The mystery behind the absence of Songs

The question that was on everyone’s minds during the welcome back pep rally: Where is Songs? We all waited for the female ensemble to pop out on the Greek stage, performing a sassy dance to a Beyonce song or something in that genre, only to be let down by their absence. So what really did happen to Songs?A shift in the composure of the Songs program had left Samo Song-less for a little while. “It all has to do with the type of choreography and team members’ dancing preferences,” Dempsey Tonks (’18) said.Tonks, a current and past member of the Songs team, attended last year’s second semester tryouts for the songs team and describes the audition sequence. “It was extremely cheer focused,” Tonks said. “The previous songs members loved hip-hop and were disappointed that the program had changed to incorporate more cheer over hip-hop."Tonks, a hip-hop dancer, did not return to tryouts for that semester, along with many other former members of songs, who ended up dispersing and quitting the team. About six weeks into this current semester, the songs program was re-mastered to cater more to actual Hip-Hop dancing.“Now more people [joined], and it’s fun again,” Tonks said. In some incidences, cheer coach Nicole Perrine has gotten choreographers to work on a sequence with the girls for a concentrated amount of time.“For the Homecoming pep rally, Tony Tovar, a Choreographer from Orange County, helped the girls with a dance,” Perrine said. Other choreographers like Taylour Paige from the Laker Girls have worked with the Songs team in the past. In other cases, the ensemble created their own dances. “Because all of the girls are from outside studios, they don’t have a coach, it’s not necessary since they all have experience,” Perrine said. Unlike any other team on campus, Songs is student-run, without a coach or captain. “We work as a team; the people who have been on the team longer will teach us the stuff that we don’t know,” Tonks said.In the future, the new Songs team will be seen performing at Pep Rallies and Halftime shows once again. “The girls on the songs team are all very talented,” Perrine said.