The big day has arrived for the Annapolis Middle School Dance Company who will perform during the half-time show of the 2011 Discover Orange Bowl after months of planning and preparation.

This morning, the group rode with dancers from Simon Kenton High School in Ohio on a bus to Davie, FL, for the dress rehearsal. The 10-mile drive was subdued as some dancers rode with their eyes closed, while others lip-synced to their iPods or chatted with the dancer sitting next to them.

The dress rehearsal on the Nova High School football field lasted until noon as parents and chaperones watched, clapped and cheered from the bleachers.

Bonnie Story, best known for her work on all the High School Musical films, choreographed both dances the students will perform during the Orange Bowl show. Story and her team motivated and guided the dancers today to further "perfect" the routines.

The dancers will perform a jazz routine to "Slide" by the Goo Goo Dolls and a lyrical routine to "Notbroken." Kendra Smith, AMS dance teacher, explained that lyrical dance is a combination of jazz, modern and ballet.

"When working with a lot of dancers, you need lots of cannons, which provide good visual choreography," said Smith.

A cannon is a dance movement that can have as many as eight counts and provides a domino effect, Smith further explained. The song, "Slide," has 17 cannons at one to two counts.

Deanna Schmidt said her favorite dance to perform is "Slide;" however, her favorite to watch is the routine to "Notbroken."

"It is wavy and looks like the whole field is moving," said Schmidt.

At Sunday's rehearsal, the dancers watched the other side of the group perform so they could see how the choreography worked and how best to improve their own performance.

Starting at 8:30 p.m., the 2011 Discover Orange Bowl will feature Virginia Tech vs. Stanford and will be broadcast live on ESPN. For Comcast customers in Annapolis, ESPN is either channel 6 or 252 (digital). For Verizon FiOS customers, ESPN is on channel 70. Please verify this information with your cable company.

Updated at 11 p.m. with new photos from the show.