LEADING EDGE
Much was revealed last night, on the daring fall preview/premiere of Fox Television's deliciously sardonic, yet affirming, "Glee." It's not what you do that makes the difference, it's what you do with what you have.
What a lineage this show has: "To Sir, With Love," "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," "Room 222," "Welcome Back, Kotter," "Fame," and of course "High School Musical," were whirred together by the producers -- of "Nip/Tuck," GET OUT -- with ample doses of Christopher Guest's mockumentary comedy style, "Arrested Development," and even the inversion of "Friday Night Lights."
Leading edge stuff, this.
Same on winter floors each year; units take the best the idiom has to offer and whirr them together with ... to make great, satisfying, leading edge stuff.
This. Over the past decade.
20. Blessed Sacrament, “The City,” 2001
Stunning in its clarity and honesty to the idiom, the activity's longest-running act continues to set its own standards, ignoring the fashion of the day. Review Sac's history, and you will see that it is, in some ways, color guard's enigma.
19. Pride of Cincinnati, “Everybody Hurts,” 2005
When I watch this superior performing guard, the phrase "Actions speak louder than words" comes to mind. With its characterization over bumper sticker psychology, "Everybody Hurts" exemplified that feeling precisely. Year in and year out this guard and this organization lead the activity in many ways.
18. Alter Ego, “Footprints of Angels,” 2008
No television network, no cable news outlet, no website, song, poem, nor documentary will capture the essence of emotion that lingers more eloquently than New Jersey’s Alter Ego, with “Footprints of Angels.” The historic allusions came in the form of metaphors, as they were presented through color guard elements. Angels on wing, mirror-image “twins,” and the largesse of this homage, the representation of “everyman” lifted this breathtaking achievement into my runner-up position. It was the blend of words, music, and imagery that left an indelible footprint.
17. San Jose Raiders, “Stand By Me,” 2005
When you are looking for an industry-leader, a new vision, a fresh approach, and impeccable performance as your activity's standard-bearer, you really are not looking for any of that. At its best, and for me multi-champion San Jose's Raiders were that, you are caught by surprise, you watch something that you could not have imagined, and you experience an aesthetic that heretofore has been unseen. In its subtle tone and enveloping aura, San Jose reached into the audience, took my (hand) eyes, and led me into their realm, into a space that was polished, gentle, and for the class that offers all-inclusive membership, adult. Make no mistake, there was electrifying color guard displayed, but it was the guard's re-visioning of what we have come to expect, then executing it as if it were the standard that lifted the Raiders this year.
16. Corona, “A Case of You,” 2009
If word is true, then Los Angeles’ Corona has left the color guard stage at its most leading edge best. Here’s a unit that is anchored in the activity’s history, but that has innovated and left its own mark along the way. That it would choose its final year to lift the artistic and agility bar this high: toast to you! Connecting its vast dance repertoire with dizzying acts of color guard acrobatics held audiences rapt with giddy adoration.
15. James Logan High School, “Logan TKO,” 2002
If young people are still the future of the color guard activity, then this color guard and this program provide the game plan, and in this year's knockout program, stung the competition to be named "Logan Triumphant!" It was the show that every young person, whether fellow performer or fan, wanted to be a part of; and it showed, yet again, that the well of talent, both among the performers and from the leaders of this program, is virtually bottomless. The level of training that oozes from these young people is staggering. Layer that onto this rather light-hearted take on the real and fictitious worlds of boxing, and it became a first round KO!
14. St. Ann’s World, “The Miraculous Mandarin,” 2000
During a season that was punctuated so well by sleek, clean design and performance, this was the show to beat. Angular and aggressive, when this color guard “body” sped across the floor, spanning corner to corner, the miraculous velocity left us “winded” in its wake.
13. Fantasia, ‘Vanishing Act,” 2004
Field&Floor’s most frequently honored color guard lived up to the lyrics of the haunting Lou Reed song “Vanishing Act,” that was woven throughout their wrenchingly emotional, pertinent show that demonstrated love, honor, and compassion as universal themes … “to always be looking forward, and never looking back.” Fantasia offered a production that was written and performed with the influence of -- and in memory of -- one of the unit’s beloved designers and instructors. It must have been a particularly satisfying season for everyone involved.
12. Oracle, Rachmaninoff, 2006
Indoor color guard, has been called "The Sport of the Arts" for years now, but one type of artistic endeavor has a spotty history on our floors: dance. For judging purposes, it was dubbed "movement," and certainly most every level of color guard these days "moves" in ways unforeseen 30 years ago. But as for the dance, even with designers and instructors who have trained and performed in the medium doing their best to bring it into the arena, it has only been since the turn of the century that a level of dance that ought be seen beyond color guard's four walls has emerged. It was not until this year's invisible melding of dance into color guard by Colorado's Oracle that our sport can really boast of dance in our art. And what a satisfying dance/color guard piece this was, turning performers, equipment, choreography, and dance into unified objects of movement and motion. From the first second of the unit's mesmerizing solo turn, through the full encyclopedia of required -- yet unwritten -- color guard sequences, Oracle was as satisfying an entertainment as has been seen in many years.
11. Beyer High School, “In the Attic,” 2005
How is it that Beyer High School's color guard can virtually "slip into" the championship arena every year unnoticed, with no buzz, but consistently set standards of its own, entertain in ways that, again, you could not have expected, and be a regular medalist on the WGI podium? This guard is one of the best of the past two decades. And this year's stroll through the attic: sigh ... what treasures were discovered and shown us all. As for the closing flag sequence: it was perhaps the finest single segment of any performance of this year. Simply awe-inspiring.
Here's the schedule for the week:
-- Monday: The decade's 15 SIGNATURE PERFORMANCES, numbers 50-36;
-- Tuesday: The decade's 15 SIGNATURE SHOWS, numbers 35-21;
-- TODAY: The decade's 10 LEADING EDGE units, numbers 20-11;
-- TOMORROW: Numbers 10-6, SETTING INDUSTRY STANDARDS;
-- Friday, May 22: Field&Floor's Top 5 color guards from 2000-2009; and then
-- Saturday, May 23: a first here -- and a once-in-a-decade ranking -- Field&Floor's Top 5 color guards of 2000-2009, BY CLASS! Yes, I will acquiesce to time and give every class its individual due.
