Longtime Texas Rose Festival choreographer ‘thrilled to be a part of incredible Tyler tradition’

Published 6:30 am Friday, July 23, 2021

For 23 years, Dance-N-Drill Director Lynn Ramey has instructed young women in the Texas Rose Festival court on how to have stage presence during the queen’s coronation in October.

“It makes all the difference in how the girls look,” she said. “They’re going to be beautiful anyway because of their hair, their make-up and their costume. But my responsibility is to make them look even more beautiful by the way they present themselves.”

The dance instruction room at her studio mimics the shape of the R. Don Cowan Fine and Performing Arts Center, where the annual coronation takes place. During the summer, the court membership learns how to move on stage in preparation for the actual ceremony.

Ramey said much is taught during each rehearsal: stage presence, posing, standing, walking, giving a curtsey, bowing, blocking of all the characters, practicing the parade of costumes and the finale.

In October for the festival, Ramey said the women of the court come, and in 12 hours the doors for the coronation open. That’s the first time she will see them in costume and then they’re moving on the real set.

“We have to put it together that quickly,” Ramey said. “You have to be flexible and know that things can and need to change at the last minute because all of the sudden a girl gets in her costume and because of the way it’s built or wired, she may not be able to raise her arms over her head. (It’s) a lot of adaption and flexibility at the last minute for sure.”

Last year, the Rose Festival was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. The court from the 87th Rose Festival is continuing their reign for this year’s 88th Texas Rose Festival. The court features Texas Rose Festival Queen Anna Grace Hallmark, Duchess of the Rose Growers Emily Ann Milton and Rose Festival Princess Elizabeth Reid Walker.

“In a way, it feels different because it’s been a two-year period since we’ve done this,” she said.

Ramey noted one of the significant differences as having a new dress designer, but what remains the same is the wonderful people and the volunteers who help make the festival so special.

While she isn’t from Tyler, Ramey said she got here as quickly as she could. She became involved in the Texas Rose Festival through her time as one of the Tyler Junior College Apache Belles.

At TJC, she met Al Gilliam, who was the director of the Apache Belles and choreographer for the Rose Festival, and he invited her to start teaching dance with him.

“So through that relationship, I became acquainted with the Texas Rose Festival,” she said.

Not only did her love of dance bring her to the festival, but her marriage to the grandson of Thomas B. Ramey, who founded the festival in 1933.

“When Al Gilliam was no longer with us, I moved in that direction and now do what my former dance teacher did,” Ramey said. “So it makes it extra special because I love Al so much.”

As she guides the court membership, Ramey receives assistance from her daughter, Joy, who recalls being in the studio with her mother since she was a young child.

“My daughter Joy is a part of this and my assistant, and I absolutely love that,” Ramey said. “I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of an incredible Tyler tradition, and enjoy and appreciate my role.”

The festival is set for Oct. 14 to 17 and a schedule of events can be found at texasrosefestival.com.