Eagleson Landscape would like to help you send your Marching Greyhound to New York City for the 2011 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! For all services over $500, Eagleson Landscape will rebate 10% of your invoice (pre-tax) to the CHS Band Boosters to go towards your Marching Greyhound’s trip fee. Eagleson’s will even honor your referrals to help send your Marching Greyhound to NYC! Click Eagleson Landscape for more information!
Monthly Archives: April 2011
Congratulations Winter Guard!
Carmel Winter Guard at Finals
Congratulations to the 2011 Carmel Winter Guard for placing first at the WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio.
The Guard builds on it’s excellence.…winning the Mid-South Color Guard Regional in Nashville, TN and State prior to that! The Guard’s scoring in the finals was very impressive. It was a beatiful show. Titled “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish!”
Missed the show? Check out the video of the Guard at the WGI competition: Carmel WGI Video
The show is based on a commencement speech given by Steven Jobs at Stanford University in 2005. Steven said that there are three major stages in your life. One of them is work. Work will fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to work hard.
Well, the 2011 Carmel Winter Guard took that idea to heart and work hard…they did. And the results? Well, we can be assured that they are “truly satisfied” with their efforts.
“Carmel has the hunger, and it shows in this visual interpretation of Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement address that urged graduates to “find what you love.” These students love color guard, love performance, and they spread that hunger from end-to-end in one of the season’s most provocative and engaging presentations. Ignore one directive, however: it would be foolish to discount this up-and-coming Indiana valedictorian.” David G. Hill, Mid South Color Guard Review, WGI
WGI Finals Score & Placement
1. Carmel 97.1
2. James Logan (CA) 95.45
3. Flanagan (FL) 93.9
4. Avon (IN) 92.45
Color Guard
When I was in high school, I found one of my director’s greatest flaws to be that he had no clue about the color guard. It’s not that he didn’t care, he just didn’t know any of the technical details about guard work. Then in college I made a observation. Music Education majors were required to take courses in all the major wind instruments, percussion, strings, and a class on how to run a marching band. I noticed that there was no “color guard techniques” class offered. Being an educator in Texas, I found this to be a great void in my education. Color guard should be a top priority for bands all over the country for this simple reason:
If you’re lucky enough to have the budget for a designated color guard instructor, what do you do when this staff member is absent? It may be that the instructor is unreliable or even just sick. And it always seems to happen right before a show weekend. If this happens, will you sit in your tower and ignore the guard? Of course you don’t want to do that. They need help, they need direction just like every other section of your band. If your percussion instructor is out sick, you’d be prepared to give feedback and critiques to your percussion section. So, the same thing needs to happen for guard. Otherwise you are destined to lose valuable rehearsal time with a key element of your program.
The solution? Education, of course! I saw the need for this skill set before I graduated high school and attended a summer camp on learning guard. To this day I keep up with the latest trends and techniques from friends of mine during little “private lessons.” I would suggest doing this as often as you can!
You have a guard instructor, or at least you know someone who teaches guard. So go learn from them! Learn your drop spins, carves, tosses, and movement. It doesn’t take much time to just get a basic understanding of the proper technique for a drop spin or a jazz run. It’s all about knowing the language so that you can communicate effectively with your membership.
A small amount of time in this caption can go a long way in all levels and sizes of programs. Your staff will thank you, the judges will notice, and most importantly you will have the respect and attention of your guard. This is an amazing return for a few hours of work!
Jason Hodges
Used with permission, Dynamic Marching