Humble in Victory. Proud in Defeat.

Humble in victory.  Proud in defeat.  That is a common mantra among LaSalle Catholic competitive activities.  As anyone who has spent any amount of time in competitive activities with kids will tell you, the former is a lot more fun to practice than the latter.  For our CenterStage show choir, they have recently earned that opportunity.  

CenterStage, a competitive singing and dancing team with a middle school band, has provided dozens of 6th through 8th grade students from LaSalle Catholic and St. Joseph’s an opportunity to express themselves through visual performing arts.  The students involved work hard at weekly practices that begin in the second week of school.  They create beautiful performances that express things that words alone sometimes cannot.  It is exhausting and exhilarating at the same time, but as most students will tell you, once they start, they are hooked!

This year’s CenterStage team started earlier than usual with a very fun and also very focused week of choreography camp.  They have learned the choreo as well as the lyrics, melody, and harmonies to songs including Hard Love, Crowded Table, A Friend Like You, I Want You To Have It All, and Believer.  Their first competition took them on a school bus all the way to Keokuk Iowa where they brought home the first place trophy - and it is large!  

Following the announcement of our championship, the students were all hugs, screams, and jumps of joy.  (The adults were not much different.)  We all know how much this means to our students, and for as long as we can all remember, we have not taken home a first place trophy from any competitions.  These wonderful students have shown pride in their defeats for some time, and it has been such a joy to witness their humility in victory!

The season has just begun, with upcoming competitions at Marion Masquerade on February 23 and at Xavier Xtraveganza on March 2.  The students are now learning from their coaches how to focus the energy of a championship into sustained success while investing in the performance rather than the scores.  It is beautiful to watch the adults in the classroom, court, field, and stage, partner with families to form these young people through life’s wins and losses.  Keep breaking legs, CenterStage!

*Special thanks to directors Holly Robe, Shelby Brewer, and Hayden Wahlstrom as well as support from Tamara Norris.