Recently, the silence in Euler Science Complex’s atrium has been replaced with loud footsteps, while the raised voice of a dance captain echoes in the background.
13 teams of Taylor students have been preparing lip-sync mashups and their accompanying dance choreography for several months now. They will highlight Airband’s two shows in Rediger Auditorium at six and nine p.m. on Apr. 12.
The theme for the 2025 Airband is cereal, and Rediger Auditorium will be decked out with Froot Loops, Lucky Charms and a few mascots, Jenna Vander Ark, a senior and president of Taylor Inter-Class Council, said. The shows will run a length of approximately two hours and host a different set of six judges for each performance.
Following each show, the top three finishers will be announced. In the past, there often have been different winners for each show, Vander Ark said. Contestants are judged on the quality of their choreography, ability to lip sync and their overall audience appeal.
Students have practiced their choreography in a number of large, private locations on and off campus, from the Aerobics Room in the Kesler Student Activities Center (KSAC) to Pierce Church.
Some groups started planning for Airband as early as October, like the student team from the second floor of Samuel Morris Hall and third floor of English Hall, collectively known as “Sanglish.”
Airband has been a heavily collaborative process, Hannah Garman, sophomore Sanglish team leader, said.
It has been a process that requires accommodation, from music alterations to fit the theme better to making sure the set is suitable for Rediger’s stage, Garman said.
Garman formulated plans for Airband during the winter months and started holding practices in February. Her team’s show will feature a surprise cameo with a quirky character from their movie theme.
“He's not the main character of the movie, but I was like, why not include him?” Garman said. “We have someone on our brother floor that perfectly fits that character.”
Garman is looking forward to seeing her family in the audience, as she has often brainstormed different ideas about the show with them on their family group chat.
One team has united two residence halls that don’t frequently appear in Airband shows. Breuninger and Gerig Hall have formed a group of 26 dancers and additional band members to perform.
Their show will feature a blend of swing dancing, hip hop and other alternative styles, Sabra Harms, a senior and choreographer for the team, said. She has enjoyed meshing together multiple aspects of dance to create a unified piece.
While the group does not boast a large number of dancers, Harms said this can be helpful to avoid overcrowding on Rediger’s stage that can result in a constrained artistic expression.
“We've seen incredible community growth and connection. I just see a lot more Breu and Gerig people interacting,” Harms said. “It's just been really beautiful to see that.”
For some Airband teams, spontaneity has been a large part of how multiple visions have transformed into a vivid show.
Juniors Dylan Ochs and Norah Aalsma left the U.S. during Jan. on J-term mission trips and were unable to plan the choreography for third east Wengatz and third center Olson’s Airband ensemble until Feb.
Ochs and Aalsma would often spend hours on Mondays and Tuesdays creating choreography for each song section before teaching it to their group of 58 dancers on Tuesdays.
The team decided to tackle the most difficult sections first, beginning with their “24 Karat Magic” number by Bruno Mars before learning the other parts in succession, Ochs said.
For Ochs, one of the most rewarding parts of helping lead choreography was watching team members begin to enjoy their dance routines.
The group is a mixture of students living in residence halls and off-campus seniors—something Ochs said has been a cool dynamic to be a part of.
“I think it's a fun part of Airband that it's people you see all the time and are super close with, but then also people that are connected to the wing and have meaning with (it),” she said. “It's their wing too.”
As students across Taylor step into their costumes on Apr. 12, they too may find that same sense of camaraderie that makes self-expression a masterpiece.
