scottidog wrote:Just in case we want to look...Of COURSE we want to look!
ETA: Which one is you? And congrats on another awesome performance with the Great Weird One!
I am the tallest Scout Trooper out there, on the left of Darth Vader. I have some other costumes, but we wanted to be all matchy-matchy for the show. Plus, Scout Troopers can pull of the best dance moves.
I've been fortunate enough to do this on several occasions now. The first time was actually the first time Al had ever had troopers onstage with him, and that time, they let us wing it. We came up with the loose basis that night for what many of the different groups have done ever since, but I think almost everyone adds their own spice. On the next tour we got invited to, they had some basic choreography for troopers to follow, which we'd learn before the show. It's basically exactly what you'd expect (telling us which beats to pose for and which to stay still on)....and it's very similar to what our group did that first time at the Puyallup Fair. Thanks to Youtube (which Al allows us to do for that one song) I can tell that some other groups in other states have definitely gotten more elaborate routines together, and put us to shame.TMBJon wrote:I've often wondered what it is like to be a Stormtrooper or Nirvana cheerleader in Al's shows. How much direction do they give you as far as specific dance moves, or do they just kind of tell you the types of things to do, and maybe more direction on the strong beats where all the Stormtroopers pose?
This time around, they knew most of us had been through it a few times, so we practiced on our own. We added some sweet moves this time around, and I was very proud that people were in step with each other almost perfectly. Alas, the video we captured was not very good, so the proof of our "So you think you can dance" quality moves exists only in still photos and our imaginations.
As far as the Nirvana cheerleaders go, we've shared dressing rooms a few times, so I know they usually get a walkthrough of the moves they're supposed to do (I think there's a DVD of it), and then they practice it all day leading up to the show. Unlike us, I think they are usually professional dancers (or at least experienced cheerleaders), so they're always a lot better than we are. I've never seen them do the exact same dance twice though, so I think that like us....they must be allowed to throw some of their own syle in. For example, I thought the ones last night did a lot more jumping than the ones on Tuesday.
It's a lot of fun for all of us, and every time I've gotten to do it, it's been completely amazing. As someone has been going to Al shows since I was a kid, it's a dream come true, over and over again.
