Large Color Guards - They Do Make an Impression!

[lindap]

The July 1971 tour roster of the Anaheim Kingsmen names 41 buglers, 21 drummers, a DM and a guard captain, 10 rifles .... and 52 flags !!!

The rifle captain has recalled that there were about a half-dozen girls in the honor guard, and some others who were alternates but suited up and stood on the sidelines. But there still was a slew of flags on the field - we are trying to find someone who actually remembers how many. [Does anybody really remember the 70s?]

That's a guard and a half. I suspect there were other corps with more members in guard than hornline in the early 70s but times have changed. I really don't remember the 70s alot but have some scrapbooks and photos. Also, 6-10 of us 'girls' from the 70s get together about every 5 years and collectively, we remember quite a bit, albeit unprintable.

[SBrancheau]

A rifle line full of beginners, taught by a non-rifle person. Turned out well, considering!

Hey Sue, GREAT photo! Good hand positions and consistent rifle angles!

Sally

[deftguy]

I marched for seven years in a guard of 64 members. All of them really good, quite a few in WGI and in drum corps. We didn't have goof offs, because there was always someone in the wings who could quite easily take your place. After graduating I ended up teaching that guard. We won alot of awards during my entire participation as a marcher and instructor. Our band director believed that he assembled a excellent staff, and basically let them teach without interference, though many of the instructor had worked together before.

The next largest guard I have ever taught was 45, and that was alot of work. Its really difficult teaching the concept of personal discipline while teaching a show and a guard book at the same time. By the time I started the next year at that school, everyone had pretty much gotten the picture that I am not to be messed with.

[quegrawks]

Unfortunately here in Texas there is not....other than BOA, and USSBA. Why? Colorguard is not judged seprately in UIL (the region, area and state run contest) Guards are bonus points under the visual caption. Its only the tip of the "UIL is evil" iceburg. I'm sure the Mikes will pipe up and explain more.

However, most festivals (pre UIL) bring in outside judges and actually have seperate guard awards....even though at shows like Sam Houston, they throw out the guard and percussion scores in the total average. Local shows ran by colleges and high school boosters sort of make up their own criteria. Some think that a dance only person is good enough to judge.

I've only done UIL for one season so far, and GRRRRRRR--as a guard instructor!!!!! I was asked to judge a competition in Denton (one of those "festivals" or whatever they call them), but I was already judging a USSBA show that day. My wife was in Denton helping her friend's guard and ended up judging the show.

Anyway...

[quegrawks]

2006 Barbara Goleman High School Varsity Guard (Miami, Florida) at SWFGA championships. Show was Sol-Fa: Choral VI: Song of Aerolus by Adiemus.

2006 Barbara Goleman High School JV Guard (Miami, Florida) at SWFGA championships. Show was Let the River Run by Carly Simon

The next year we had 90 kids show up for auditions. We cut them down to 50, then Judy found out she was accepted to UT for her doctorate, so we ended up moving.

Edited May 23, 2008 by quegrawks

[quegrawks]

oops. sorry!

Edited May 23, 2008 by quegrawks

[BD_Fan]

2006 Barbara Goleman High School Varsity Guard (Miami, Florida) at SWFGA championships. Show was Sol-Fa: Choral VI: Song of Aerolus by Adiemus.

2006 Barbara Goleman High School JV Guard (Miami, Florida) at SWFGA championships. Show was Let the River Run by Carly Simon

The next year we had 90 kids show up for auditions. We cut them down to 50, then Judy found out she was accepted to UT for her doctorate, so we ended up moving.

You worked with Barbara Goleman? They compete in my circuit, and I know a few people who graduated from that program.

[quegrawks]

You worked with Barbara Goleman? They compete in my circuit, and I know a few people who graduated from that program.

Yeah. I did.

For some reason the pix aren't showing up? here's a link:

Indoor 2006. Varsity (in brown), JV (in blue).

[byline]

Hey Sue, GREAT photo! Good hand positions and consistent rifle angles!

Sally

Thanks, Sally! Their feet are all in the same spot, too. (The feet-shuffling thing has always bugged me.) Before it sounds like I'm bragging: I wish I could say that you would've seen this kind of alignment with every single one of my rifle lines, every toss, every performance. But I'd be lying if I said that. However, this rifle line was by far the most confident and consistent of the ones I taught from '90 to '93, so they were the most likely to capture a moment like this one.

Edited May 25, 2008 by byline

[byline]

Hey! That was MY uniform my sophmore year (black and gold and shiny spandex!).....yes my hs guard growing up was all about sequins and headgear. But so was everyone else in the early to mid 90's.

The uniform was a design by Miller's that, in the catalogue, was available only as a long skirt. I didn't like the skirt, and wanted a pants/leggings version. They agreed to make that change, and that's how that uniform came about. I can't recall if the headgear with feathers came from Miller's or someone else, but it made a subtle contrast with the uniform and also created a nice visual effect on the field.

For years, I'd done battle with the band directors who at first wanted the guard to almost exactly match the band. Then they went with a uniform that contrasted with the band uniform, but not in a good way (Will will attest to that). Either way, there was just too much white on the field. And not in a pretty Phantom kind of way; this created a cluttered look. I'd fought for years to get a solid-color uniform that contrasted with the band uniform but didn't clash with the flags. Finally, I got my wish in '93. I had come up with one design, but the band director saw this in the Miller's catalogue, and I liked it better than my own design. I worried that going so dark wouldn't work, but as it turned it out looked really nice on the field. Almost like the guard was a shadow of the band.