Color Guard: Electrifying Purpose and Bold Pageantry for Everyone

When most people think of taking an elective or joining a school activity, they often believe they have to choose between a sport, club, or performing arts class. Or worse, they believe that only ‘certain kinds of people’ can truly ‘make it’ in their school’s marching band or the dance team. This is where the Color Guard and Winter Guard (Guard) offer an especially unique opportunity for students of any background and skill level to blend their interests into an incredibly satisfying artistic program experience.

Highly evolved since the early military procession days, today’s Guard programs produce fully choreographed shows that are highly sophisticated. Most Guard shows are created around a specific creative concept - either centered on a piece of music or a theme in which the performers portray characters with elaborate storytelling. Each show’s creative concept involves a combination of dance, gymnastic, acting, and equipment skill moves involving a flag, rifle, and saber. The colors and designs selected for the floor, props, uniforms, flag silks, rifles and sabers all play a vital role in portraying the story / theme of the show. In addition, the accompanying music provides the performers and their audience with a strong emotional artistic backdrop for the story.

So why would anyone choose to participate in an activity where you spend hundreds of hours learning to dance and move around with a mock wooden rifle, saber, or a flag pole with material on it? As a former Director of a Color Guard program, I’ve seen young people transformed from shy, isolated individuals into vibrant and confident members of a high performing group during a single Guard season.

The Color Guard and Winter Guard programs give students of different talent levels and skill sets a place to belong, to be a part of a community which allows them to feel pride and become more confident as a person. While you must master skills as an individual, success in the Guard comes from an entire team’s hard work as a unit. Many hours of rehearsal working on various skills where students can leverage each other’s strengths to learn, mentor, and push one another to be their best is especially great. Even better, NO ONE who is part of a Guard unit is sitting on the bench! All members of the team contribute to the show, which means everyone is striving to achieve a consistent level of excellence for every rehearsal and performance.

At the same time, Guard also offers a powerful and healthy competitive spirit! During the competitive seasons, students will feel the adrenaline kick in and seek improvement week to week, not only as individuals but as a team. Working together to present the strongest, most effective, entertaining show keeps everyone focused on a singular goal, which encourages everyone to raise their skills and grow as artists.

The feeling a person gets from performing in color and winter guard shows is electric. Where else can a student combine the artistry of dance, gymnastics, spinning of equipment and character expression all into one?! Guard members portray a character or mood through their highly expressive moves. If you have not yet been to a color guard or winter guard performance, you are in for a transformative experience!

Being a member of a Color Guard or Winter Guard requires incredible discipline and commitment to fitness. Moving in staging / drill to form formations and elaborate designs on a football field or in a gymnasium while dancing and executing ‘equipment work’ requires the Guard performer to be conditioned in running, breathing and muscular control. Unleashing all of that energy in a highly choreographed routine creates a powerful and satisfying joy that lives on.

Guard teams attract a unique pool of students who are interested in learning something out of the ordinary. The bold pageantry art brought to life through a Color Guard or Winter Guard performance is unparalleled. In 1980, my parents took me to see the DCI Championships in Birmingham, Alabama. This was my first experience seeing a drum corps and I saw so many inspiring groups. But when the Blue Devils came on the field and began their performance, it really captured my attention. They were using streamers on both ends of their rifles and I was blown away by the effect and the creative possibilities. It inspired me to learn Color Guard in college and begin to design and choreograph the college marching band shows and my own Winter Guard program at the school I landed my first, and only, teaching job! It was the Color Guard that captivated me and drove me to learn an activity I had never, ever considered and became a passion throughout my career as an educator that continues to this day.

Recently I had the privilege of being the Overview Clinician for the Florida Federation of Colorguards Circuit. I relished having this opportunity to view all of the shows and give directors / instructors constructive feedback in real time, as their show was being performed. It was especially thrilling to see a diverse and inclusive range of students participating in the Winter Guard productions. It truly is an activity for anyone! Watching such a representation of students working together for one artistic project is a testament to the wonderful gift Guard programs give back to our society. Learning how to work as a team, follow through, commit and become dedicated to something bigger is a powerful gift we give to ourselves. Guard programs are a fantastic way to grow as individuals, so consider joining and/or supporting one in your local community!