Marble Falls High School Starlettes shine with spirit and strength
DANIEL CLIFTON • EDITOR
MARBLE FALLS — Every step, every move comes down to one thing: execution. And for the Marble Falls High School Starlettes, that means taking a complex routine — actually eight or more — and breaking it down piece by piece.
“We take it down to eight count by eight count,” said Starlettes sponsor and director Christi Gilpin, referring to how each move gets examined and rehearsed by basically the beat of the music it works with. “Yeah, it sounds like we’re taking it down to a pretty basic level, and we are, but I have four great officers who break it down to that level.”
Then those officers work with smaller units of the Starlettes and put it back together with the girls learning each routine, beat by beat.
And when the Starlettes take to the field or the court, the routine flows along.
Oh, but the work that goes into getting it to that level is quite a bit.
“We start in the summer, and they put in some long days,” Gilpin said.
The Starlettes are the dance and drill team for Marble Falls High School. During the football season, people see them march in along with the band — smiling with each step — and performing during the halftime show. But those several minutes are only a tiny bit of what goes into the Starlettes’ routine. The Starlettes put in hours of work over the course of weeks, even months.
“Yeah, I don’t think people realize all the work the girls put in,” Gilpin said. “And for many of the girls, they come into the Starlettes with little or no dance experience. So for those girls, it means learning even more.”
The Starlettes are one of the leading Marble Falls spirit organizations, but Gilpin added she even expects more of the team than dancing and school pride. Everything they do reflects not just on them as individuals but on the Starlettes and even the school as a whole.
“I think they’re positive role models for the school,” Gilpin said. “And we talk about how what we do and even say affects others and reflects on each other. It’s important, to me, that the girls understand that while I want them to be good at dancing, I really want them to become strong, self-confident young women.”
Dancing and the Starlettes serve as a backdrop or mechanism to help the team members learn and practice those attributes Gilpin believes will serve them well in their future.
“I stress things as simple as good manners, starting with ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘No, ma’am,’” the director said. “I want them to know that there’s more out there than high school. That’s what I hope they really take away from dance and the Starlettes.”
Getting there, however, isn’t quite as obvious. That’s where the dancing comes in. While the immediate goal might be to learn a part of one of the many routines — and they learn quite a few for football, pep rallies and contests — ultimately, it’s how all that work, learning, dedication and leadership development forges into creating a strong, positive young woman.
“The dancing is important, and I want them to have great time out there on the field and in high school,” Gilpin added, “but more than that, I want them to look back on this and see it as something that helped them become a better person.”
And to get the girls there, Gilpin just breaks it all down, one beat at a time.
daniel@thepicayune.com