The Irondale Winter Guard
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Frequently Asked Questions
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What is Winter Guard?
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What are the Different Winter Guard
Classifications? ·
How do they Judge a Winter Guard
show? ·
How do you Watch
a Winter Guard show? ·
How does the Staff come up with Show
Ideas? ·
How do you Compare Performance Art to
a Famous Painting? |
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Answers
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What is Winter Guard? The basics are similar to fall marching band and we will get
into that but let’s give you a bit of a history lesson first. Winter guard started in the 1950's as a competitive military
Honor Guard activity. The Honor Guard consisted of the American Flag, State
Flag, Organization Flags, side arms (rifle and/or sabre
used to "protect" the American Flag), a commanding officer and any
award flags your unit might have received. Very military in format, you
presented the American Flag and did various maneuvers to present the colors
in a unique way. Pretty much like most VFW Honor Guards do today in parades.
The maneuvers increased in complexity but the "American Flag Code"
was strictly adhered to. (These are the rules of how to fly and march with
the American Flag. There are many!). By the early 70's music was introduced. Previous to this the
commanding officer would call out commands or a single snare drummer would
tap a beat. Once music was added to the sport people really began to explore
the possibilities that music brought with it; thematic shows, different
moods, etc. The American flag squad still existed, however the side arms had
increased in number creating sabre lines and rifle
lines and they actually started throwing them!!!! The award flags turned into
flag lines, the big heavy embroidered award flags were replaced by custom
design flags, however since the poles were still 8 ft tall or larger flag tosses
were still a few years down the road. Music became the driving force of the activity in the 70's and
by the end of this decade the American Flag Squads had all but disappeared.
It was around this time that Winter Guard
International (WGI) was formed. It is the national governing body of winter
color guards. Up until the founding of WGI the country consisted of many
individually run circuits (Our local circuit, the North Star Circuit, is one
of these. It was formed in 1962 and is now the second oldest local circuit in
the country). WGI helped to standardize the competitive aspects of the
activity as well as help with national training and education. The 80's brought many other creative elements to the activity
with the introduction of dance, theater, performance art, etc. The shows
turned into full productions, completely orchestrated, designed and performed
to a specific soundtrack. WGI also grew by adding the Scholastic Class to the
line-up. Since this time the Scholastic Classes make up the majority of the
membership in WGI. During the 90's the
activity continued to grow and added more classifications to better serve its
members. In the mid 90's the Percussion Classes were also added. Currently,
WGI has 9 classifications for Colorguards which are
3 Independent Classes (groups that are independently run and have people of
all ages), 3 Scholastic Classes (groups that come from a particular school
with a maximum age) and 9 Percussion Classes. |
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What
Are The Different Winter Colorguard Classifications?
Classifications have developed in winter guard not like the
fall marching season which usually goes by school size but rather by the
talent level of the performers and the designers. The guard classes are as
follows: Scholastic Classes: Scholastic A Class: Beginning/intermediate level high school units. Skills are
more basic and they are still learning the fundamentals of the activity.
Staff is usually 1-2. Intermediate/Advanced level high school units. Skills are more
advanced and the performers and designers have a much better understanding of
the principals of the activity and are now starting to explore more complex
ideas. Staff size is usually 2-4. Advanced level high school units. They demonstrate advanced
skills and perform at very high levels. They usually have larger
staffs. Independent Classes: Independent A Class: Same as Scholastic A, except there is an age limit of 22 years
old. Same as Scholastic Open, except with an age limit of 22 years
old. Same as Scholastic World, except with no age limit. Other Classes: There are also a couple other classifications for younger
marchers. |
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How Do They Judge Winter Colorguards? Each of the classifications (A, Open, World) has their own
judging criteria. They each have their own 100 point scale which is broken
down into five captions. They are: This judge credits the performer on how they handle their
equipment as well as crediting the designer on what they choreographed for
the performers. So, they are judged on what they are given and how well they
do what they have been given, but strictly relative to Equipment... flag,
rifle and sabre. This judge credits the performer on how they move as well as
crediting the designer on what they have choreographed for the performers.
So, again they are judged on what they are given and how well they do what
they have been given, but strictly relative to Movement...dance, theatrics, gesture… anything to do with the body. This judge credits all of the technical aspects of the
program. They look at how the show flows, how it is written to the music, the
total technical package. They credit the composition itself, what has been
designed and how it works or doesn't and they in turn credit the excellence
in its performance, how well the performers are executing the composition. There are 2 judges that look at the performance from an
emotional standpoint. They determine how much entertainment value does the
show have? They judge the repertoire similar to composition but less
technical and more emotional. They also credit the performance. How well is
the repertoire being performed? Not
only at an excellence standpoint but very much at an emotional one. This
caption is very technical but really based on the emotional aspects of a program
be it in your face or intellectual. |
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How Do You Watch a Winter Guard Show? Many people complain that they don't get to see everything
because there is so much going on. That's okay because that means there is
something different to see every time you view it! Also, if the designer has done their job
correctly the motion on the floor will automatically direct your eye to what
is the most important thing to watch.
Just enjoy the Show. You will
decide what you like best and that's cool. You will be able to start to
really see the complexities of shows and how much work goes into these
products. It is truly amazing. |
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How Does The Staff Come Up With Show
Ideas? Every year the staff tries
to challenge the members as well as themselves to create a unique show that
is Irondale. Exploring different genres of music, theater and dance are also
important to us so that the members can experience different styles and
methods while they are marching at Irondale.
Variety and exploring various styles is always a good thing.
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How Do You Compare Performance Art To
A Famous Painting? I hope that everyone gets a chance to see the show this year.
Performance art is such an incredible thing. It is not like a painting
hanging in the Louvre that you can constantly go back and see, it is only
here for one particular moment and then it is gone never to be seen again. If you’re able to see different
performances notice the changes that occur from one week to the next or even
from an afternoon show to a show that same evening. It is constantly changing; challenging both
the staff and the members. Therefore
each performance is completely unique from any other and after April 8 or 9
it will only be a memory on a video tape.
We hope you get a chance to see it before then! |
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