Though the icy chill of February lingers, the gymnasium is anywhere but cold. With a dazzling array of flags, tosses and dances, winter guard sets the floor ablaze with a new tournament performance of ‘Burn.’
At its first competition on Feb. 1, the winter guard placed fourth out of five teams in Division Scholastic Regional A with a score of 49.470, then placed second at the placement tournament on Feb. 15. The first performances of ‘Burn’ featured many great moments, such as the sabre line’s tosses, but there were still avenues for growth, according to head color guard coach Michelle Schuk.
“The performance is not going to be fantastic the first time out because they’re really nervous about having an audience for the first time,” Schuk said. “Things tend to slip out of your hand, or you make a little mistake here and there. But those mistakes give you an opportunity to do better at the next show and have something to work towards during the week to help you get better.”
In preparation, color guard members began by refining their rifle, sabre and flag technique following the fall marching band field season, according to Schuk. They slowly added choreography and practiced putting emotion into their dance, the composition continuing to change as they get further into the season.
“Everybody has been putting in a lot of effort into [the show] for two months,” color guard member and freshman Leia Speir said. “So I’m really proud of everybody. We definitely [need] time management because we have a lot of early practices and lots of practice.”
This year, the color guard has nearly doubled in size, growing from 14 to 25 members. Balancing a new, more difficult choreography with a larger team has been difficult, but seeing new members improve with hard work has been gratifying, according to color guard member and senior Leah Sim.
“[Before the competitions], we always stand in a circle, hold each other’s hands and send this squeeze across the circle,” Sim said. “Our coaches are in the middle, and they say motivational stuff. It’s really fun, everyone’s having a lot of fun talking to each other and getting to know each other more.”
Even though color guard placed fourth out of five teams in the first tournament, the team improved their division from High School Classification to Scholastic AAA on Feb. 15, leaving many with high hopes for the future with five more competitions this season.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” Schuk said. “I have complete faith that at the end of the season, we’re all gonna be where we want to be show-wise and technique-wise. Performance-wise, this was just our first little baby step to getting there.”
