Some people just can’t help making an impact anywhere they go. And Brandelle Knights ’12 has made a huge splash in her first year and a half at Wooster. After succeeding last year as a dancer and a choreographer, Knights diversified her talents last semester, joining the cheerleading squad and fronting a successful new band, now called “Freddie Cool and the Rest of Them.”
Although her dancing career may have formally begun at Wooster, Knights has been singing for far longer in her life. “I did my first solo when I was five, in kindergarten,” she said. “Dancing I started in church—we had a lyrical dance team—when I was 12.”
Knights, who hails from Stone Mountain, Ga., attended Dekalb School of the Arts, an arts magnet school, in eighth and ninth grade. Although she mostly studied voice there, she took some dance classes and met a lot of talented dancers, which led to her taking a more active role in her church dance group.
“I thought it was easy for everybody,” she said of her first experience choreographing. “I would just make something up, and then I’d realize that not everyone could do it, so I thought I must have some kind of knack for it.”
After ninth grade she transferred to Redan High School, a public school with much smaller music and dance programs.
“Redan was just a public school, with no focus on the arts, so I went from being in a place full of people like me to a big fish, small pond kind of situation. So that kind of put me in a leadership role.”
Her senior year, Knights wrote, directed and choreographed an original musical entitled “New Chains,” in commemoration of Black History Month.
“They wanted me to do a show for black history, but I didn’t want to do the classic ‘slavery’ thing, so I called it ‘New Chains’ and made it about HIV and AIDS as a new form of oppression. The next year a girl who was in my production did some research and came up with another one and also called it ‘New Chains,’ then they’re doing another one this year. So it’s sort of my legacy, I guess.”
Knights and Nana Boamah-Acheampong ’11 attempted to form a band last year, but eventually put it off when they had trouble finding members with enough time. This year, Darius Dixon ’13 arrived on campus, and the band finally got underway.
“Darius is really good at organizing things and getting people together,” said Knights. “So we were finally able to do that this year.”
The band, then under the name “Ms. Knights and the Gentlemen,” had their first gig as one of the opening bands for Black Violin at Party on the Green. Matt Roberts ’11,
Micah Motenko ’13, Chris Andrews ’10, and Jacqueline Narnor ’12 rounded out the roster.
“Party on the Green was really crazy; we just kinda threw it together, because we were all so busy that week. But we liked the chemistry of the group so much that we stuck with it for Battle of the Bands, and we ended up doing really well there, so now we’re getting ready for Hype for Haiti this Friday.”
Although singing and dancing are big parts of her life, Knights, an English major, is most interested in her creative writing pursuits. She has written poetry and prose, but is particularly interested in studying screenwriting. Whatever she ends up doing though, the leadership skills acquired in her artistic pursuits should serve her exceedingly well.
Some people just can’t help making an impact anywhere they go. And Brandelle Knights ’12 has made a huge splash in her first year and a half at Wooster. After succeeding last year as a dancer and a choreographer, Knights diversified her talents last semester, joining the cheerleading squad and fronting a successful new band, now called “Freddie Cool and the Rest of Them.”
Although her dancing career may have formally begun at Wooster, Knights has been singing for far longer in her life. “I did my first solo when I was five, in kindergarten,” she said. “Dancing I started in church—we had a lyrical dance team—when I was 12.”
Knights, who hails from Stone Mountain, Ga., attended Dekalb School of the Arts, an arts magnet school, in eighth and ninth grade. Although she mostly studied voice there, she took some dance classes and met a lot of talented dancers, which led to her taking a more active role in her church dance group.
“I thought it was easy for everybody,” she said of her first experience choreographing. “I would just make something up, and then I’d realize that not everyone could do it, so I thought I must have some kind of knack for it.”
After ninth grade she transferred to Redan High School, a public school with much smaller music and dance programs.
“Redan was just a public school, with no focus on the arts, so I went from being in a place full of people like me to a big fish, small pond kind of situation. So that kind of put me in a leadership role.”
Her senior year, Knights wrote, directed and choreographed an original musical entitled “New Chains,” in commemoration of Black History Month.
“They wanted me to do a show for black history, but I didn’t want to do the classic ‘slavery’ thing, so I called it ‘New Chains’ and made it about HIV and AIDS as a new form of oppression. The next year a girl who was in my production did some research and came up with another one and also called it ‘New Chains,’ then they’re doing another one this year. So it’s sort of my legacy, I guess.”
Knights and Nana Boamah-Acheampong ’11 attempted to form a band last year, but eventually put it off when they had trouble finding members with enough time. This year, Darius Dixon ’13 arrived on campus, and the band finally got underway.
“Darius is really good at organizing things and getting people together,” said Knights. “So we were finally able to do that this year.”
The band, then under the name “Ms. Knights and the Gentlemen,” had their first gig as one of the opening bands for Black Violin at Party on the Green. Matt Roberts ’11,
Micah Motenko ’13, Chris Andrews ’10, and Jacqueline Narnor ’12 rounded out the roster.
“Party on the Green was really crazy; we just kinda threw it together, because we were all so busy that week. But we liked the chemistry of the group so much that we stuck with it for Battle of the Bands, and we ended up doing really well there, so now we’re getting ready for Hype for Haiti this Friday.”
Although singing and dancing are big parts of her life, Knights, an English major, is most interested in her creative writing pursuits. She has written poetry and prose, but is particularly interested in studying screenwriting. Whatever she ends up doing though, the leadership skills acquired in her artistic pursuits should serve her exceedingly well.
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