By Gianna Costanzo
Under the warm sun in Orlando, Fla., the Uniondale High School Rhythm of the Knight show choir patiently waited for judges from the FAME Show Choir of America Competition to announce the winners of various awards. Shock, relief and happiness swept over the nearly 20 students when the honorees were announced.
At this year’s competition from March 13 to 16, Rhythm of the Knight, directed by Lynette Carr-Hicks, won four awards. The accolades included first runner-up in the overall competition, Best Female Vocalist and Best Set Design honors, and the Fame Award for outstanding performance.
“The Fame Award is based on how the students are acting towards the competition,” Carr-Hicks said, “how they walk around the hallways, how they help each other and help other students and give them pointers.”
Indeed, music extends beyond notes on a page and a tune from an instrument for the members of Rhythm of the Knight. For them, it’s about passion, identity, beauty and faith. For them, it’s a way of life.
Cadence Peace, a Uniondale senior, won the award for Best Female Vocalist based for her solo performance of “Born Again” by Rihanna, as well as her contribution to the opening song of Rhythm of the Knight’s production. The song was “Power is Power” by SZA, The Weeknd and Travis Scott.
Show choir combines singing, dancing and acting in a theatrical showcase. Rhythm of the Knight performed a compilation of songs that fit the storyline and theme of “Black Panther.” To excel in their production, the show choir was encouraged to embody the central ideas of their theme.
“You have to live in what you’re performing,” Peace said. “We had to instill in each other, and our director had to instill in us, like, you can’t try to tell the story of ‘I’m a warrior. This is your Black Panther,’ without kind of embodying this persona … We had to really take on that persona and just live in that.”
Carr-Hicks approaches the show choir with a “tough love,” which has proven beneficial over her 12 years of directing Rhythm of the Knight.
“I’m very hard on them all the time,” Carr-Hicks said. “I tell them that it’s not the way I like it … I tell them things for them to grow … You know, I’m kind of crazy in that sense. But they really brought the house down, and they did an awesome, awesome job.”
Despite some technical difficulties, Rhythm of the Knight remained professional and in character throughout the performance.
“We had some music difficulties from our musicians,” Carr-Hicks said, “but the kids kept on going … They were able to click on, they were able to keep on performing [and] keep on singing. You know, it was incredible.”
This professionalism was accomplished through rehearsals in Uniondale, as well as mental preparation before the show. Peace compared her mindset before a major performance to that of a robot: focused on what is to come and ready for battle.
“The morning of, and like, leading up to [the competition], you kind of have to put yourself in a head space of, ‘Okay, this is not like a regular, local performance where you’ll do a little song and dance for somebody,’ [because] these are judges that have seen it all and have heard it all. So you kind of just have to bring your A game,” Peace said.
The accomplishments of Rhythm of the Knight extend beyond the awards won at the competition. The group has also been recognized by the Uniondale community.
“We are so proud of the show choir for their artistic ability, for the cohesion and for how they represent us across the county and across the country,” Uniondale Schools Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil said. “Uniondale is on the map in every way you can imagine.”
