New team beats a path for stepping at Oberlin

Drilling, a cousin of military marching, has come to Oberlin

Imagine the thrill of a bunch of perfectly coordinated women marching to the beat of no drum whatsoever. Sophomore Bridgette Young saw a drill team perform at a pep rally while she was in high school and knew she had to try out. She described it as "a team effort. It looked really precise, perfect." She eventually became co-captain of her high school team. Over the summer some of her friends saw her perform and convinced her to bring it back to school. This year she created Oberlin's drill team.

At the beginning of the school year, Young and some of her friends posted flyers around campus advertising the formation of the team, and about 25 people attended a general interest meeting. They practiced throughout the semester and six people ended up performing at the team's debut during the Dec. 1 basketball game half time. The performance was well recieved, and Young admits that some "were mad `cause we only did it once."

This semester, Young is teaching a Drill Team Exco, and says it is going well. Oberlin had a cheerleading team in years past, but this is the first time a drill team has been initiated. What a drill team does is use movement similar to that of cadets; they march, and turn military type movements and "footsteps" into a dance-like march. Music isn't always involved; sometimes Young uses dance music like Janet Jackson's, other times the marchers rely solely on the rhythms created by their footsteps. Young does all the choreographing herself, and uses much of what she learned in high school although she applies it differently.

Young's team in high school was run by an actual military drill sargeant. It was very strict and formal; the team members had to sit and applaud in certain ways for performances, and the practices themselves were rigorous. The drill team used only military marches in their routines, and Young said, "It got kind of tedious but it taught me lots of discipline." Young applies some of the techniques and discipline in her course. Tardiness is punishable by jumping jacks.

Marching started as a sport in the early 1800's as a form of physical education. It was seen as a form of exercise good for military preparation, and less rough and tumble than football. Many parents and faculty objected to the marching drills, arguing that the physical education periods during school should be used for group activities, not military refinement. Various steps and routines from the marching drills were incorporated into dance, gymnastics and exercise classes for the rest of the century and into the twentieth. Many of the steps themselves can be traced to African boot dances, and are similar in technique.

She isn't sure about the future of the Drill Team, but plans on continuing the EXCO, which will perform at least once this semester on April 19 at the Third World Coffeehouse. And hopefully, they will have a better career than Oberlin's now-defunct cheerleading team.

Stepping out: Oberlin's drill team debuted this year. Driling involves intricate choreographed steps, sometimes accompanied by music. The team performed once last semester. (photo by Matt Yarrow)