Small group of music, dance lovers ready to take spring stage
By: Ian Kahler
Show choir is oftentimes more common as a high school activity rather than a university one. However, at UNK, Nebraskats is a show choir featuring classic tunes designed to get the audience’s feet tapping along with the dancers on stage.
Eileen Jahn was in the group from 1992-1996, was director from 2002-2006 and returned as the director in the Fall 2015 semester.
“It’s been interesting to see how ‘Kats has evolved over the years,” Jahn said.
This year, Nebraskats is performing with fewer dancers than their typical numbers. “Usually fourteen is the biggest group we have, but this year we have 6 in total. It can be a challenge to have a balance of guys and girls, but we always make do and find a way to have fun.”
The Nebraskats music selection is usually a mixture of Broadway tunes, pop, jazz and sometimes country music.
Thomas Prentice, a senior Music major, Psychobiology minor is the accompanist for Nebraskats.
“It’s predominately older musicals and showtunes, but there’s often a mixture of different eras of music,” Prentice said. “The music is vocally challenging, but for me as soon as I memorize and get the song down, it’s a breeze.”
Nebraskats isn’t exclusively music students either.
“It might sound cliché, but the people involved is my favorite part of being in Nebraskats,” Prentice said. “Most of the performers aren’t in music, so it’s interesting to have a different group of people involved in a music group.”
Morgan Meyer is a freshman Music Education major and likes Nebraskats for this diversity.
“I like how the songs we perform tell stories,” Meyer added. “If it’s a love song versus an exciting happy song, you can see how the music and dancing work together. It tells a story.”
Meyer is also involved with UNK Cheer, Choraleers and band.
“I think it will always be a challenge to get more guys involved in Nebraskats,” said Jahn. “We try to have a variety of music every year, so we can hopefully recruit some new members. It’s always fun no matter what the group size is.”
