Silks, Scooters And Swords…..Oh My!

Thirty six committed to a full schedule of practice and performance from January until April this year.  It is called the Winterguard season and it involves two groups of students, the percussion drumline and the color guard. 

During a typical marching season, the color guard has a very structured opening act in which they start off the outdoor marching competition while wearing their fall plaid uniforms. Then, in the five-month lull between fall and spring marching seasons, the Winterguard is in session.

Under the direction of instructor Beth Carlson and assistant Brittany Silva, they immerse themselves in the fine art of indoor performance.  They get the freedom of props, music, outfits and a theme, which is currently “A Day at Play.” 

By season’s end, they will have performed in seven Bay Area competitions, and no performance is the same. The concept is selected in late fall or early winter, followed by hours of weekly practice. The first competition was less than two minutes long. The routine was still a work in progress, but it was a good test run.

As each week passed, the team  reviewed the judges’ comments and audience reactions. Changes were made often, some as subtle as a flag position and others as big as slashing a whole movement. At each competition, the program grew longer by a minute or two, until it was four and a half minutes by the final competitions.  

Typically, the teams arrive at the venue several hours early to go over tosses and movements. Members practice standing in one place, but their performance uses every corner of the 3,500 square feet of performance space, typically a gymnasium. 

Sometimes, competitions are at night, which adds a bit of challenge to outdoor warm-ups. When moving into the venue, competitors have precious few minutes for their eyes to adjust to the indoor lighting, which can have big consequences when tossing rifles 10 feet in the air and catching them at the right point in the revolution, sometimes with cold hands.  If flags get the slightest bit wet it affects rotation timing. 

The team instructor — firm, nurturing and positive — has rituals just minutes before performance times that calm nerves and pump up the team. She lets nothing slide but has faith in the team and they know it. 

However, this is just part of the picture. In competition mode, the color guard has eight to 10 minutes from start to finish, and this includes the unfolding of the 500-pound vinyl floor mat, placement of flags, rifles, swords and props and then getting into position to perform for more than four minutes. 

Then comes the mass exodus of all this equipment: Everyone grabs what they can, as if the gym were on fire, because the clock is still ticking. The logistics are a marvel to watch. 

Dark and heavy themes are de rigueur at other high schools this year, so the Benicia High School routine is a standout with its uplifting and joyful presentation and unusual props.   

The performance's music has a sweet beginning, swells like the sound of a waterfall as one nears it, then becomes so silent you hear the "whoosh" of the flags as their silk scores the air. The music resumes and flags appear to grow out of the floor, along with the playful appearance of balloons from one corner, a scooter from here, a kite from yonder.  

A flag is tossed across the floor over someone’s head and caught gracefully.  The performers rush back to the floor’s edge to retrieve another prop, which will meet its airborne fate. It leaves the audience wanting more and seems fresh each time it's performed. 

The color guard ladies are consummate performers who continue through their routines  even if a flag or sword is dropped.  The 11-member team is smaller than others school teams, which enables them to "be" big and "do" big, so their moves and tosses fill the floor. They have had two first-place finishes with excellent judge and audience comments throughout the season.  

There are two team members who are  in color guard and the percussion drumline unit.  Once, on the same day, they performed with the drumline in Elk Grove and had to go 135 miles to perform with their color guard in San Jose.

“A Day at Play” will retire at the Northern California Band Association Championship in Loomis on April 2.  Then, the color guard will don their plaids again for their short marching season with two competitions in April and May.  This will wrap up their performance year.

This is a historically  bittersweet moment for the seniors as they prepare to graduate and leave what has been their family for years.  

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