Every year, Sapphires, one of McNeil’s dance teams, does a program-wide event called big and littles. Big and littles is an event where a first-year gets paired with a returner.
Sophomore Megan Hoang is a little to junior Kyan Torres. The Sapphires have a very big, dramatic and almost sorority-like reveal of their bigs and littles. The bigs will give the littles gift boxes of food and little trinkets.
“It’s like a sisterhood, your big will give you advice and anything you need and help you throughout your first year on the team and [the] little will obviously ask questions and their concerns or anything,” Hoang said. “I love it, I think it really connects everyone and brings everyone together, it especially helps people who are less social be more social with the team and be themselves.”
Sapphires does multiple programs and traditions like this, one of which is called the buddy system. Senior Nidhi Warrier is a big for Sapphires and was paired with her little, senior Elaina Spiering during the Sapphire buddies event. The Sapphires’ buddy system is similar to the big and little system, but it is right before summer and is for a short period of time compared to bigs and littles continuing all year.
“I love it so much,” Warrier said. “I did not know who my little was until this year and she’s in my grade. She’s a senior as well. Over the summer we hung out a bit and then she became my little at the start of the school year. I bought her Starbucks and we just kind of hung out a bunch. She made me audition as a dancer for [the] Legally Blonde [Musical] and it’s just been such a fun time.”
