In Focus: 18th Annual Summer Show Choir Camp at Bemidji High School

The 18th annual Summer Show Choir Camp made its way to the Bemidji High School last week, where members of high school show choir teams became teachers and coaches for elementary and middle school performers.

Show choir combines singing and dancing into one entertaining show, but the 60+ kids in fifth through ninth grade attending the annual camp know that putting these performances together isn’t all fun and games.

“People really think it’s not a sport. It actually is,” said show choir camp attendee Zylen, who will be going into sixth grade. “It’s actually the longest sport in Bemidji High School.”

“You spend long hours, long days, long weeks together and you just truly become a family at the end of the day,” said show choir camp choreographer Makenna Schmidt.

And for some, it’s about actual family as well.

“My brother Zach thought show choir was not his thing, but then my brother Zeke [brought] him into it and now he loves it,” added Zylen.

“My favorite aspect is probably just getting to hang out with friends, just having some free time and dancing with them,” said Josiah, who is also going into sixth grade.

While the show choir camp does teach about singing and dancing, it can also teach other life lessons that students can take with them, even if they don’t wish to continue with show choir throughout high school.

“I have stage fright, but I still do it because if you face your fears, then you might be able to break your fears,” said Ezra, who is going into sixth grade.

“I think it prepares you by getting used to like singing on stage, dancing on stage, and just getting comfortable singing [with] other people,” said soon-to-be eighth grader Rylee.

“You all have to come together to make sure it all sounds good and looks good,” added Naudia, who is entering her freshman year.

And throughout the five-day camp, that’s exactly what the performers work towards.

“It is a full circle moment because I was once them and then becoming their teacher, their leader in a sense, it is really cool,” explained Schmidt.

“My favorite thing is seeing them start here and then as they join show choir, seeing how much better they get and you’re like, ‘Oh, I remember you when you were this big and now you’re just like off doing solos,'” said show choir camp counselor McKenzie Edevold with a chuckle. “They’re just—they’re always so good. And I’m like, ‘I cannot do that!'”

At the end of the camp, the students put on a big show, giving some of the kids their first ever taste of performing in front of a live audience. The show consisted of three songs that the singers and dancers learned over the course of their five-day camp.