32 individuals, 1 passion

Faces of determination. Intrigue. Confusion.

Big smiles. Big movements. Big expressions.

Concentration. Frustration. Precision.

The 32 girls stand in rows in the Farmer Arena during third period.

The music starts and soon the Farmerettes are kicking in unison. The classic kicks that are seen in almost every routine are actually quite difficult, sophomore Emma Smith noted.

After a few kicks their legs get tired, but they have to keep going and maintain the same leg height and technique.

“When you’re on drill team it’s so much more complicated than it looks,” sophomore Isabel Rambo said. “You have to be at the same angle, [our] foot has to be this high up, our leg has to be this far up, [and our feet] have to be on the same count.”

Just like anything else, the drill team presents its challenges to the team members.

In the spring during competition season the dances are a lot faster and technically challenging, so they require more attention to detail and practice, Rambo said.

“[Sponsor Shannon Dunham] takes the littlest things and makes sure that everything is perfect and everything is exactly how it’s supposed to be,” senior Amanda Sick said. “She pushes us really hard to get better, and if something’s not right we definitely do it again.”

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Blondes. Brunettes. Dirty Blondes.

Ponytails. Buns. Braids.

Hair falling in faces to be flipped back when they come up from a move.

For some it started as soon as they could walk, and for others, it was because family was on Farmerettes or drill team in high school. Everyone has a different reason why they dance and what dance does for them.

“When I was in elementary school my best friend’s big sister was a Farmerette, so I’ve wanted to be a Farmerette since I was in third grade,” senior Kira Bruner said. “[My best friend and I] both really looked up to her big sister and her friends. We saw them in their fringe and we were just like ‘Oh my gosh they’re so pretty.’”

Along with helping them grow as individuals, dance gives the girls a way of expressing their feelings and escaping from their problems.

“Dancing has helped me come out of my shell and has helped me become more confident,” junior Lily Lewis said. “Sometimes a teacher will be like ‘you messed it up, come out by yourself and do it in front of the whole class,’ and you have to get out there and do it, and if you fall on your butt or on your face you have to get up and do it again.”

For the 32 Farmerettes, the lessons taken from drill team extend beyond the hallways of LHS. Dancing teaches organization, time management and other life lessons that the girls take to their lives outside of school.

“[Dance has] taught me how to be more responsible in general with everything, [and has made] me a better student,” Rambo said.

Dance helps express themselves and become their own person. The difference between Farmerettes and individual dancing at a studio is there isn’t as big of an opportunity for individual self-expression in a large group setting, Rambo said. Studio dancing is individual or in a small groups of two or three, so it is much easier for self expression.

“[Dancing] by yourself, you can just do whatever and be free, but this is more routine, and you have to have it memorized and have it sharp and perfect,” junior Kendall Hall said.

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Parents. Friends. Siblings.

Cheers consuming the stadium.

Straight lines made of white and maroon sequins with white fringe can be seen from the back sideline to the stadium press box.

The band begins to play “Big John” as the Farmerettes saunter onto the field to get set for their performance. As their performance begins, the audience stops in awe of the group. Everyone looks identical from their uniforms to the way they walk. Individuals are seen, but only because of their hair and makeup.

“[Coach Dunham] doesn’t want us to all be the exact same because we are all different,” Smith said.

But every individual in the group must set their own desires aside to conform, become one and do what they love.

Dance.

Editors’s note: This is the first in a series of stories about how those in the LHS community express themselves through dance.