The sunscreen song... for drill teams


Ladies and gentlemen who are part of a drill team... Wear sunscreen--especially during summer band. Leotards chafe.

I'm borrowing the sunscreen advice, of course, from the song based on the newspaper column by Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune. You've probably heard the "speech song," "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen" articulated by Baz Luhrmann about a billion times on the radio. It's good advice, though, about the sunscreen--scientifically proven.

I have more advice, based on my own years on drill team and my years as a fan of drill team. My advice has not been tested on lab rats or scrutinized and dissected by important-looking scientists in sterilized, white jackets. But over the next few weeks, I will share with you what I've learned, and you can take it or leave it.

Enjoy the energy and power you have when you are young. You may not be able to do quadruple pirouettes or switch russians or slam your face every time you kick. You may not even make every dance. But if you work hard, take care of your body, and use it, you will improve. One day you won't be on a drill team. One day your body will lose some of its strength. If you don't take advantage of that power and energy now, you'll regret that you didn't. I always wish that I had taken studio dance lessons when I was younger ... because I didn't. But that doesn't mean I can't dance now. Same for you.

Even one year after you've been off a drill team, you'll look back at photographs and wish you could recapture those moments ... or at least most of them. Treasure those moments. Take as many pictures as you can.

Don't worry so much ... about your hair, your makeup, the scores, or how you look in your costume (to quote Schmich, "You're not as fat as you imagine."). There is a time and a place to take care of each of these things, but after you've done so, stop worrying. Know that worrying is like trying to do a triple without spotting--you wind up discombobulated, confused, discouraged, and probably flat on your face. And it won't be your best performance.

The things you do need to be concerned about have to do with people. Treat others as you want to be treated. For the rules. And if a rule is unfair and you have the power to change it, do so.

The copyright of the article The sunscreen song... for drill teams in Dance/Drill Team is owned by Kathryn Morton. Permission to republish The sunscreen song... for drill teams in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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