By Olivia Turner | Arts & Life Editor
With two weeks left until the first Pigskin performance of 2024, groups are putting in the hours at practice and putting final touches on their acts. After three years, Kappa Alpha Theta will be back on the Pigskin stage.
Waco junior Amanda Strahler, a KAT member and performer, said the hard work and time commitment has been worth it all.
“It was just amazing, hearing our name being called for Pigskin,” Strahler said, reflecting on February’s Sing. “It’s like a feeling I’d never had before — like we all really had just put our blood, sweat and tears in it.”
Their “The Great KATsby” themed act features flappers partying the night away and electricians – one of whom Strahler plays – who come to save the day when the lights go out at the party. The set includes a backdrop of a grand house to set the scene of what Strahler said was a “New York ‘Roaring ’20s type-of-vibe.”.
Strahler described her role in the performance as full-time, as she was in all five dances of the act.
“As soon as I got on the stage, I didn’t come off the stage,” Strahler said.
Similarly, Houston sophomore Annabeth Slagle, who plays a flapper, said she ends up going to Pigskin practice for multiple hours a day, Sunday through Wednesday. Even though she had ample prior experience in studio dance, Slagle said performing in Sing and Pigskin was much more challenging than expected.
“I think a lot of people underestimate how hard it is to put together an act with 200 people,” she said.
The rehearsals have been collaborative in the realm of choreography, according to Houston senior Stephanie Shaub, KAT’s head of choreography for Pigskin. Shaub said in practicing, performers make sure not only to know the dance well but also to help the performer next to them.
“Rather than having this very, like leadership-followers kind of a thing, we’re all just working together,” Shaub said. “I literally sat down with them yesterday before rehearsal and I was like, ‘Tell me all this feedback. We just had our first open stage and I was just like, ‘I want to hear from y’all.’”
Strahler said that within the time gap from Sing to Pigskin, the KAT group has been able to tweak their act to create an even better performance.
“That’s been really cool to kind of just see different takes that we maybe couldn’t have added in last year, and now, and now that we have the time, we can do it this year, because the Pigskin timeline is two weeks longer than the sing timeline,” Strahler said.
Amid the chaos of other Greek life activities such as Panhellenic preview or recruitment workshops, Strahler mentioned that Pigskin practices can be canceled around once a week.
“That’s kind of been nerve-wracking as we’re getting closer and closer,” Strahler said.
For Slagle, the setting in which their group practices take place can make the seemingly far-off date much more of a present and sometimes overwhelming reality.
“I feel like when you’re practicing just in the chapter room, there’s not really the pressure of the audience and the stage lights, but as soon as you step in Waco Hall, it’s like a completely different ballgame,” Slagle said.
Despite canceled practices, both Strahler and Slagle said they’re feeling more anticipation than nerves for their upcoming performance.
“I’m just more excited to kind of see how everything else turns out,” Strahler said. “I’m excited to see what people’s opinions are and see if they can notice certain things that we change.”
