Color Guard Prepares Their Winter Show “Moonlight”
Color Guard's winter season, or "Winter Guard" is a season where they compete separately from the marching band against other color guards.
After taking first place in divisions to end their fall marching band season, the color guard is ready to split off on their own for the winter season.
Color guards winter season, or “Winter Guard” is a season where they compete separately from the marching band against other color guards. Their show this year, “Moonlight” will feature a saber line, something that Alta hasn’t had in over five years.
“Its really exciting,” says senior Halle Rex, “It shows that our team has grown enough to learn new skills and to use new equipment.” Auditions for winter guard were on November 22nd and the team has been working hard to learn the basic skills in preparation to learn their new show for the winter season. They only have two weeks to learn their show before they unroll the mats at Brighton High School on January 21st. “Its a lot of stuff all at once,” Rex says, “There’s so much to learn in such a short time but thats part of the challenge that every school goes through.”
Their first performance wont be the same as the rest of the winter guard season though. “We change our show between competitions to keep making it better and better,” Halle continued, “The original performance changes a lot by the time state comes in April.”
While spectactors see the guard making tosses and throws in an effortless fashion, what they don’t see is the hard work and practice that goes into perfecting their craft.
“I’ve dropped flags more times than I can count,” says senior captain Toa Finau, “Those repeated failures though make it feel much more rewarding when you finally figure it out and all that hard work pays off.”
Even though color guard is tough work, Toa doesnt want anyone to feel discouraged from coming out and giving it a try, “No matter your skill level we would love for you to give the team a try. Were so tight knit and accepting of everyone and work together to help everyone learn.”
While the winter season is already underway, color guard runs year round, combining with marching band for the summer and fall seasons. Those who are interested can reach out to band director Caleb Shabestari, or any member of the color guard.
“Colorguard has given me a place at Alta where I can get involved in the school,” says Halle Rex. “Although we’re a relatively small group, we have a strong culture that gives me a place to belong at school.”