SpartanGuard

I've only really been to the Walled Lake regional, but I saw a few awesome groups. Sch. A: --Jenison HS is really good again. Still a darker show like they did last year (13th in SA finals), but more elegant and very simple. --Lake Orion HS was quite impressive. They're doing an abstract show and all their choreography fits the theme quite well. I don't think I've seen an SA guard move like they do. --West Bloomfield HS doesn't compete in SA in the local circuit (they're in the class below, Sch. AA, but it's on an A sheet), but they have the cutest show I've ever seen: The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It's insanely adorable. Ind. A: --Interplay A has another cute show, this time about circles (last year was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"). The theme is very well executed, down to the performer's little hoop earrings. --Ancora A isn't going to WGI, but I wish they would. They're doing a really cool cover of "Sounds of Silence", but it's kind of a soft, almost upbeat take on the song. Just a joy to watch. --Notre Dame College made a huge jump this year over the past--they've been on the climb and I loved them last year, but this show ("End of the Ride") takes it a step further. There are so many great moments in the show, it's hard to pick one. They didn't have costumes or show silks yet, but they still wowed me. Sch. Open: --Walled Lake Central was the only one, but they've got a great, dark, dramatic show done to original music by the school's percussion director (Nick Pourcho). It wasn't very done but had (has) a ton of potential. Ind. Open: --State of Art also wasn't very complete, but this is another show that will go far and not peak until WGI. Now, I am a bit biased when it comes to them (see my signature), but this was a lot of fun to watch and there's some really cool movement choreography going on, courtesy of Melissa Ganser. The show is called "Against The Grain" and is finding ways to use sand as a visual effect. It's kind of minimal now, but I'm hoping they add more to this. Even without it, it's just fun. --Ancora is doing a show called "Some Birds Aren't Meant To Be Caged", and the lovely performers are the birds. There are some cage-like visual elements, but the performers quite easily and excellently broke free. At first, it seems like it will be dark, but it's more about being free. --Interplay is, well, Interplay. If you've ever seen Interplay in the past few years, you'll know their shows are all pretty similar. This isn't a slight to them--they've found what they're good at and they maximize it every year. If you like playing with dominoes, then you'll love this show. Ind. World: --Juxtaposition was the only guard in this class. I enjoyed the show, but I honestly couldn't tell you what it was about. Apparently it was called "Mirror" and the music was half "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera and half something I forgot. It was nice to watch, though.

I made a tumblr for this once but it never got very far (http://awesome-guard-music.tumblr.com/). It's almost overwhelming how much great music there is out there.

I spun a King when I was marching, and I bought a Samurai a while back to try it out (to see if it was worth getting for the guard I teach). I haven't noticed many differences, other than no bevel and a sharper curve on the blade of the Samurai--it isn't gradual like it is on a King. If you can afford Kings, go with them; but a Samurai is a good alternative.

I'm one of the rare band & corps nerds who doesn't play an instrument, so I wasn't even aware of corps until I joined the colorguard freshman year of high school. One of our percussionists marched Marion Glory Cadets the following summer, and his mom tried to recruit me for their guard, lol (how I wish my parents had let me! I was never able to march.) My first live show was with some college and high school friends in June 2007 in Belding, MI. Saw Dutch Boy, Troopers, Colts, Crossmen, Blue Stars, Blue Knights (had a friend in the guard that year), Glassmen, and Cavaliers (not in that order). I was in heaven. The Cavaliers guard was, by far, the hottest thing I had ever seen. I seem to recall one of the guys throwing a 12 on saber, but that's probably exaggerated in my memory (though not impossible).

I forgot that Zimmer did "The Dark Knight" too...my first thought when I saw his name was "160 BPM" from "Angels & Demons," but that's kind of been played out (Bluecoats '10 and Cadets '11, and everyone at WGI in 2010--still an excellent piece of music, though). There's a lot of good music in both the "A & D" and "DaVinci Code" soundtracks that would lend themselves to this show. I'm reeeeeeeeeally excited to see this!

Chippewa Valley started a weapon line in 2007 and, as far as I recall, have had one since. This year, they have rifles, but it's a predominantly flag show, and they only have one silk. They have a nice show this year and have a very good shot at medaling in MCGC.

We only have one right now in Michigan, Walled Lake Central. I really like what they have going on! They're usually very strong on rifle, and this year is no different. They'll have a really cool stage when it's all done.

Most groups I've seen with shoes just use jazz shoes, either black or tan. You can get those from any dance retailer--my personal faves are Discount Dance Supply and Dancewear Solutions (both online).

I've only used Behr Porch & Patio paint from Home Depot, but it holds up great. I think I went with them over the Lowe's brand because it was a few bucks cheaper per gallon. As long as it's an acrylic latex floor paint, you should be good.

The reason my instructor in college would hold off was because he felt that people would start judging the show before anyone saw it, which I think a lot of people do, even if only subconsciously. How many times have we heard about someone doing a certain song, and thought "Again?"

Well, "national" is a bit of misnomer here - Winter Guard Network (part of Alliance Media) only carries circuits in Florida, Michigan, the Carolinas, New England, Minnesota, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virgina. I'm sure if they had West Coast circuits, it would look much different. (I also wish they'd drop their prices to watch - the WGI Fan Network is a much better deal. And I probably would have single-handedly put my guard in that top 20 )

I haven't spun an AirBlade a lot, but from what I can tell, they're pretty different. I agree with and AirBlade being a prop, because it kind of felt like a toy when I was spinning it. A rifle is...a rifle. It's lasted this long and I don't see it going anywhere.

Orlando Suttles will be there, too.

State of Art, too! But if you want to get really technical, Warren Central and Jamestown (pretty sure) are using a piece from "The DaVinci Code" that parts of the "Angels and Demons" soundtrack were based on.

Wish I could go! I love Onyx! Too bad it's our band camp (college marching band)...

In MCGC: AA - 15 AAA - 7 Regional A - 12 Flag Line - 9 Auxiliary - 7 Then 13 in Scholastic A and 6 in Independent A.

Does this mean anything in regards to Fantasia returning?

We have a bit of a weird system in Michigan. We have Scholastic/Independent (WGI) A, then a series of regional classes below that. In descending order: AA, AAA, A, Flag Line, Auxiliary.

There were a bunch of shows this year at WGI - off hand, there was University of Louisiana (IA), Elizabethtown Independent (IA Finalist), and Center Grove (SW Finalist). There was another guard I saw at IA Prelims who did a show called "Waterfall" with music from "Pride and Prejudice". Good luck!

Just the ones listed on the WGI website - Heritage Independent from Fort Wayne and Usurpation from Kokomo.

As far as Michigan goes, there's the Ancora organization based in Livonia (this year they fielded IA and Regional guards), Interplay based in Grand Rapids (IA and recently IW), Mt. Pleasant Independent (IA), and Ferndale (IA). There's also State of Art (newly IO), but you have to go to Michigan State, and Huron Valley Independent (IA) in Milford/White Lake, but I think that's only open to Milford and Lakeland HSs. I know there are a couple in Indiana (I was looking for a friend headed to school there) and TONS in Ohio. Hope that helps!

If such a spot exists, I will send them my resume ASAP. That's part of what my major in school does - and I think I would die of joy if WGI hired me (I'm probably sending them my resume anyways :D )

I am in my college's winterguard (we were Independent A this year). We got $3300 from student government this year, and $5000 from the marching band - the rest we had to fundraise on our own (over $15000). We don't have to pay for practice facilities, but they were pretty hard to come by (intramural sports get preference, and the room we used last year was renovated so we can't practice with our full floor). Our dues were pretty low this year, but the fundraising amount was crazy - personal costs will go up next year as we move into Open class. There was a separate Collegiate class here in our circuit for the past ten years or so, but there were never more than three units in it. This year, we would have been the only ones, so we moved to IA (though we were already planning on going to a regional and Worlds). In fact, one of the other guards had to fold because they lost their practice space, and the other one fused with a nearby high school to make a new IA class guard. The main reason there was a specific college-level class was for recruitment, but the fact that the class didn't exist this year doesn't seem to have made an impact on it - we've had several high schoolers come to us at shows saying that they want to go to our school now so they can march with us. That might seem like one incoherent paragraph, but what I'm trying to say is that I don't think that's the case at most schools - it has certainly never been the case here - and I don't see the beef with them competing as independent guards. I think college guards would have to be a lot more visual in every class for it to be feasible - as of right now, I can only think of two or three in each class at finals.

McCormick's is great for buying...well, anything. I got my Elite 4 from them and it shipped incredibly fast. King is also really good - my guard uses them, 37". Length is really more preference than anything, and sometimes it comes down to weight. But our 37"s weigh the same as my 39", so...yeah. And they all cost in the same range from what I've seen - $30-$40. http://www.mccormicksnet.com/catalog.asp?c...lick=104271-7-0 http://www.designsbyking.com/rifles_and_accessories.php

At State of Art, ours were $200 (plus $50 uniform fee) - so we had to do a TON of fundraising. Since we're a university group, we were able to get some from the student government, as well as from the marching band (we're considered a subdivision of it), but the rest was fundraising: talking to hall governments, getting sponsors, selling magazine subscriptions, restaurant night. We hosted a clinic, too, and we're in the survey thing with CollegeFundraisers.com. We're hoping it won't be as nuts next year, since this year we were also buying a floor, prop materials, and a set of sabers, all of which will be reused.