Winterguard Spins with 'Wild Horses'

By Connect Mason Multimedia Director Grace Kendall

Mason’s winterguard, Declaration, has gotten very good at spinning things. Flags, rifles, bodies – they can spin them all.

• VIDEO: Winterguard practice.
• VIDEO: How to spin like the winterguard.
• PHOTOS: Riding with Declaration.
• ARTICLE: Winterguard Makes New 'Declaration'

Declaration is comprised of 11 individuals, nine girls and two guys who come together to perform a competitive show as part of the Atlantic Indoor Association each winter.

Since Mason does not currently have a colorguard – there’s no full marching band yet, but the guard hopes to eventually become part of that experience – the winterguard is able to begin practice in September with a strong focus, giving them an advantage over schools who march in the fall.

The world of winterguard is one most people aren’t familiar with, but it’s an interesting “sport of the arts,” according to Winter Guard International, full of injuries, rivalries and lots of long practices.

Art or Sport?

Some argue that winterguard is not a sport, while others claim that the members of Declaration are athletes. Covered in blisters and bruises from four-hour-long practices, they toss six foot poles into the air hoping they can catch them with some small modicum of grace.

"No drops," instructs coach Kenny Putnam every time a flag or rifle hits the floor. Occasionally, equipment hits team members, resulting in bruises or worse.

"The worst injury all season was when Richard [Kunkel] knocked out a tooth on a horizontal toss," co-captain Tricia Moore said. "At first we all thought he was joking, but then we saw the blood."

Competition

Guard season begins in February, with multiple competitions leading up to the championships in April. Each competition has a similar rhythm, and Saturday’s competition at Edison High School was no different.

First, the guard arrived at Edison and brought their flags and bags into the auditorium. Then the members disappeared in a flurry of activity, buying food, changing into costumes, pulling hair into complicated designs - this year's hairstyle is a collection of connected ponytails that resemble a horse's mane, to suit the theme of their show - and putting on the carefully planned layers of makeup.

Once everyone was in full costume, it was time to head to pre-show warm-ups; the guard is time-conscious and plans their schedule so there's not much time for sitting around.

Body warm-up was first on the list. The guard members started stretching, with a few of the dance soloists working on perfecting their turns and leaps. The energy in the room was that of quiet anticipation.

Next was the equipment warm-up. Putnam joined the group and walked them through the warm-up session, allowing everyone to practice the work they needed to focus on and offering suggestions for corrected angles and cleaner catches. As time dwindled, he pulled the group together and had them run through the final few movements of the show. It's the most important part, since that's what they'll leave the judges with. Finally, time is called and everyone was ushered back out into the hallway to wait.

They huddled together and discussed other guards’ shows, past judges’ commentary and flag color symbolism. One of the judges in a previous competition hadn't understood the purpose of the show's narrator, so they bought the soloist a purple dress to match their initial flags in hope that the general effect scores would go up.

"It symbolizes longing," Putnam said, in a voice that indicated he was not sure why the judges couldn't figure that out. "It's not that hard."

Through the door, they heard the opening lines of another guard's show music - a loud boisterous pirate theme. The team burst into suppressed laughter, and after a minute Putnam whispered, "Don't laugh... guys, karma is a vicious whore." The team was in good spirits as they waited for their turn to perform.

"Just go out there and sell it," Putnam advised right before the team entered the gymnasium. "Just have fun."

Wild Horses

When the guard took to the floor, they were in the zone. Months of hard work lead up to this moment. When the judges asked if the team was ready, they slid into their opening positions - laying flat on the floor, with their soloist in the center surrounded by a box of flags - and Putnam shouted from the sidelines, "They're always ready!" A few seconds passed, and then the guard’s song “Wild Horses” by Natasha Bedingfield began to play.

Junior Jessica Broadnax had all eyes on her as she opened the performance with a dance solo in the center of the floor. She was quickly joined by two other dance soloists, and the three ushered in the beginning of the show’s flag work. The rest of the guard quickly joined in, moving in three lines across the floor and doing gentle drags and swoops with their light purple flags.

The team moved into a diamond and did a unison toss that received applause from the audience. They then dispersed to the edges of the floor so that senior Heather West could take a rifle solo (usually performed by freshman Christian Cura). She nailed her four-rotation toss with a solid audible snap, but fumbled the catch of her next toss. Flags rejoined the performance and the group split; junior Tricia Moore and freshman Mikaela Heddinger join West on rifle while the rest of the guard came together for another few counts of unison flag work.

The performance continued with various unison flag movements and featured a bit more solo work from Broadnax. Each face was frozen in looks of longing and desperation, matching the mood of the music.

The routine was not flawless; there were several timing issues and a few dropped tosses, but when the guard left the floor, the team was smiling.

Post-Show

The team huddled in the front rows of the bleachers, waiting for the captains to emerge and for scores and places to be announced. Declaration was hoping for a top four score; they consistently cite James Madison University and Christopher Newport University as their closest competition.

Their hopes were realized: they ranked fourth place behind Impact Independent, JMU, and CNU. The better news was that their score was 75.8, an 8.4 point jump from their last competition, placing them less than a point away from CNU.

Looking to the Future

The Atlantic Indoor Association 2008 Circuit Championships take place next weekend at C.D. Hylton High School. Mason Declaration will compete on Saturday, April 5, hoping to qualify for the second round of competition on Sunday, April 6, a goal they were unable to accomplish last year. They hope to overtake CNU and make their score as high as possible.

After their season ends, the guard will start looking to next year. Elections will be held for administrative positions on the team, and guard camps will happen over the summer to keep skills sharp. Some members will leave – a few are either graduating or aging out of the competition – and new faces will be invited to join the team in the fall.

Declaration has come a long way.. One day Mason will have a full marching band, and when it does, Declaration may step up with flags in hand, ready to show Mason what they are all about.