Title: Wake Ups
General Information about Item:
- Customary Folklore: Ritual, Tradition
- English
- USA
- Informant Data:
- Tara Joshi ’18
- Age: 21
- Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
- Joined Dodecs Freshman Fall
- Current President
Contextual Data:
- Social Context
All members of the group are present for this ritual. New members are surprised in their rooms. This ritual occurs in the beginning of fall term after new members have been selected, once a year. The informant first experienced this ritual when she was chosen as a new member for the group.
- Cultural Context
The commitment to waking each member up at 6 am speaks volumes to the dedication people in the group have to one another. In addition their choice of the Twilight song demonstrates the group’s dedication to Dartmouth as well. The entire group partakes in this ritual and it happens at each new member’s dorm. The effort the group puts into making new members feel welcomed and special reinforces the inclusive and close knit group culture the team has. Moreover, the group is a very old performance group at Dartmouth and tries to create a culture which respects the history of the group. The choice of singing a traditional Dartmouth song helps to reinforce this emphasis on history.
Item:
During auditions, potential new members fill out information sheets which include a question about where they live. Once new members are chosen, the team goes to each new members room (using the information from the sheets), barge in, and sing the Twilight Song (a traditional Dartmouth song). This ritual occurs at 6 AM and surprises the new members who are usually still half asleep, and very confused. After, the group takes a lot of pictures with the new member.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript
“When you get into the group, the entire group wakes you up, like the morning after auditions. So we find out your room number from the sheet you have to fill out at auditions. And then we break into your room at 6 am and sing ‘Twilight Song’, which is a Dartmouth traditional that’s very special to us. People are usually extremely stunned and groggy — its hilarious. And we take a lot of pictures. That’s kind of like your first introduction into the group. I remember being a freshman and seeing all these people singing Twilight song, and I was so excited. And it was 6 am and my roommate was like what the hell is going on — it was the best.”
Informant’s Comments:
The informant regards the wake ups as an incredibly sweet moment to introduce the new members into the group.
Collector’s Comments:
I think it’s cool how they always sing Twilight song to their new members. The fact that they use the same song each time makes this a more special tradition when they could easily sing any other song that’s popular at the time.
Collector’s Name: Marcus Reid
Compiled/Analyzed by: Alex Chan/Sruthi Pasupuleti
Tags/Keywords:
- Team
- Acapella
- Wake Ups
- Initiaion
- Dartmouth Traditions