You may have seen her leaping across the football field during halftime or heard of her award winning dances for the marching band. Either way, freshman Alyssa Herman has distinguished herself as a talented dancer.

From the age of five, Herman began dancing in a variety of styles such as hip hop and Bollywood but wants to focus primarily on ballet and modern dance. In the future, Herman hopes to be on pointe in ballet. Due to the demanding 12 hours a week of competitive dance, the offer of becoming a dancer for the marching band became more appealing to Herman.

Herman was asked to join the marching band as a dancer in eighth grade and has continued into her freshman year. “I left the studio for marching band because it was less of a time commitment and I really wanted to be able to do theater and other stuff like that,” Herman said.

Marching band is known for their intensive practices, which aid them in winning competitions. Throughout the summer, the marching band practices every week along with a two-week intensive program at the end of August. During the school year, the marching band practices every Monday and Thursday with performances during football games during halftime and competitions on Saturdays.

The marching band is making headlines as it has recently won first place at states and second place at nationals. In other schools, the marching band uses the color guard to perform alongside them during performances. However, due to a knee injury Herman did not use a flag during performances this season. “Not using a flag in our performance does not make us stand out too much but people will definitely remember our performance because of it,” Herman said.

Typically, Herman choreographs most of her dances for the marching band by herself with some improvisation. In her second season with the marching band, Herman had the opportunity to work with a fight choreographer, which is a specialist trained in the technique of staging a fake fight. During halftime during a football game, Herman performed the fight choreography and surprised the crowd.

Despite having to manage the transition from dancing for a company to dancing for the marching band, Herman thoroughly enjoys her time with the band. “My favorite part is getting to be so close with my entire band family. It’s just a lot of fun getting to spend so much time with them and it really allows you to form close friendships,” Herman said.

Alyssa Bursie

Commons Editor