Satin & Lace brought Rock Bridge three championship trophies last year, but this year the Show Choir shelves will be emptier. Satin & Lace (S&L) had to be cut by Choral director Mike Pierson, alongside the show choir department, as a result of a lack of auditions for the program. Pierson plans to use the upcoming school year to strengthen the show choir department.
“We normally have 60-70 students audition. This year that number was down to 40,” Pierson said. “[Our] goals for this year start with building the skills of the 39 students we have in the program and making it successful for them.”
In past years, S&L performed group choral performances with incorporated choreography. Former member of S&L, junior Piper Page, feels that the program for girls represented much more.
“You have a group entirely made up of women with intermediate choreography and the same level of vocals as any other group,” Page said. “What makes [S&L] different is the impact that they have on the people watching it. I still think that the empowerment will be there with City Lights, but it will not be at the same level and have the same effect that it did with an all-female group.”
Sophomore Hope Keithahn, who was in S&L last year and has gone on to city lights this year, agrees. She said she wishes the cut could have been avoided.
“It makes me sad that our department was unable to keep Satin & Lace,” Keithahn said. “We were really good, and I hope we can start the program up again next year.”
Pierson says S&L ranked as “top performers” in the Women’s Show Choir division at every competition for the past decade.
Sophomore Audrey Snyder, a 2016-17 S&L member, discerns the insufficient audition numbers may be attributable to how much time S&L requires a member to commit. Snyder describes her “hard to manage” daily schedule during S&L as a possible deterrent of the program.
“The lack of auditions was kind of inevitable,” Snyder said. “To be a part of show choir takes so much time out of our already hectic schedules, and with all of the senior Satin & Lace members leaving, I saw something like this coming.”
Despite S&L losing members, Pierson has high hopes for the future of not only S&L, but also the entire show choir department. With the addition of a new variety show, a combination of show choir’s competitive performances, that will be showcased in December, RBHS can expect to see new development in the department.
“We will continue to strive to continue our history of excellence in show choir and developing fantastic student performers,” Pierson said. “Future goals are to increase recruitment and participation so that we can return to having both show choirs functioning at full strength, [and] our goal is for that to happen for next year.”