Instead of the typical crowd of students, alumni, friends and family listening to the halftime show at most rivalry games, this year Lafayette’s performers will face an audience of thousands in Yankee Stadium will be waiting to be entertained.
First up for the halftime show is a collaboration from Lafayette’s Dance Team, Dance Company, Step Team, and some members of the Cheerleading squad. They will dance to “Carnival,” an original composition, choreographed by Carly Trachtman ’16.
After “Carnival,” Lafayette’s pep band will play “Don’t Stop Believing,” and will then combine with Lafayette’s band for “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
The finale will be a performance of “New York, New York.” The captains of all of Lafayette’s four teams met with the captains of Lehigh’s teams for four hours to choreograph the number. The number incorporates parts of past dances from both teams.
“Normally when you have multiple people choreographing different sections of a dance, it can come across as choppy,” Lafayette Dance Team member Natalie Nollan ’17 said. “But somehow the styles of each choreographer fit together to form a really cohesive number.”
For “Carnival,” the dancers will be performing to a professional recording of the song. Both Lafayette and Lehigh’s pep bands, however, will play “New York, New York” live while in the formation of the NYC skyline. In addition, both schools’ choirs will be singing in the number.
Because they were given short notice, Lafayette’s teams did not begin rehearsing “Carnival” until October 31. Lafayette and Lehigh’s teams did not come together to practice for the first time until November 9, giving them less than a month to perfect the two numbers. Last Wednesday, all Lafayette performers met with the Lehigh performers for a final rehearsal before game day.
“A lot of credit needs to be give to Jacqueline Freeman,” said Brianna Braswell ’16, captain of the Lafayette Dance Team. “She’s the Compliance Assistant for athletics, and she was basically asked to spearhead this whole halftime show. She’s not only working with Lafayette, but also Lehigh to make sure everything comes together.”
Because Lafayette is the home team of this game, their performers have more numbers during halftime. Still, those attending the game can look forward to both the teams and musical groups coming together for the final performance.