Blown away by the Spintronix Guard

What a weekend! To say that I am blown away by the Spintronix guard would be an understatement. I can say with confidence that this is the best indoor guard I have seen yet! And I've seen a lot of them!

To start off this weekend right, I have to give some insight on my relationship with Jackie and Spintronix.

Jack first texted, "Soooooooo everyone is dying to know... including me... Are you available at all the next couple of weekends?"

So I replied, "ummm. Well, I didn't want to tell you this but...yeah."

I think that I had sufficiently confused her enough, which isn't hard to do sometimes, because she replied back, "Wut?"

I let her know that I was planning on coming the following weekend and she simply responded with "YAY"

Getting to camp was a whole different story. I was on the plane ready to go. We had already pushed back, when the captain come on and said that we were going back to the gate and waiting for a new plane. A one hour delay became two hours then three hours. I finally decided to switch to the last flight which ended up getting in before the earlier flight! Boy was I glad to see Ted when I finally got there 5 hours later! After the usual stop at Braums, we were on our way!

I got in right before bed time and as soon as I walked in, I was greeted with a screaming hug from Rebekah, you know the type, followed by a hug from Anna. Sam and Corey were goofing around trying new things and they actually got the turn around double exchange that they had been working on since last year! Maybe we should put it in the show! They ran the show for me with just the two of them so I could see the work. Of course Megan was still in the rehearsal space spinning away, you really cant get that girl to stop practicing! Sam also showed me her Marching Mizzou pregame silk that she had MURDERED by standing on before doing a pop toss, yeah, don't do that. She now wears the flag like a tiger skin draped around her neck.

I'm not sure who it was, but someone turned the thermostat all the way up before bed. Whoever it was, better hope that I never find them! The whole place was scorching after having the insulting panels installed in the windows and I was so hot I was suffocating! anyway the next morning, per usual, I skipped the morning dance block and workout block. Instead, I ate breakfast and drank coffee. Just so you know, back in my day, coffee wasn't allowed before, during, or after rehearsal so you better make sure that you thank Jackie!

After breakfast it was time to teach flag! My favorite! I started with the "beginner" flag group. Now I don't want the name beginner to make you think that these girls aren't good. They had some skills and absorbed everything that I threw at them! Maybe I should have made the work more difficult....left handed tosses, throw aways, turns, work facing different directions, movement with work, these girls have it all, and they can do it all! I'm so lucky that I had Bekah to help me out too! She learned it with them and picked it up quickly! Too bad she isn't on the guard!

After lunch, we never seemed to get started on time. I think part of had to do with half the guard being gone for a parade. Before we went back onto the rehearsal space, I wanted to see the costume on, so Emily was the guinea pig and she was sooooo stinkin' cute! Sam and Megan and Anna practiced lifting Kirsten. Thank goodness Anna was there with her lifting, spotting, and tossing knowledge! With practice, that toss is going to be really cool and only add to the show!

We split back up and I taught the rest of the beginner work and even got to run it with the rifles a few times! There were only 3 girls left, but they worked it out! It's not clean yet, but I can see it!

During a break Jackie and I were able to write the partner work and teach it just as the parade kids were coming back. Not to toot my own horn, but the partner work is CUTE! I think everyone likes it and they look good doing it! We ran through it several times and all of the staff jumped in so everyone could practice! Of course we spent a lot of time on the partner work so that cut the advanced learning and teaching time down. Thankfully the advanced group picks up work quickly and Sam and Jonathon are both familiar with my writing and teaching style. Sam knows to just go with it and mimics what I'm doing as I'm writing it, so by the time I teach it, she just needs the counts! Can we get the whole guard to do that? Anna was there to fill in Jades spot and help out Kirsten. 

At the end of every rehearsal, there is the run through! Oh how I used to live to hear the words, "set it up from the top"! What I would give to perform just 'one more' final run through of rehearsal! Those who are still spinning don't realize how lucky they have it right now! Anyway, the last run through was rough and tough because it was literally the first time everyone had had put all of the new work together and believe me, we threw A LOT at them this weekend. And even though it was rough, I was so proud of each and every member for pushing through!

 

Leaving is always my least favorite part of the weekend. Is there a way to just have rehearsal all day, all week? Everyone did a good job cleaning up. It makes my heart happy that they take pride in their space to keep it nice for present and future members. This is why we CAN have nice things! Cute Little Emily probably did half of their chores herself. If only we could bottle her energy and share it with others! 

 

After goodbye were said and hugs given, it was time for debriefing at Arnold's! I wish Anna could have come too, but she was in a hurry to get home be put up videos. She is always busy making Spintronix better! After dinner, it was bedtime! After such a long and productive weekend, I think we all could use some sleep! I can't wait until the next time I get to make the trek to Mountain View!