guardgirl:)

The author is a poet named Charles Bukowski. I believe they used more than one of his pieces. He is actually the narrator as well. This is the poem that they had at the end:

If you do recall, it is WGI: Sport of the Arts. With that being said, how is it pretentious for a group to identify themselves as an artist? Is dancing no longer an art form? Just because it isn't a framed, paint covered canvas does not mean that what these performers produce is not art. As stated in the WGI Mission statement, “WGI Sport of the Arts exists to foster positive experiences for all who participate, by promoting education, creativity, and freedom of expression through the unification of the marching arts industry, music education, and the performing arts”. I believe the term “art” was used at least three times… Also, it states that WGI encourages freedom of expression, so why is everyone involved in this activity so opposed to something out of the ordinary. Just because it is unexpected and unique does not necessarily mean that it is bad. People are very quick to judge and attack things they don’t immediately understand, which in a world so full of fakeness, I personally think it is a breath of fresh air to experience something new and different. Our activity has been toeing the same line year after year giving the audience and judges exactly what they expect with big blocks and flag features. I appreciate that type of show as well as Onyx’s approach to be different. Some people have commented on Onyx’s lack of standard movement. Though it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I feel that it works for them. The style of their shows allows them to expand the horizons outside classical dance technique into a different realm of movement. For those that disagree that this is an acceptable addition to the color guard world, once again, see WGI’s site explaining winter guard: “Modern color guard is a combination of the use of flags, sabers, mock rifles, and other equipment, as well as dance and other interpretive movement”. As for the claims that Onyx is leading the activity in the wrong direction; who says you have to follow? If you don’t like it, change it. WGI has never claimed that you must follow the leaders of the class, in fact; they even go so far as to state that “WGI's artistic direction is fully controlled by the units”. It is up to each and every group to impact the activity. Onyx has dared to be different. Many other groups have blazed their own trail and it has worked for them. Many have tried and have been less successful. But for the people that complain that they see the same work year after year, or hear groups use the same songs; don’t be upset when someone tries something unordinary. As for Onyx’s behavior at retreat, I wholeheartedly believe that they were grateful for their medals. If you noticed, they stood professionally through the whole retreat, start to finish. Though some people think that they were behaving rudely by not clapping, I’d much rather see that than what I’ve witnessed by some other groups in the past such as going to retreat intoxicated or removing their medals because they didn't win. I witnessed many gracious, joy-filled faces from all the medal winners this year as soon as retreat ended. http://wgi.org/contents/What-is-WGI.html

What about colleges with guards in the area? I am considering continuing in an independent guard, but I'm not sure of where I should spin. What are the guards in the Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, etc. area?