By Christina Campbell

Times Correspondent

Parents, friends and family of Fort Gibson students were treated to an exciting evening of music and dance last Thursday night at “Dynamite” — the 2012 Intermediate Elementary Variety Show.

Director Shirley Flaska welcomed parents and praised the school's new multipurpose building, which includes a full stage located inside the gym.

“It's been a wonderful new year, we're so excited to get into our new building,” Flaska said. “Students are back with a renewed spirit and here we are with a wonderful new facility this evening.”

Flaska said this year's group of IE students have immense talent.

“All I can say to you is Wow!” she said. “The students, they are good. I took the liberty to call this show Dynamite, because I think they're dynamite.”

The Fort Gibson Select Choir kicked off the show with singing and choreography to a popular tune by Taio Cruz called “Dynamite,” to coincide with the theme of the show.

Haddison Bradley, the first soloist of the night, sang, “Zippity Doo Dah,” a Disney song from the 1946 movie, “Song of the South.” Her performance included an upbeat tap dance routine.

Aubree Walkingstick, Emma Hulbert and Rachel Wood then took the stage as the first dance crew of the evening. They performed a cheer-inspired dance routine, complete with stunts and tumbling, to the song, “Shake it Up” by Selena Gomez.

“We practiced almost every day,” Wood said. “We started practicing after Christmas.”

William Briley was the next soloist, singing the heartwarming hymn, “Samuel Tells of Baby Jesus,” to keyboard piano accompaniment.

Elizabeth Shropshire and Megan Greathouse then performed side-by-side, hitting the high notes in, “Rolling in the Deep,” by multi-Grammy award winner, Adele.

Emma Hulbert, who has been studying piano for three years, gave a flawless performance of “Sonatina” on the keyboard. After her performance, Flaska told the audience that Hulbert had some difficulty with her contact lenses before taking the stage.

Amazingly, Hulbert played her song with only one contact in place.

Addy Schofield performed next, sweetly singing Louis Armstrong's, “What a Wonderful World.”

Kiersten Nihart sang “White Flag” by Dido. Despite technical problems that required her to switch microphones mid-song, Nihart kept her composure beautifully and didn't drop a beat.

Maddie Cook and Mallory Baker took the stage with a dance crew routine to “Price Tag” by Jessie J. With matching side ponytails, high-fives and windmill arms, the girls lit up the stage with a routine choreographed all by themselves.

Elise Howerton, sang a very moving hymn called, “A Prayer for Tomorrow.”

“I liked having to sing my song,” Howerton said. “I first heard it at church and it sounds really pretty.”

Kyliegh Kucera burned up the floor mats with a jaw-dropping gymnastics routine. With consecutive backbends and flipflops, she tumbled to the song, “Firework” by Katie Perry.

Julie Isbell, who Flaska said has been singing music for years, strolled on stage in a full cowgirl outfit. She sang, “Wagon Wheel” by The Old Crow Medicine Show, swept off her cowboy hat and bowed to the audience afterwards.

Katelynn Brooks gave an awesome performance of the popular song, “Mean,” by Taylor Swift. Cassie Pendergraft then sang, “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera.

“I was afraid that I'd forget the lines,” Pendergraft said. “It's a little scary to get up there in front of people, because you're not used to doing it. But I love singing, and I'll definitely do it again.”

Pendergraft said the song has special meaning to her.

“At the end, it's talking about how Jesus makes us beautiful and we're made in his own image,” she said. “And no matter what people think, we're beautiful in his eyes.”

Madison Smith sang “Never Say Never” — channeling Justin Bieber's street savvy with her purple hightops and backwards baseball cap.

Max Wicks sang, “Baby,” by Justin Bieber, and included a few lines of spoken-word rap lyrics about himself and his interests.

Brittany Caster and Maddi Jo Williams, with BFF pink T-shirts, danced their own choreographed routine to, “I Feel Good,” by James Brown.

Cassidy Dortch, Julie Isbell, Madelyn O'Laughlin and Alexis Smith, performed as the next dance crew. The girls wore Native-American inspired outfits and danced to “Apache (Jump on It)” by The Sugarhill Gang.

Lauren Wilcox sang “Don't Rain on my Parade,” from the 1964 musical “Funny Face.” Hitting the high notes and nailing the melodies, the audience roared with applause at the finish of her song.

Chiara Miller sang “Home” by Billy Gilman. The song had a personal meaning for Chiara, as she chose the song last fall while her dad was stationed overseas in Iraq. He returned in November and was in attendance at Thursday night's show.

“After all my runnin, I'm finally coming home.”

Fort Gibson Select Choir closed with singing “You've Got a Friend in Me” by Randy Newman.

Flaska thanked the community for supporting the students.

“It's all about having parents, teachers, friends and encouragers helping young people,” she said. “This has been a great day. In the world of our music, our friendships run deep. They stay with us forever and ever.”