SIGNATURE PERFORMANCES
Is there a designated point in time at which it can be determined that a color guard performance or show becomes leading edge or an industry standard? Is it early, or is it late in a decade?
The answer is an easy one: the time comes when the total impact is so unequivocal that one returns over and again to the source. For the sake of this decade retrospective, everlasting came early and evergreen sprouted this very season just completed.
Day 1 offers numbers 50-36, the 15 shows that from this view represented Signature Performances from the units. When you say the guard's name, here are the shows that will likely come to mind as superior performances.
We kick off the week at the end ... of the road.
50. Alliance of Miami, “End of the Road,” 2002
What the color guard world needed was an old-fashioned Alliance of Miami color guard show. Love was all around ... tradition abounded ... it was quintessential "Alliance" ... the performers emotions boiled over ... and then that championship night finale! We do, WE DO! What a year for color guard's "always scandalous" entry. Alliance showed that all it takes to make a memorable show is just the right song. The needle was dropped but once and boy was that enough to feel the love way up in the stands.
49. Woodlands High School, “Table for Two,” 2004
There is a long, funny, and memorable history in color guard of the specialty or novelty show. This was an over-the-top, laugh out loud, monster color guard sensation! All the trappings were there: oversized this, rolling that, restaurant items as flags, even a pie in the face; and it was all great good fun. But this over-achieving bunch of young people embraced the humor and the silliness with the same great color guard skills that are usually saved for a show with a more serious intent. They were serious all right, serious performers for a funny cause. And that, my friends, is cause for celebration.
48. In Motion, “Wild Horses,” 2006
The offhand notion of a color guard qualifying round, structured around every unit performing to a single song, is conjured up when in a season like this one song pops up in several classes and in several incarnations. "Wild Horses" was certainly in contention for that honor this year, but in its enervated, physically literal take, California's In Motion stampeded all other versions. This bold, daring display was, yes, a breed apart.
47. Winston Churchill High School, “On The Waterfront,” 2001
This guard's show was designed specifically with the useful props in mind. For the year's best individual guard work, this is where to set your videotape. Absolutely astounding.
46. Cypress Creek High School, “They Won’t Go When I Go,” 2002
Taste in the presentation of form and artistry was on full display in this often emotionally wrenching show.
45. Lake Mary High School, “Ain’t I A Woman?” 2000
Proving again that some of the best programming and performing comes from use of the "triad;" just how many units this decade used precisely this approach: one piece of equipment at a time, sequentially? Few as effectively as this.
44. Chino High School, “Bollywood,” 2008
What’s not to just get giddy about when watching this smart, clever California unit? “Bollywood” could have been an extravagance of visual tomfoolery; but nooooooooooo …. The thinking folks here infuse the students’ performance with the theme, optioning that the best way to get it across to the audience is through solid color guard. And they did. In ways both large and small, in the grand gesture and in the tiniest of detailing, the splendor and the allure of Bollywood were right there in front of us. Good entertainment, good guard.
43. Interplay, “The Thomas Crown Affair,” 2004
Ever the thematic chameleon, this Michigan standout opted for a stylish, wry, and sophisticated presentation that underscored a quality performance. Rather sleek and a bit avant garde in its look, Interplay’s equipment work and movement was open and exposed, a course only the confident dare take. A crowning achievement.
42. Rancho Bernardo High School, “Smile,” 2008
Sigh … all I could think about as I watched this tender, loving hug the first time (gator tears streaming down my face), were the California fires and the repeated mentions on cable news of Rancho Bernardo High School in their proximity. And the design choices that could have been made here. Every year these gifted high school students perform “as one,” bringing the audience into their unique worlds, also I think, “as one.” As one, everyone smiled. And sighed.
41. Marian Catholic High School, “Fallen,” 2009
Over the years, there has been spectacular reason to enjoy this venerable Chicago Heights high school color guard. Always up to the task of mounting massive productions on gymnasium floors, Marian Catholic has at turns amazed, amused, and astounded. But it was not until this year that everyone took to this year’s Scholastic Open champion. You see, whereas elephantine effect has typically led the way, designers flipped formula and had the performers dazzle throughout “Fallen,” before bringing on the Andrew Lloyd Webber effects. And dazzle they did, with the strongest equipment and movement books in years. The final performer to earn her wings was satisfying enough, but when the skies opened and the gates rolled away, the “Ah” of spectacle rose from the crowd and to its feet. We’d fallen.
40. Irondale High School, “Pachelbel Canon in D,” 2002
The story of the year and possibly the performance of the year, Irondale High School showcased spectacular skills to an unexpectedly driving, forward thrusting performance to what otherwise would be considered a musical "yawn" in its overuse. Artistically, this was one of the year's most luscious visual programs.
39. TIE: Onyx, “At Arm’s Length,” and Zydeco, “An Evening’s Stillness” 2009
World Championship’s hometown has turned out wonderful units over the years. Here are two of the best of Dayton’s best.
There is no finer unit, no organization, and no program in the indoor color guard activity than Onyx. Period. And there’s not been a year that at least one unit from the association has not been applauded for excellence. This year, included. Was this the best Onyx ever? Hmmm … seems to me, they all are.
The same sense of progression that unfolds over “An Evening’s Stillness,” developed through Zydeco’s breakout performance. Measured control of the sort displayed in this atmospheric and symphonic tone poem can only be achieved with the highest level of talent and training. And that is precisely what was as clear as a lightning strike.
38. Center Grove High School, “1000 Words,” 2006
There is a color guard "play" and performance each season that is better "read" than viewed, because its joys and its strengths are so specifically detailed and outlined, that the depth of pleasure you derive grows every time you experience it. World high school dominance began with and continues at Indiana's Center Grove, with its best-selling "1000 Words." Layering a rich, but subtle, native American storyline to this spare, but densely underscored volume, the twelve performing authors turned these words into a satisfying page-turner.
37. Patriots, “Caravan,” 2003
For all of the dissonance, and for all of the chicanery that this out-on-a-limb New York guard has offered, it took this offering of sophistication, maturity, and élan to cement its place among the best of the world’s best. Nothing fishy here.
36. Emerald Marquis, “Malaguena,” 2001
So, it's your final year of competition; what do you perform as your unit's coda? Easy, right? You find something that no one has ever done, so as to set yourself apart. Wrong, in the case of "color guard's color guard." No, you pick a musical selection that has almost become a pageantry parody, and then you give it a singular voice, an amazing read. The well of talent and ideas that come from this unit is staggering. This performance, in its seamless musical score, in its stunning visual production, and in its crowd appeal, brought us to our knees and to our feet all at the same time. Never pandering to the current means for effect, the show was highlighted by the quiet, yet sensuously erotic flag sequence. If adult performers are the future of this class, this landmark presentation has set the bar. Besides, it out-blasted "Blast."
Here's the schedule for the week:
-- TODAY: The decade's 15 SIGNATURE PERFORMANCES, numbers 50-36;
-- TOMORROW: The decade's 15 SIGNATURE SHOWS, numbers 35-21;
-- Wednesday, May 20: The decade's 10 LEADING EDGE units, numbers 20-11;
-- Thursday, May 21: 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.
