This week Oxford High School is conducting dance tryouts for the competition and sideline teams.
The tryouts for the dance teams are taking place in the OHS gym through this Thursday, April 7.
Auditions start at 4 PM each day and last until around 6 PM except for the final day which can end as late as 7:30.
This year there are 43 girls auditioning with a total number of 15 spots between the two teams. The competition team is composed of 9 girls and the sideline team contains those 9 girls, as well as the remaining 6.
Before tryouts begin the girls must select which team or teams they are auditioning for and make sure they have all the required paperwork completed.
After the girls stretch they warm up by practicing their kicks in groups of 2–3 people at a time.
Many of the girls continue to practice their turns and techniques while waiting for the other groups to go.
After the girls finish their warm up the basic dance choreography begins.
Everyone starts by learning the choreography at the same time, with the back rows and front rows alternating positions so that eveyone has a chance to learn right behind the coaches.
After numerous times of completing the entire dance the girls are broken up in to two groups and start to learn the dance with pom poms.
The girls not only have coaches to help them learn the dance, but there are also mirrors located throughout the room so they are able to see themselves practicing. This enables each girl a better chance at fixing a mistake.
The two groups watch each other preform so they are able to see what corrections they need to make and experience what it is like to preform in front of an audience.
Each girl auditioning is given a sheet with the contact information needed for any questions, and the website address where the girls can access the music to continue to practice outside of tryouts.
The room where the auditions take place is located on the floor above the court. This area is where the team members preform once they make the team for pep rallies and basketball games.
Tryouts conclude with Head coach, Robyn Lyons to the left, and assistant coach Danielle Little on the right, explaining to the girls how the rest of the tryout process works and what is expected of them.
