Busting a Move With the Black Eyed Peas

March 5, 2011
Filed under Sports, Top Stories

By: Amber Griffith

     Did anyone watch the Super Bowl? Better yet, did anyone see the High Steppers stellar performance during the half time show with the Black Eyed Peas? Our very own Rockwall-Heath High Steppers were a part of the half time show. They worked very hard had at least three practices every week lasting between three and five hours each.

     Sophomore, Cheyenne Bradford, on the High Stepper team made some comments about the Super Bowl. “The Super Bowl practices were actually really fun,” said Bradford. “It was not hard, and I got to meet a lot of new friends from different schools.” As we all know, RHHS was not the only school performing at the Super bowl: Plano, Rowlett, Sachse and Rockwall High were also part of the green light group. South Garland students were the placed fans. The top five high schools were chosen because of last year’s competition by the owner of the dance competition. You might think that getting ready for the Super Bowl would be a lot of hard work, and would require a lot of hours, but that’s not the case: “I would say we only had one hard practice,” said Bradford. She thought that performing at the Super Bowl half time show was the coolest and most fun feeling ever. She had many mixed emotions, and she didn’t even know what to think. She was scared, happy and excited all at the same time. Who would not be feeling all of those emotions? That has to be the most nerve-racking but adrenaline rushing thing anyone can ever do. When she heard that she and the team were performing at the Super Bowl, she did not know what to think. At first, she thought it was a rumor and could not believe anything that anyone said but then hearing everyone starting to talk about it and hearing it from her team and her coach, she believed it.

      Junior High Stepper, Kristina Starnes, was very willing to share her thoughts about the Super Bowl. “When we were picked for the Super Bowl, I was very happy and excited, I literally screamed when I found out!,” said Starnes. “I was stoked!” Being part of the half time show, it just shows how much work and thought they put into their performances. They had to learn the entire show off of a video and learning off of a video makes it difficult. All the schools picked up different things while learning off the video. “When Usher was coming down, I seriously thought that I was going to faint!,” said Starnes.  They were the ones that also did the arrow and the heart. Their arrow was on television the most. Starnes compared the Super Bowl half time show to the RHHS half time shows. “I thought the Heath half time shows were nerve racking, but being on that field during the half time show, it was amazing! And it was more nerve racking then the RHHS half time shows,” said Starnes. During the snow days they were scheduled to have practice but they could not, and she was not happy about that. During practice, they had about a two minute break at the most. All practices were very down to business. “This half time show was a lot more to handle. There was a major adrenaline rush:  the crowds, the camera crew, stars that were ten feet away. When I got out there it was not a dream. And I literally had tears in my eyes!” said Starnes. Two of their practices were at the Heath field and two of them were at Cowboys Stadium. “This experience is something that I will never forget! It was the best experience!,” said Starnes.

     Senior Captain, Taylor Short, also shared her experience about the Super Bowl. As a senior she thought that performing at the Super Bowl was amazing! She could not imagine it any better. “It added so much to my senior year,” said Short. The best part for her was walking out, getting ready to turn their green lights on and waiting for the crowds reaction. Needless to say that she was nervous! “To be honest, when I first found out, I cried a little,” stated Short. She was so overjoyed. “Not everyone gets to go to the Super Bowl- let alone perform during the halftime show- and it was very fun to be apart of,” said Short. Learning the routine was kind of hard for them. They learned it off a video and a mirror, but it took them forever because they had to place each girl individually.

      RHHS’s Super Bowl experience was amazing for everyone and for anyone who watched it. Knowing that their friends on the team would be performing was amazing for everyone to see. We at The Hawk Eye congratulate our High Steppers! They put a lot of work into the show! Great job ladies!