Singing and dancing is not always easy, doing two at the same time is even harder, but one group is hitting all the high notes.

Blue Notes has been working constantly since 2013 to be the best show choir they can be by keeping a casual, positive team atmosphere. This attitude is what has led to their success, according to members.

“We all are very friendly towards each other, and I think that’s something that me and other leaders have worked for. We worked together to make sure the environment was not super cliquey,” Megan Lane, senior and president of Blue Notes, said. “The one thing that these special relationships help to foster is a really productive environment. I think that we get a lot done, it helps everyone introduce new ideas, and attack those ideas because of this atmosphere.”

Consisting of 18 members this year, the group chose to be non-competitive, which has allowed them to explore more numbers, Angela Fortune, Blue Notes teacher, said. Member of the group say they are content with the size of the group and also say the smaller size allows for a closer team. Blue Notes allows students to dance and express themselves in different ways, members say. 

“Competitive show choirs learn maybe four pieces for the entire school year. That is all they do, just totally refine those four pieces, and then compete wherever there are show choir competitions,” Fortune said. “We wanted to be more of an entertainment group: we’ve done the district choir festival, our holiday concert, and our theme concert. We’ve produced a lot more product [than a competitive group] to meet the needs of our audience.”

The group has focused on transitioning from solos that exhibit raw talent of their performers to attention grabbing coordinated dance numbers, according to Fortune. Freshman members of the group say that these performances influenced them joining Blue Notes, but so did the people in the group.

“All of the upperclassmen and people who had been in the club before welcomed me, and I’ve made so many new friendships. I was a little intimidated, but right when I walked in everybody was so nice, and we had so much fun singing and dancing,” Reagan Petrow, freshman, said. 

Petrow adds that the group size also creates its unique atmosphere.

“I think that the size it is now is really beneficial to us in the long run. It’s easy to work with, we look a lot cleaner when we do our dances with a smaller group,” Petrow said.

Though Blue Notes is successful as an 18 member all girl group, some members say they have thought about bringing boys in. According to Lane, the group has always been open to boys, but there hasn’t been enough interest to make Blue Notes a boy and girl group. Lane says that bringing in male voices would be a very exciting opportunity for the group.

“I actually think that it would be really cool for the dynamic. There are things that you could do when guys are in the group dancing with girls that I feel like we can’t right now, like partner dancing,” Lane said. “There are a lot of things we are limited to because we don’t have those male voices, so it would be really cool if we could add guys.”

However, the group says that they are inspired and excited as it is, and that they will always look forward to the class every day. Fortune, says that this dedication to Blue Notes from students makes an impact on them.

“It gives them a great deal of confidence, a great deal of leadership, and makes them very proud of themselves,” Fortune said. “They really see themselves and their potential when they sing and dance, it makes them better people.”