A College Dance Group Rocks the East Coast - Student Tours

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Escorting various student groups on trips is always something that I look forward to and wholeheartedly enjoy. I have been on group travels with Middle school and High school bands, choruses and other various musical organizations. However, my most unique trip happened when I met up with the Texas A & M Aggie Wranglers, a dance group of international fame. Their "costume" consisted of western style clothing, boots and, of course, their 10-gallon hats.

This trip encompassed visiting the many interesting sites in and around our Nation's capitol and, best of all, watching them display their own brand of Texas hospitality to locals and visitors alike.

The monuments in Washington, DC are awesome and cover a wide range of Americana, from heroes to events, from earliest revolutionary times up to including exploration of outer space. The Aggie Wranglers experienced some of the Smithsonian museums (there is never enough time spent at the Smithsonian, so the group is looking forward to their next trip to DC), various commemorative sites such as WWII Memorial, The Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Wall, and Arlington National Cemetery, the home of our fallen heroes, to name but a few; and a special tour of the Capitol building which was arranged by their Congressman.

Also, the Wranglers performed their special combination of Country dancing, jazz, flips and turns at the Old Post Office building in front of hundreds of delighted visitors. They received a well-deserved standing ovation! Their most unique performance was a visit to a local elementary school. There, inside a small gymnasium, over 100 children watched in amazement at the Wranglers danced their way into the imagination and spirit of these pint-sized future leaders. After the "formal" dance routine, the Wranglers  answered fascinating questions which were proposed to them. These questions ranged from "Where do you keep your horses?" to "How can I learn to dance like that?"  To everyone's amazement, one of the dancers revealed that she was visually impaired and depended on her partner to guide her, unnoticed by most, through the complex dancing routine. This was very eye-opening to the young students.  Despite a busy, jam-packed schedule, the Wrangles extended their time at the school , with the Principal's permission, and got the audience (students and teachers also) to stand up and learn some basic "line-dancing" steps. I'm not sure who had more fun: the students or the dancers!!!

After spending 4 days learning about our country's capitol, the group proceeded to Baltimore Harbor and then to NY City for more sightseeing and dancing performances. Upon parting, the Wranglers were already discussing their next group trip and challenging Peak Performance Tours to come up with another worth-while and interesting program.