St. Tammany’s Glittering Golden Girls

story and photography by Stacey Paretti Rase

If you’re an avid LSU Tiger fan, you have undoubtedly experienced the exhilarating rush of seeing the Golden Band from Tigerland make its way down “the hill” as they march to Death Valley just before a football game. You’ve heard the familiar sound of the drum line’s cadence, and then seen the band come to an abrupt halt. You’ve felt the crowd around you go wild in anticipation of what’s to follow—a thrilling pregame salute of time-honored school songs, coordinated with the color guard’s flags waving in sync and the precise moves of the Golden Girls.

The next time you’re there to experience it all, take a closer look at those glittering girls in gold. Chances are good that you just might recognize a face or two, as nearly half of the dance line hails from St. Tammany Parish. Be sure to cheer on our hometown girls at the next game: Hilary Buras, Jana Richards and Tayler Schulte of Covington; Danielle Hardy and Valerie Gendron of Mandeville; and Courtney Labat of Slidell.

To have six Golden Girls in one year come from St. Tammany is pretty extraordinary. Looking back throughout the dance team’s 48-year history, you find that the number is indeed unprecedented. According to Hilary Buras, a textiles and apparel marketing major and graduate of Covington High School, there have been nine students from her alma mater who have danced with the team since 1999, six of whom, like herself, were past captains of CHS’ team, the Dancin’ Darlins. “I think that many girls were often intimidated to try out for the Golden Girls,” she says. “But when girls from one area make the line, it makes it seem more attainable.”

Hilary no doubt felt that inspiration when she watched her older sister Blair make the team. The two later would perform together for the Tigers, creating another unique scenario: two sisters on the line together, each of whom would go on to serve as captains of the squad. The girls are the daughters of Covington’s Buddy Buras, who also bleeds purple and gold, having played football at LSU from 1971-74.

It Must Be in the Water

The northshore’s level of talent in the performing arts, and dance in particular, has definitely blossomed over the past decade. Tayler Schulte, the daughter of Shelly Jarrell and Randy Schulte and a second-year Golden Girl from Covington High School who is majoring in finance, offers her take on the rising talent from this area. “It’s really quite impressive! I think we have great high school dance teams, as well as dance studios, that offer really awesome training,” she notes. “It helps to grow up dancing and aspiring to do something great like this. It makes you put forth the extra effort to really work hard and accomplish your goals.”

Many locals attribute our area’s rising talent to Lydia Pond King, owner/director of Northshore Academy of Dance in Covington, and her talented staff of instructors. All five current Golden Girls hailing from West St. Tammany called NAD home for their pre-collegiate dance training. “We’ve taught most of those girls since middle school and junior high,” laughs Lydia. “I had Jana since she was eight years old! Many of them set their goal to be on a college team early on,” she says, noting that former student Valerie Gendron, daughter of Paul and Cynthia Gendron, prepared specifically for two years.

In addition to serving as captain of the CHS Dancin’ Darlins in high school (there seems to be a recurring theme here!), Lydia was captain of the Ole Miss Rebelettes dance line and understands what it takes to make collegiate-level teams. “We teach them choreography, style, showmanship. But the most important thing is ballet, jazz technique and flexibility. The drill teams of the past are all but gone. The teams today focus on studio-style dancing.” In an effort to continue the virtual dynasty of St. Tammany talent on the Golden Girl line, NAD brings back past students who have made the LSU line to conduct workshops for audition hopefuls. Among the six, these girls have logged in an incredible 94 years of various studio dance training; an average of about fifteen years per dancer.

Time for Tryouts

All of the long hours of training certainly pay off come tryout time. The full-day audition is rigorous and demanding, and only the most technically adept dancers survive. The annual spring audition sometimes draws more than 100 hopefuls, but only about 16 are chosen for the team each year. In the first round of tryouts, each dancer must perform an original self-choreographed dance. “After that, they make cuts and call back about 30 girls,” explains Mandeville High graduate and freshman elementary education major Danielle Hardy, daughter of Scarlett and Dan Hardy.

From there, the dancers are taught two “on-the-spot” routines, which they must learn, perfect and perform in groups of two or four in one hour’s time. The girls also perform progressions across the floor that highlight each girl’s dance technique or expose her lack thereof. There are usually nail-biting callbacks. Finally, the girls are brought into an auditorium and the numbers of the dancers who made the team are announced. “Tryouts are both physically and mentally exhausting,” says Hilary.

Mandeville High graduate and current physical therapy major Valerie agrees, but says the effort is worth the reward. “When I heard my number called and I looked back at my mom, I saw how proud she was of me,” she recalls.

Getting Down to Work

The rigorous audition process is just the beginning of a long fall season filled with hard work and practice. The line practices with the full band Tuesday through Saturday for about two hours each day, learning and perfecting the on-field marching formations. But Covington High grad and LSU business major Jana Richards, daughter of Teresa and Gary Heap, says that’s just the tip of the iceberg when describing a typical practice week. “Monday is our longest practice; sometimes we don’t get out until 11:30pm!”

“We take a technique class together weekly,” adds Hilary. “We also practice late after Tuesday’s band practice. We have Saturday practice at the Indoor Football Facility (this practice is open to the public and attracts hundreds of fans before home games). We get there early to practice for two hours by ourselves and then with the full band for another two and a half hours.”

“Sunday is our only day off,” marks Jana.

“And then the whole week starts all over again!” laughs Hilary.

Perception is Not Reality

Many fans don’t realize that the team requires that level of commitment and responsibility. There are other misconceptions as well. Some people are under the impression that the Golden Girls are given full scholarships to LSU. In fact, they receive the standard band scholarship—a small stipend of $160 per month for the fall semester and one hour of school credit for their hard work. The girls say that once they use the money to replace certain uniform items such as dance shoes and stockings and pay for dry cleaning and extra studio dance classes, there’s not much left over. “When you add up all the hours we put into it, you can tell that the money is not what makes everyone love being in the band,” says Hilary. “All of the Golden Girls would agree that we would still want to be on the team even if there was no scholarship.”

By and large, however, the biggest misconception is that there are certain physical attributes required to make the team. “Girls will say they can’t try out because they’re too short. But we have a girl this year under five feet tall. Or they think they have to be blonde. I dispel that rumor!” chuckles Hilary, a striking brunette, noting that the only true requirement is that the dancers stay fit.
“We’re really trying to get rid of the stereotypes surrounding Golden Girls—girls with eating disorders, blonde, tall, skinny, stuck up—we’re just regular girls dancing for our football team!” stresses Jana.

The Biggest Reward

They are “regular,” yes, but special as well. Not many LSU students ever have the opportunity to feel the spirit of their university in quite the same way as they do. Being on that field in Tiger Stadium in front of over 92,000 fans is a downright unbelievable experience that only a small percentage of students will ever know. “Pregame is my favorite part of working with the band,” says Northshore High graduate and biological sciences major Courtney Lynn Labat, daughter of Misty and Mark Labat. “It’s such a rush. The crowd goes crazy.”

“Yes, I love everything about working with the band. But my favorite is pregame,” adds Danielle. “I love pregame!”
“The first time that I danced with the sound and power of Tiger Band behind me was amazing,” Hilary continues. “When you are used to dancing with a high school band or a sound system at a dance studio, nothing can compare.”

Tayler says her favorite moments are dancing to the student section in the stadium. “The band picks a fun, upbeat song that the students love, like “Living on a Prayer” or “Don’t Stop Believing.” The crowd is on their feet, singing along, clapping and dancing in the stands. Seeing students react like that to your performance is the best feeling in the world. Times like those are when I forget I am even dancing and, at that point, I’m just having the time of my life.”

After LSU

What lies ahead for these girls after they’ve hung up their sequined uniforms and passed on the pom poms? Even though four of the six are barely into their freshman year, they all have ambitious careers ahead of them that will no doubt be positively affected by what they’ve learned from their years on the squad. Their aspirations range from going to graduate school to opening restaurants and businesses. But for a few, even these lofty goals don’t trump their love of dance.

“Following graduation, I plan on attending medical school,” says Courtney. “I want to become a neonatologist. But after I have established my practice, I would love to open my own competitive dance studio.”