Color guard begins its competition season on Saturday at the North Texas Colorguard Association (NCTA) contest at Independence High School. The color guard season is split into two parts: marching season and competition season, each coming with its own set of challenges.
“Marching season is outdoors where we have to deal with a lot of different elements like the wind and sun in our eyes, and we also performed with the band,” freshman Rithika Madheswaran said. “But during winter guard, which is indoors, we don’t have to deal with the elements, but I feel like some of the things we do are more challenging [because] the focus is only on the guard [techniques].”
This year’s theme, Gargoyles, provides unique opportunities in challenges in style and choreography, according to junior Ivy Arago.
“My favorite part of this year’s theme, Gargolyes, is that the style of the song and choreography requires you to embrace an angstier and darker performance and to be creatively artistic with each movement,” Aragao said.
Color guard officer and senior Shritya Vedula shares this sentiment and particularly enjoys the uniqueness of this year’s theme.
“My favorite part about this year’s theme is how unique and different it is from any of the past shows that we have done,” Vedula said. “We are embodying gargoyles and creatures of the night, and so it forces us to play with performance in ways we never have before. It’s super exciting!”
To prepare for this contest, the team has been practicing during and outside of school hours.
“Our team has regular rehearsals twice a week where we spend time warming up our bodies and do equipment techniques before going into learning and improving on choreography in our show,” Vedula said. “We end the night with a run-through of our show to prepare us for competitions.”
While learning the choreography has been difficult, the color guard team has been supportive of each other.
“It can be challenging to stay strong mentally while working through rehearsals, but the guard always tries to cheer each other up,” Aragao said.
While this is only the beginning of their competition season, for seniors, it will be their last season, leaving them with bittersweet feelings.
“It is a really heartbreaking feeling knowing that this will be my last season performing with this team,” Shriya said. “But I am trying to make the most of the time that I have with the most special people in the world and cherish these moments as long as I can.”
