Mock Rock is a lip-syncing dance competition that has been unique to Biola University for decades now. The tradition stands as an opportunity for creative collaboration and equips students with discipline, extracurricular community and blood-pumping cardio.
Six teams of roughly sixty people started rehearsing their performances about a month ago. Men of Honor, the team I have the privilege of being a part of, has been around for over twenty years. What started out as a team confined to the Men of Honor floor of Horton (2006/07) has now expanded to include women and non-Horton affiliates. The team name comes from the Horton floor, of course, but the floor name was inspired by the movie “Men of Honor” released in 2000. This season’s leaders are Chris Bloedow, Benner Dedrick, Livi Lent-Koop and Makenzie Pappan.
Chris Bloedow joined Men of Honor last school year, encouraged by his former RA Zeke Paquette.
Bloedow shared his hesitancy approaching Mock Rock, but emphasized the determining factor for him was the community. “I wouldn’t say I love dance, but being able to do Mock Rock gave me a lot more confidence in my dancing ability and probably general confidence as well,” he said.
“In Mock Rock, dancing is just the thing that we’re doing, but the real value behind it is community. I want people to know that MOH is a people-first team; that is what is unique about us,” Bloedow said, “Drawing from my own theatre experience, the big similarity for me between that and Mock Rock is that when I look back, the memories I have are not the time I spent on stage or the work, but instead the people I met and the jokes we made. That is why Men of Honor is so special, we are trying to make memories for people to look back on that last far longer than the 10 minutes on stage, which go by in a blink.”
Livi Lent-Koop is in her second year of choreographing for Mock Rock and shared her connection story.
“I was an RA last year on Abide, and being part of the Horton team, I got connected through Peyton Ogle,” she said, “He called me and said, ‘Hey, MOH could use your choreography skills and your dance skills. Come and join us,’ and I said, ‘I’m there!’”
Lent-Koop described dance as “something she can feel in her heart” and brings that honest passion to practice every Tuesday and Thursday. She has a major part in cultivating such a rich and friendly community.
“We’re so tight, it’s crazy to have so many returners and then so many new people, and yet it feels like a really sweet family. Something really unique about MOH’s community is our Thursday night get-togethers, because it really means we can spend time in quality conversation with one another,” Lent-Koop shared.
Benner Dedrick joined Men of Honor in his freshman year because he roomed on the MOH floor in Horton.
“I love being part of a community, and I love to interact and move around. And I do like to dance, I guess,” Dedrick said. He shared his social motivations for leading the team, as well as commenting on the team as a whole. “I think we do a really good job of being friends outside of the dancing aspect. We try to hang out after practices, encourage one another, and we love other teams as well.”
“When it comes to Mock Rock, I don’t think there will be any memory from college that will stick out more than that,” Men of Honor alumnus Walker Emmert said.“I never in a million years expected to be so invested in a dance/lip sync competition, but I owe so much to the experience. Being more of a quiet/introverted person myself, Mock Rock definitely brought me out of my shell. You will learn that it is so much more than a silly school event; it is the fellowship and relationships you build while doing it.”
Being a part of the Men of Honor team this year has certainly enriched my semester, and as a team, we’re bringing a strong performance to Mock Rock this year. Be there Friday, April 10, to see the groovy fruits of our labor.
