Classmate or choreographer? The answer to the question is “Why not both?”
It is such the case for Tallassee High School senior Sarah Jane Patterson, who has joined her mother Amanda Glasscock as a choreographer for the all male show choir, Gold Edition. Patterson sings and dances with the school’s other two show choirs — Divas and Voltage. She said there is a distinction between the two choirs.
“With the guys, they are more chill,” Patterson said. “It is fun. The guys are no drama. They are really chill and make it fun.”
Senior Draven Haynes has been friends with Patterson since middle school. They are in Voltage and the Pride of Tallassee Marching Band together. They share the hallways and classrooms as friends, but the studio is now different at Gold Edition rehearsal as Patterson leads the group.
“Differentiating that is not too hard,” Haynes said. “There is a kind of difference but there isn’t. It is like working with any other choreographer. She is a really great and solid choreographer.”
Choreographer is a role Michael Bird believes is ideal for Patterson.
“She was born into this program,” Bird said. “She has been helping and watching her mom for the last 17 years. She has been watching her mother teach show choir and color guard.”
Patterson has been helping her mother in local dance studios. Bird has been helping Patterson get choreographer jobs.
“I have gotten several other gigs recently choreographing for other schools,” Patterson said. “I’m excited because this is what I want to do.”
Patterson is going to Troy University to study dance. The work as a choreographer fits in with her future in college and beyond.
“This is what I want to do with my life,” Patterson said. “I get to start doing it now.”
Bird helps lead the all male Gold Edition. It was developed by Jerry Cunningham as a way to generate interest in the school’s choir programs.
“It was the first of its kind in the South,” Bird said. “It was meant to be fun. Others have since copied it and taken a more serious approach, but here at Tallassee, we still keep it fun.”
Gold Edition is open to any male in the student body at the school. Some members have been around the choral programs for years such as Haynes. Others are green. But all have fun.
Haynes said the Gold Edition is different from the co-ed group Voltage.
“It is less technical but it’s more fun because it is with the guys,” Haynes said. “It is really nice and we bond a lot.”
Fun is Patterson’s mission as she begins to take over the choreographer role from her mother. Patterson said they listen to each other well and try to make a good mix of their ideas.
“We are the team of the century,” Patterson said. “It is so easy working with her. She has older ideas. I have newer ideas. We are not afraid to hurt each other’s feelings either. I’m like, ‘Mom I don’t like that.’ She’s like, ‘Sarah I don’t like that.’”
Haynes noticed a difference in the dance steps between the two.
“Sarah Jane’s is harder,” Haynes said. “It is very different. It’s a good different. It is a nice change.”
This year’s Gold Edition program is spy-themed, featuring classic songs, cool spies, nerds, fights and leaps.
It all fits in with Patterson’s hope for Gold Edition and her friends.
“This is my mom’s last year doing Gold Edition,” Patterson said. “We want it to be one of the better years. We want her to go out with a bang. I just hope everybody has fun, especially my senior friends. I hope to give them one good last show.”