(Media release from Rome City Schools, GA):
From the sweltering final days of July to the cold, blustery days in February and early March, Grand Illusion, Rome Middle School’s Show Choir, worked hard and competed hard, grabbing awards and honors at several competitions.
But before Grand Illusion could hit the stage, the group had to start practicing.
“We started with a choreography camp that lasted four days in July before the new school year started. Then we practiced two days a week after school almost every week since the first day of school,” Grand Illusion Director Lacy Taylor said.
For those unfamiliar with show choir, the group performs a roughly 20-minute show of choreographed singing and dancing and usually an offstage costume change or two built around a specific theme.
“Our theme this year was “Catch Me in N.Y.C.”, and we showcased all songs that had to do with the amazing city that never sleeps, New York City,” Taylor said. “My co-director and I are both huge fans of New York City, and we’ve always dreamed of visiting it together. We just wanted to give our students and audiences a taste of the city and bring it to life during our competition tour.”
The show not only wowed audiences at the roll-out show in Rome plus five competitions in three different states, it also won over judges.
Grand Illusion won its division at the Albertville Diamond Classic in Alabama and also won the Donelson Christian Academy Music City Show Choir Invitational in Nashville, Tenn. They took fourth place in the Opelika (Ala.) Southern Showcase and competed in the Auburn (Ala.) Show Choir Showdown and the Tift County (Ga.) Peach State Invitational.
At both Opelika and Auburn, they had performers earn the nod for best soloist.
“It is always a blast to see these amazing students perform. There were some competitions that were tough, but I am always proud to see the resilience of these kids when they are on stage and even off stage,” Taylor said. “The celebrations when they win the awards are outstanding. They go crazy excited, and I’m sure they are happy to know that all of their hard work paid off.”
Their work paid off but something else needs to be said about the groups’ endurance, as they competed five times across six weeks in late February into early March, while racking up lots of miles on the bus traveling to different competitions.
“It was a tough schedule, but still so rewarding. During the month of February, we only had one free weekend. Also, all of the competitions were at least a two-hour bus ride away. I’m sure it helped that we stopped half way on some of them to eat dinner,” Taylor said. “Of course, these kids loved getting to stay in a hotel for the trips that were further away. Even though it was a lot of traveling, we loved participating in the competitions, and it is definitely worth it every time.”
Grand Illusion now turns to recruiting more members for next year’s squad but not before they do one final show on April 1st at the Rome City Auditorium, allowing Romans who missed the rollout show and weren’t able to hit the road to see them perform get a chance to see the award-winning routine.
