Jak

That's a totally different situation! I wouldn't have any idea how to handle that.

Oh, don't sew them yourself. That's what guard mamas are for!

Kids are always a reflection of the person in front of them. Our students know that each rehearsal begins with 30 minutes of dance technique and 30 minutes of equipment technique. It's always been that way for them, their instructors all value it, so it's what they expect. That's the wonderful thing about Scholastic guards; you get to educate them from the ground up . No one comes in with pre-conceived notions or ideas about the way things should be done. Of course, that's not the case if you walk into an existing program. But even then, it doesn't take more than a year or two for the students to come over to your way of thinking. I've got friends that complain year after year (even at more than one school) that their kids are lazy, or have bad attitudes, etc. I realize that you may get a bad group from time to time, but kids are kids. They will become what you make them.

Why don't you buy the fabric and sew them? The Band Hall will send you a pattern for $25, and I would think the fabric would be around $15-20 per flag.

Raw sillk has a nice flow to it that poly can't match. It also has more of a matte finish than poly. It dies really well. However, it can't be heat cut. You must do french seams, so complex patterns with lots of curves are not good for China Silk. Huh, China Silk and French Seams... We're very multi-culti here on CGP.

They also have real china silk.

According to the WGI Championships Logistical Schedule on the WGI website, there is no IO Semis. However, that information is probably out of date. I think it was posted mid-December.

The Band Hall has china silk. They would be able to tell you which thickness is better.

Don't know whether you were referring to Scholastic or Independent groups. I don't think there are Scholastic Guards in any class throwing 7's. Avon or Logan might have, I'm not sure. As was said, though, there's so much more to classification than that.

When finals were in San Diego, WGI lost a lot of money. The thinking was that so many West Coast guards would be there that it would make up for the more expensive facilities. But the West Coast guards didn't show up.

There was an SW guard that did a frog show about 10 years ago. Lincoln Way, I think. It was cute. They had Discovery Channel style narration about frogs and a flag with a tongue catching a fly.

Something definitely happened alright. Basically, several resigned to show their support for a colleague who was let go without what they felt was due process. At least that's what I hear...

Does anybody remember in the late 90's when they did "Northview Live" for like 7 years in a row. And they had the mics and the voice parts. Is it just me, or was that REALLY annoying?

Amen!

The Knights Phantom Regiment Center Grove Kennesaw Mountain I like groups that take a very lyrical, elegant approach with lots of lift in the upper body and great nuance. The tall, thin, blond dance soloist from Kennesaw Mountain '06 is one of my favorite performers. I believe they called her "Twinkles."

I'll only point them out if it's something as funny as "escape goat."

What's an escape goat? Some sort of get away vehicle when you rob a farm?

Maybe those people from "What not to Wear" to give commentary on the past years costuming choices...

Absolutely! The judges should perform in exhibition between SW and IW finals each year!

I definitely have to take issue with the notion that a good judge must be able to actually perform the skills they are evaluating. I would venture to guess that the majority of equipment and movement judges out there could not perform all of the skills the world class guards are doing. That does not prohibit them from evaluating others. That's pretty standard everywhere. You think Olympic gymnastics or figure skating judges can perform the skills they evaluate? No way, but they still understand the technique involved. You think the average Miss America judge looks great in a swimsuit? Not likely, but they can tell who does. Even in our own activity, music judges at band contests cannot play every band instrument at a high level. That doesn't keep them from recognizing and rewarding a quality performance.

Patty Beggy is a wonderful equipment judge who is a female. I believe the Dayton Regional has a double panel.

Of course, now he works at the Band Hall where he designs costumes and flags for a lot of groups: Center Grove, Aimachi, Pride, etc.

Here's Tommy's website: http://www.tommykeenum.com/ I don't believe Stay Gold is on there. But I know he's talked about doing it for awhile. I'm unsure if he's recorded it yet. It will be great.

It's like Center Grove's greatest hits! That's awfully brave of Carmel to do Beethoven 9. To me that's one of those pieces that's "on the list."

Also, there's just a nice quality about them. It still seems kind of wierd to see people dancing around beautifully twirling a gun. Sort of out of context.