With a few competitions and awards under their belt, the Equinox show choir team is ready to not only take on the rest of the season head-on but also host a competition for the first time in program history- Echoes of the East, which will be held tomorrow.
Groups from Elkhorn, Omaha, Kearney, Wahoo, Hastings, Gretna and Fairbury will perform. The first performance is at 9 a.m., with daytime awards set for 4:10 p.m. and final awards at 9:30 p.m. Equinox will not be competing since they are hosting the competition, but they will have an exhibition performance at 9 p.m. that night.
“I am excited for Echoes of the East and to give people the awesome competition experience that we’ve had at other competitions,” Equinox member, junior Lydia Contor said.
Their most recent competition experience was on Feb. 1, when they performed at the Lincoln East Spartan Spectacular where they won Grand Champion, Best Vocals and Best Choreography for the third time this season. Their winning streak has pushed them to continue to grow as performers and bring their full energy at every rehearsal. But amidst the grit and determination, the group fosters a space of positivity and passion.
“Mr. Wallace does a really good job of just getting our minds in show choir mode and trying to not have us focus on the other things going on, but just solely on show choir,” Contor said. “He pushes us. He pushes us in such a good way that it just gets all of our minds on wanting to win.”
Equinox’s competition season started at Gretna Primetime on Jan. 18, where the group was crowned as the Grand Champion and won three caption awards: Best Ballad, Best Vocals and Best Choreography. The group out-performed many well-known show choirs like Papillion South’s Titanium and Elkhorn South’s Blackout.
“My highlight of the season has been seeing everyone’s faces when we heard the final awards at Prime Time,” Equinox Director Nathan Wallace said. “I don’t think anyone was thinking that that was going to happen, so just being able to find everyone’s eyes when it was announced was really kind of special, just to see the joy and shock and excitement.”
Following that excitement, the group traveled to Hastings, Neb., on Jan. 25, where they competed in the Hastings Tiger Clash. They were again awarded Best Vocals and Best Choreography and placed second overall. Equinox’s own Thomas Edison, senior Colton Knott, won Best Soloist as well.
“I was very honored to be awarded with a best soloist award,” Knott said. “It was very gratifying as well because I never imagined myself being in a position of receiving an award like that, so I just feel very lucky.”
Aside from hosting this weekend’s competition, the group will only compete two more times this season. They will travel just over an hour away to Firth, Neb., for the Norris Fields of Talent competition on March 1, and then will stay in the metro area the following week to compete at Omaha North’s Viking Cup on March 8.
In addition to their final competitions, Equinox will also host two non-competitive performances. On Feb. 25, starting at 7 p.m., they will host a “share night” where each of the district’s high school and middle school show choirs will perform. Then, they will close out the season with their Equinox Finale Night on March 9, at 7 p.m.