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A spirit that is not afraid

And that's how winning is done

Michelle Knowles, Brittney Holmes and Dori Dobbs react after Alpha Gamma Delta won its third straight Greek Sing. (Emily Adams / Photo Editor)
Michelle Knowles, Brittney Holmes and Dori Dobbs react after Alpha Gamma Delta won its third straight Greek Sing. (Emily Adams / Photo Editor)

For three months the worlds of Dori Dobbs, Michelle Knowles and Brittney Holmes revolved around time counts, synchronized moves and a boxing ring.

The three girls are the choreographers for the Alpha Gamma Delta Greek Sing team. Tuesday, their months of work culminated in a final run-up of last-minute preparations. The goal was to win a third straight Greek Sing title for the sorority.

No pressure, right?

Coffee and Conversation: Five days until Greek Sing

The three sat at the Student Center Starbucks Friday afternoon reflecting on everything that had led up to this point.

"Every year our main goal for Greek Sing is to do something that will stand out and be different," Dobbs said. "We're 'Alpha Gam Knockouts' this year. It's a fighting theme. I'd never seen it done before."

Knowles said the theme for the dance came out of nights of brainstorming in the girls' apartment.

"We went through a lot of ideas," Knowles said. "We went through a bank robbery idea, and we wanted something that would tell a story. But the crime thing has sort of been done by a lot of other schools, so we went with motivational after that, which inspired the fighter."

Dobbs said they wanted to do something that would grab the attention of the crowd and the judges.

"Everything is on a bigger scale this year," she said. "The stage is bigger, it's in the new arena, and that's never been done before."

While winning was the ultimate goal, the girls said the Greek Sing experience also brings sisters closer together.

"We have so many freshmen doing it," Dobbs said. "And I know my freshman year I got to meet so many seniors that I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. So it's definitely a way to meet people and to get closer with girls."

The 40 girls selected for the dance practiced twice a week beginning in February, and Knowles said after Spring Break they moved to practice three times a week.

"I feel like on Tuesday night all your work over the past three or four months gets paid off," Holmes said. "Win or lose, just getting out there in front of that crowd and doing what you've been practicing, it pays off."

Sorority Showoff: Two days until Greek Sing

Sunday night, the team rehearsed in full dress at the Opelika Sportsplex. The entire sorority traveled to see the show for the first time.

Everything seemed to go off without a hitch, and the dancers' sisters screamed, "Squirrel power!" (the sorority's mascot) from the bleachers.

Following the rehearsal, Dobbs, Knowles and Holmes got tips from last year's choreographers, who attended to give advice.

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Ashley Lewis and Emily Busby worked under the former choreographers, and they discussed the difference in style.

"I feel like the choreography's a lot different this year," Lewis said. "It's more dancey."

One thing that was clear was that the girls knew the gravity of this year's performance.

"We have a big target on our backs because we've won the past two years," Busby said.

The choreographers left the Sportsplex feeling good about their chances.

"We know that we're just going to do our best, and literally if we come in first place or last place, we'll be ecstatic either way," Dobbs said.

The Main Event

The "fighting squirrels" waited anxiously as the other competition strutted their stuff for a crowd that was a sea of patterned Greek letters.

"Every one of them was so good," Dobbs said. "But we were just like, 'Well, we just have to keep doing what we've been doing.'"

Finally, the moment came.

"It was an adrenaline rush," Knowles said. "I literally don't remember a second except when I thought I messed up really bad, and I had a breakdown when I got off stage."

If she did mess up, the judges didn't notice.

The moves were even sharper than in rehearsal, and the roar of applause that sprang from the Alpha Gam section brought hope to the dancers.

But nothing was guaranteed, and it was clear the other sororities had brought their best stuff.

The awards were read; fourth through third place went to other sororities.

It was all or nothing.

For the third year in a row, it was all.

The choreographers rushed to their sorority with the trophy in hand.

"Cam Newton went through my head when we ran up to the sorority," Knowles said. "All of the emotion of working on this for a semester paid off."


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