moves, seniors Sarah Higgins and Kaitlynn Pope taught the rest of the dance to the auditioners with the song ‘Classic’ playing in the background.

Every year, Battalion puts together a set of music and choreography that they rehearse throughout the year. Once they have put their set together, they take it to different schools where they compete with other show choirs.

According to choir director Timothy Hercules, show choir is currently comprised of 46 members, both male and female. Members attend rehearsals from Aug. to Feb. During this time period, the group spends a lot of time together.

“We’ve pretty much become a family. You actually get really close to the people you’re around,” sophomore Carter Montague said, “We’ve become kind of like siblings.”

While practicing singing and dancing, Hercules looks for specific criteria in the incoming performers. He doesn’t only look for how well a performer sings, dances, or how fast they pick up choreography. Although those are important to succeeding in show choir, there are several other factors.

“During auditions, I look for a person who is confident, has a lot of energy, and has a lot of fun,” Hercules said.

For some, joining show choir was something they did because they are passionate about singing and music in general. For others, joining show choir was about something different.

“When I saw Battalion perform their set on stage, I was blown away by how cool it was. I thought that it looked fun and really hard so I decided that I wanted to do it,” sophomore Samuel Keiser expressed.

There are many things for performers that make it past auditions to expect during rehearsals. According to Hercules and other current Battalion members, students should expect to pay attention, work hard, and not slack. They should also expect to have fun, a lot of energy, and to learn how to be a member of an elite group.