What on Earth is a Sing?

Growing up just up the highway from BU in Plano, I was familiar with some of Baylor's traditions as I had a number of high school friends who were destined for Baylor and came from Baylor legacy families, but All University Sing was something totally foreign to me until I was working full-time at another university. I worked for a woman who performed in Sing as a member of the sorority Chi Omega. When she talked about her experience, it was one of those moments when the sky opened, the clouds parted, and a beam of light shone down from the heavens. The reverence she had for the entire experience made me even more skeptical. 

To explain All University Sing is an act of futility. On the face of it, the entire event shouldn't work. Even the concept of an "All University Sing" has a sort of 1950's quaintness to it. "Hey, are you performing in Sing? Man, that's swell. It's gonna be real nifty this year." You get the idea. That was what went through my head until I found myself in early 2017 sitting at my first Baylor All University Sing. 

The program for the show was odd. There were 18 or so acts. How is that possible? I'm going to watch 18 different acts tonight? *In fairness, that was actually an accurate assessment. It's incredibly long. 

I settled into my seat in Waco Hall. The lights dimmed. The curtain raised. And my jaw dropped. By the time the first seven minute act was done, I was looking for some sort of real-life rewind button to try to assess what I'd just witnessed. Normal college kids dancing, and maybe more impressively singing a mashup of music that told a cohesive storyline dedicated to their chosen theme. They were legit singing it all themselves. With a live band in the pit. And the lights were legitimately as good as anything I'd ever seen in Broadway productions. And the backdrop was hand painted. And the costumes were really cool. And the dancing. Wait. 200 people choreographed together on one stage? It still makes me sit here and shake my head. 

What on earth is a Sing? What did I just witness?

Fast forward four years. I just finished shooting photos at my fourth All University Sing. Even multiple years into it, it doesn't lose its charm. What's more impressive, it still hasn't lost the ability to make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end during a few moments of sheer "I can't believe what I'm seeing. WAIT! These are college kids who did this in their free time." 

Over my four years, there have been a few standout acts. A few groups seem to rise to the top of the heap consistently. That said, it's not always the case. This year's performance lacked any acts that were utterly bombastic or audacious, but raised the overall level of all of the performances to a point that I never once looked at my watch. That's pretty impressive considering it's a 4+ hour show and I saw it twice last week (once at dress rehearsal and once as an audience member with my young niece, who also never once got bored.) Every group this year was excellent.

All University Sing at Baylor University is special. It's a tradition that is impossible to explain unless you've seen it for yourself. I remember in 2017 or 2018 being told at one of the shows that there was a group of administrators from another university in attendance just to experience it for themselves, to "learn how Baylor does traditions." There is no argument that Baylor does traditions as well as any university out there...I might argue better than universities 100 years older than us. This is one tradition that I look forward to every year now. It hasn't really gotten old for me...I kind of doubt it will. 

​Here are just a few of my favorite shots from this year (based on the quality of my photography, not necessarily any preference for a given act...they were ALL outstanding!)