We had more students than ever auditioning for a spot on the team this year. It was so sad to have to make the call on who to cut! But we got it done, and have selected 23 students who seem very mature and dedicated to putting on a really good show this year. The pressure has really been on to make sure that we have all of our ducks in a row early this year because not only are we moving up to the independent a class, we are also attending our first WGI show ever! I get asked every year if we are going to any WGI regionals and this is the first time I will be able to respond yes!
The weekend was a good one. It was really exciting because everyone is still getting to know each other, and everything is so new! Everyone who was able to come got to choose their beds for the season and meet their buddies. We did a fun little icebreaking activity that helped everyone get a little better acquainted, and we also revealed the show to all of the members present! This year, I think We have put in more work on the show in the preseason time period than we have for any previous show. I, personally, I am really emotionally invested in this show concept and design so I really hope that the judges receive it well! It makes quite a statement about who we are as a colorguard but also gives everyone something to be invested in throughout our circuit. It is going to be interesting next weekend because I don’t think any of our members have any more band competitions and there are only a couple of football games left to draw them away on Friday nights for halftime performances.
The majority of our time was spent working through our technique on flag and dance, and also introducing technique on rifle. Next weekend we will be having auditions for the rifle line. There are definitely some students who are going to be out for blood at the rifle auditions, but I hope that everyone at least tries! That is honestly what counts, even if you are absolutely 100% positive that you would not be selected for the team or the line, just the fact that you put yourself out there and allowed someone else to judge your abilities against others is incredible. Many teenagers and young adults would prefer to run screaming in the other direction than subject themselves to that.
One weekend down, only 19 left in the entire season!
<3 Jackie
