The lights grew dark. The crowd cheered. The music drifted through the auditorium, slowly gaining momentum. Five dark forms began to amble up to the stage. Upon arrival to their designated places, five young men appeared. They began to dance to Thriller, the first phase of the 2007 King Pageant Dance, choreographed by seniors Natalie McCallum and
John Dinsdale.
Now, the five homecoming king nominees left behind are lining up to create a new legendary dance. To live up to the high expectations placed on them, the king nominees of class ’09 have already begun to prepare for their dance.
Though the process is much simpler, the contestants revealed their high aspirations for how they wanted to train for the dance and their other pageant dreams.
Some were willing to resort to putting their bodies through physical discipline. Nathan Hinajosa disclosed his wish to prepare by kickboxing with professionals, under the teaching of Po-Sea Yang. Dinsdale, now a candidate, and Scott Orcutt both intended to go through hundreds of repetitions of pushups and crunches and run up to 10 miles for endurance. Andrew Rurik finally admitted his yearning to participate in an underground king pageant training organization, where he would train 1-5 a.m. daily.
One nominee desired to use less conventional methods of learning the fine skill of dancing.
?Well, first, I?d go to dance with llamas because they can party pretty hard,? Trevor Bodi said. ?Then I?d go down to Mexico where they shoot garbanzo beans at my feet, so I could improve my agility and endurance. After that, I?d fly to Africa to dance with the different tribes around bonfires.?
In reality, the contestants practice after school for a few hours under the direction of McCallum, Melissa Lichti, ’09, Kelsey Hart, ’11, and Nikki Erikson, ’09.
While preparing for the dance, the nominees look to role models to help form their expertise. Following his dance hero, the ’08 king nominee Ben Dang, Dinsdale found he favors the move Dang’s Spastic Pointing Explosion. Dinsdale also ardently follows the dance paths of Michael Jackson and Chris Brown.
?Past kings and king nominees such as Jordan Houge (’06), Ryan Brunn (’08) and Coleton Hutchins (’08) give me my inspiration,? Rurik said. ?And I think people should vote for me because I am positive, outgoing, friendly, funny and my mommy says I’m special, so I must be!?
Each contender prides themselves on their different attributes which they hope voters will take note of.
Bodi says he earns votes because he can dance his favorite move, the Firecracker, where one dances like a Caucasian on fire.
?As king, I will provide change, ’cause ‘Yes, we can’!? Dinsdale said, though he changed his mind shortly after making the statement. Orcutt believes he deserves votes because of his sense of humor and if it was possible, he would own a five-legged dog. Hinajosa says his last name is awesome enough to gain votes.
The King Pageant takes place Friday, Oct. 3, during chapel. For more information on last year’s dance, visit Mary Kneefel’s Oct. 19, ’07, article, Crown coerces dance, kings.
