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Thanks for posting this! -Catina

First, congratulations on taking on this new task! No doubt you'll have a lot of impact on these young performer's lives - it's very rewarding. There is a website with information for beginner instructors - we're adding new content every month. You might want to check it out - there may be some helpful information there. It's www.colorguardeducators.com. And just keep asking questions! Don't be afraid to ask other local instructors, ask here on cgp... There are tons of us who have been there and are more than willing to lend a helping hand when able! You may even be able to find a few instructors in your local area who might be willing to come in and lead a day-long clinic on technique. These sessions can be really helpful for all involved - the kids have fun getting to work with a guest instructor - and if you work right along with them in the back of the block you'll be able to gain some basic technique exercises and teaching information that you can continue to use throughout the season. This type of experience has helped me many times over the years! It can be difficult to find a full-time coach - but finding someone to lead a 1-day clinic (say on rifle...) is usually not too difficult to find! Good luck! Catina

We are researching instituting a scrip program in our band/winterguard and would love to hear suggestions from those who currently use these programs. In particular, what companies have you had good (or bad) experiences with. Do you split a percentage of proceeds between student accounts and general account (i.e. partial towards member fees and partial towards program costs)? Any cautions? Thanks! Catina

Just for those looking for more information on the Air Blade - Jennifer Cortez from Eau Gallie High School in Florida submitted an article to Color Guard Educators.com called "Embracing the Air Blade." It describes her journey from dislike (of the Air Blade) to acceptance as well as many tips on how she successfully taught this new piece of equipment. She includes a diagram of how she named the various parts of the equipment for ease of instruction as well as a description of the "basics" she used in teaching. It's worth checking out. http://www.colorguardeducator.com/index.ph...9&Itemid=41 Catina Anderson www.colorguardeducators.com

Performers from James Logan along with over 600 students from the West Coast (including students from Beyer, Grace Davis, Fresno State, University of Washington and University of Oregon and other schools) performed with the 1800-member 2008 Olympic Orchestra in the days leading up to the Olympic games for locals and for spectators who were arriving that week including an historic performance on Tiananmen Square and another at the site of the Soccer Trial in Tianjin just before a prelims soccer match. We're working on an article for the September issue of Halftime Magazine about the American Contingent of the group The "Red Hub." Should be out mid-September. www.halftimemag.com The official website is http://beijing2008olympicorchestra.com/joomla/ for the whole group and you can see video clips from the performance on youtube. Hope that helps! Catina

This may be a bit overwhelming but we have over 60 links to uniform supply companies in the links section of Color Guard Educators. A few are costume supply or dancewear...but a good deal of them are either colorguard or dance costume supply companies. http://www.colorguardeducator.com/index.ph...4&Itemid=23 I hope that helps! From a personal standpoint, we've used dance sophisticates at the high school I work with for the past 2 seasons with great success. And Lee was especially helpful last winter in helping us choose colors and a costume that would ship in less than 3 weeks. We were behind the curve on making a decision, we called him and decided on one of their quick ship options and he still asked us to send in our paint chips and helped us choose a color scheme that would perfectly match the floor. Then they arrived a week early! It was a great experience. Catina Anderson editor: www.colorguardeducators.com

The link below should take you to an article on the Color Guard Educators site about how to tape a rifle. There is a link to a .pdf instruction sheet you can download. If you don't have the software to read a .pdf there is another article on the site that has the photos/instructions embedded in the article shown in the 2nd link below. Hope that helps! (We don't have one on saber yet...but I do think there was a link to a saber taping instruction sheet in a previous thread on this newsgroup). http://www.colorguardeducator.com/index.ph...75&Itemid=1 http://www.colorguardeducator.com/index.ph...6&Itemid=41 Catina Anderson www.colorguardeducators.com

We try to make sure we do things the same way each time we perform (generally) so that it helps to calm the students' nerves as they get ready to perform. We might change this from year to year though. One year I remember each time we got ready to go into warm-up we'd do a couple theatre warm-ups one of the students taught the rest (shake down and the Humming Series for anyone who may have heard of these)...they were fun and helped to focus the group. My assistant instructor always braids one thin braid in her hair - and then every student rubs the braid for good luck...weird I know...but they seem to love it! haha.

http://www.fathomevents.com/details.aspx?eventid=722 I think that gets you to the website to buy tickets/search theatres. Catina Anderson www.colorguardeducators.com

I am also from Virginia. I haven't attended the camps myself but as I understand it, most of the camps that host students also have instructor's tracks. Even if they don't, it never hurts to ask if they would mind if an instructor attended the student sessions (if you would be comfortable with that). There is a camp at James Madison University and George Mason University is holding a clinic as well. I think there may still be a camp at Westchester University in PA and usually there is a Fred J. Miller camp in the Towson, MD area (maybe at Towson or Goucher). Finally, I think there is a camp at Ferrum College in Southwest VA. I just don't know details or dates for any of these... First Flight Winter Guard had a camp this spring that I heard went really well so keep an eye on their website to see if they have additional sessions later in the summer or fall. They're in Raleigh, North Carolina. We also had an educational training session on design (taught by Phil Madden and William Grumley) which was excellent last month for the Atlantic Indoor Association. Keep your eye on the AIA website for future training sessions (and I post any educational workshops I hear about on the calendar page at Color Guard Educators as well). Personally, I've approached the task of updating my own skills by bringing in guest instructors to work with my students. You can often find someone who is willing to travel in for a day or two to work with the kids. I always stand in the back and learn right along with the students and then use time during breaks to clarify any questions I have regarding teaching/training or cleaning the skill. I hope this helps some! Catina Anderson www.colorguardeducators.com and coach at Broad Run HS in Northern VA

We used billboards last year and I wrote up an article about the process we used to build the floor on CGE. Before using billboards we purchased from Electratarp and loved working with them! Catina www.colorguardeducators.com Broad Run High School Color Guards (VA)

There is another video linked from the review on CGE that shows an instructor spinning the airblade which might give a better idea of a variety of moves as he begins to experiment with the equipment. www.colorguardeducators.com . I've heard a variety of responses as I've shared mine with other instructors. Many find them fairly easy to spin but express that they "feel weird" as any new piece of equipment would. Obviously since they are curved they feel different from the rifle in that respect and some have commented that they feel "butt heavy" when tossing. But overall they handle pretty nicely and I think it's great to have another design alternative to choose from! Catina

We're going to try painting. I'm going to look for the special paint made for plastic and then cover with matte sealer...we'll see how it holds up. I'll let everyone know how it goes. Catina

I never thought to paint them...haha - a much easier solution than finding a different manufacturer to match! Thanks!

Hi all, I am trying to order replacement bolts for my premier rifles...unfortunately, premier doesn't carry the shiny silver anymore and that is what we've always used. They carry, instead, a dull gray color. Does anyone know of another company whose bolts would fit a premier rifle? I've tried calling a couple but without 2 different rifles to actually compare it's hard to tell over the phone. Anyone have a premier and another style of rifle to be able to say if they do or do not match? Thanks, Catina

Yay! Fun topic! I like to encourage the kids to plan socials after practice if it's a short practice and I don't want to take too much time away from instruction (like meeting at the local ice cream shop afterwards). One thing I've done in the past for a "quick" get-to-know-each-other is take attendance each day for the first week or so (out loud like they do in the classroom) and make each day a different question so instead of saying "here" or just scanning the room to make sure everyone is present I would say, "What is your favorite song?" and then actually call attendance, giving the kids a chance to express their favorite and then other kids to get to know them. I've had guest instructors who have come in and asked a series of questions where all the kids had to do is raise their hands to answer but it helps us all get to know each other, "Who has traveled to at least 5 different states?" "Who has traveled to another country?" "Who can speak a language other than English?" "Who has been to a concert this year?" etc... It's quick. Then there are a wide variety of icebreakers and get-to-know-you games you can search for online if you search for icebreakers or camp songs. We do these during the long days of camp when you sometimes need a 10 - 15 minute break from spinning. During our away camp we also plan socials for the evenings - karaoke night, campfire skits, a theme dance, etc. And sometimes the student leaders will do nice little surprises like hang posters on the new kids' cubbies or put a nice "you're doing great!" note in their flag bag...something like that. And the spirit days are totally fun too! We usually do that at least 2 of the 5 days of our basics camp. I'd love to hear more ideas! Catina

There are tons of things to look for, so probably you'll get a lot of input from a variety of people here. I'll start with one that I think makes the most impact to me and that's something called "Visual Musicality." Essentially, the choreography, flow, highs and lows, speed and weight of the spinning should all reflect the music. You should be able to watch the guard and "see what you are hearing" in some respect. Obviously the more technically together the group is the better...and there are many degrees of technical depth...at the lower level you'll generally be expecting everyone's flags to go around together. As you move up in levels you'd be looking to distinguish the guards at a much more detailed level (are everyone's hands placed the same when they catch or as they are changing hands during spins, does everyone have a good release point - are all spinners using the same style... the technical list is endless!). The more advanced units also have a higher degree of body involvement under their equipment. You're also looking for the ability of each individual performer to reach out and communicate with the audience through their showmanship. There's tons more but I'll leave this here as a start for others to add to! Catina

Do you know what school this is? I'm working on an article about the Air Blade and would love to talk with their director. Catina

Recruitment is an ongoing process - that's somewhat "mysterious" haha. We do a ton of stuff for recruitment but live in an area where there are lots of opportunities for the kids and lots of other successful sports programs (and theater) and most of the time the schedule conflicts just don't allow kids to do both. We had our best recruitment this year with 11 new kids. But for the past 2 years we've had only 2 - 3 new kids each year (staying around 11 performers...). This year we'll jump to 17! The big difference for us this year is that we had a mom who is a substitute teacher. By total luck she got a long term sub position in the middle school PE classes in January and they allowed her to do a flag unit for three class periods. We got several interested kids from this who also brought their friends. I have always found that nothing works better than getting the flag into their hands. Kids can be nervous about trying something new...and I can't count the number of times I've heard, "I think I would hit myself with that flag!" But once they try it they realize it's a lot of fun. Last year after having just a couple new kids audition I actually held a second audition date. You never know if there were timing conflicts that kept prospective members from coming out and they might be willing to come to a second date. I picked up 2 more new kids (then one quit because of a summer vacation conflict with band camp) but she ended up coming back for winter and is now on the team! Anyways - I'm rambling...but if you have any way to get permission to make a presentation - even if it's only for 20 minutes of one class period - in the middle school or 9th grade PE classes I bet you might pick up a few more kids. Show a video, show some skills and then get the equipment in their hands and teach them something easy but fun. And just don't get discouraged! Even if you're only working with 4 dedicated kids - you're making a huge difference in those 4 kids' lives...so it's definitely worth it! Catina

This is a really interesting discussion - back to the original question of whether to map things out or approach design more organically...I think it probably depends on your level of experience and your personality. I personally do map out the show to some extent. While I've been teaching a long time I would not consider myself a terribly experienced designer...and I do tend to prefer the level of control that mapping allows me (my personality traits). I definitely ALWAYS do a count sheet...determining phrases - where equipment transitions should happen (like changing from rifle to flag for example) and where major changes in the music occur. I also go through the music and identify on my count sheet where there are musical moments I want to make sure to highlight - such as layering in the musical line that I want to make sure to highlight visually - or opportunities for partnering - "call and answer" in the music which might be a good opportunity for A/B work or for transfer back and forth between one piece of equipment and another in terms of focus...and I determine where I might have "ensemble" moments. I also throw in my ideas for moments that I want to include specific to the equipment as well. For me, having the phrases mapped out makes me feel less overwhelmed at the beginning of the writing process. It doesn't mean that I won't deviate from my original plan - which I suppose is where the "organic" nature of my process steps in. But at least it helps me see the show in manageable chunks rather than as 4 minutes of uncertainty. I also run my map by the rest of my staff for their insight and to make sure that I'm not missing something they are "hearing" in the music. It also helps me to make sure I have studied the music in enough detail that I won't miss an important opportunity that might be presented by the soundtrack (such as the aforementioned layering of musical lines, call and answer, recurrent musical motifs, etc.). At Spinfest, Karl Lowe gave a presentation about their design process for Fantasia and it also involved some degree of mapping out events that were going to occur. They started (if I remember correctly) with workshopping - playing with ideas they have for the show and for different staging ideas or equipment/choreography ideas and actually working through them physically in the gym. Then it moved into coming up with a plan which listed the events in order according to the music before actually sitting down to teach the show. It wasn't exactly how I approach it - but similar intent. I think the level of experience of the designer and your own personality probably have a lot to do with what will become your design process. I have also worked with a professional show designer who is able to just teach from set one to the end very quickly...but even he had a count sheet marked with his major ideas for partnering, equipment transitions and ensemble equipment moments. Ultimately, you will figure out what works best for you, your time frame and your personality. I have the map I use posted in an article on Color Guard Educators (search for music mapping and it should come up if you're interested). It's not terribly sophisticated but it's worked well for my staff. If anyone else uses a similar structure to plan your show I'd love to hear about it and perhaps you'd consider sharing as well. Catina

Thanks so much for this referral! I used to subscribe to Dance Spirit but haven't for several years - I didn't realize it still existed. I went to the site and found countless articles that are totally applicable to our activity! Thanks so much for pointing out this valuable reference! I am definitely going to let others know to check out Dance Spirit as well! Catina

Thanks so much Danielle! Good to hear from you! And thanks for finding that video...I wasn't sure what to search! Are you still doing Spin for the Cure with us? Catina

Hi, I've mentioned the color guard educators site a couple times on this forum. I wanted to give a little more insight into the site and ask for your help! My hopes for the site is that it will grow into a valuable resource for beginner/intermediate level instructors and a community of instructors/adjudicators helping one another. It's meant as a source for instructors to share information on how they did something as a way to support their fellow instructors - anything from how to build a backdrop, how to make a floor cart, to planning banquets, choosing student leaders...you name it. It's never been my intention to be the only writer on the site so I'm hopeful that some of you who are already so willing to share your experiences on this forum might find something you would be willing to share in a short article or "quick tip" to help grow the site and support beginning instructors who might be looking for information on something you've already done. I hope you'll join me in this effort and thanks to those who have already contributed! With that said, I have a question from a reader that I can't answer myself so i was hoping someone out there might have more information! The person would like to know first whether there have been any studies on the physicality and physical fitness benefits of participating in color guard and second whether there are any groups in southwestern VA that might be open to younger students. This may date me a little...but I seem to remember a few years back that there was a clip on a DCI broadcast maybe...where they actually measured how physical (I think based on respiration rates) it was to march in a drum corps - I believe they did this with a percussionist... anyone know if this video clip still exists out there on the web somewhere? Thanks for any help you can provide! Catina Anderson www.colorguardeducators.com

Thanks so much for reposting this here and thanks to Will for signing up already! So far we have 6 official members, over 150 people on our facebook group and $750.00 in pledges! Everyday it keeps growing! But we have a couple months to go! Imagine how great we can do with this awesome start! I hope we'll see some of you out at the walk! Catina

Team WGC: Colorguard SPIN for the Cure is BACK for our third consecutive year representing the colorguard community in the fight against breast cancer and we need you! We've already raised over $10,000 in our first 2 years and this year we are hoping to expand our efforts! While this team began as an extension of a local high school colorguard's service project, this year we are inviting the entire colorguard community to join us in achieving two important goals... 1. To raise at least $5,000 more to make our three-year total of $15,000. 2. To increase our number of group members this year to include colorguard participants from throughout the country both on the web and on race day walking together in Washington D.C. If you are here in the D.C. area please consider joining us on race day to walk this beautiful 5K (or run if you prefer!). It only costs $35.00 to participate and that includes a Race for the Cure t-shirt! There are no fundraising minimums so don't let that scare you away. You don't have to do any fundraising if you don't feel comfortable (although it always helps!) If you can't be in the D.C. area or you have another commitment on June 7th you can still join our team to help us recruit, help us fundraise and help spread the word! Just think, if every member of the colorguard community donated just $10.00 what an incredible difference we could make! Please visit our official team website. http://2008nrftc.kintera.org/faf/search/se...mp;team=2742324 For more information you can visit the "Color Guard Cares" page on www.colorguardeducators.com. And if you're of facebook please join our Colorguard Spin for the Cure facebook group to stay up-to-date with announcements and to show your support. Each person that registers for our group helps us spread the word by showing your own facebook friends you support this important cause. You can also invite your friends and family in the colorguard community to participate as well! Thanks so much for your support and I hope some of you might be willing to help us out. TOGETHER we CAN make a DIFFERENCE! Sincerely, Catina Anderson www.colorguardeducators.com walking in memory of my grandmother Virginia Sweeney, co-worker Phyllis Morrison and in honor of survivor Nina Healy!