Hello my darlings!! Has the whirlwind of our crazy season swept you up and away yet? [Why, yes, I WAS in Kansas… why do you ask? Sigh...No, I never did find the ruby slippers. My broom ride flight home, however, was lovely] And, in the usual shocking nature of The Movement Chick, I digress into [...]
Darlings!!! Yes, it is I. A day late and a dollar short, as ever. Le Sigh. [Okay, fine. Three weeks late.] Thank the good Lord that the other columnists here at the venerable CGE are so prepared! Whew. Anyway. Here we are in the throes of the 2012 season, spinning out little hearts out, yes? [...]
Hello Darlings! I am back! I have returned to the glorious pages screen that is color guard educators. Of COURSE I missed you! Yup, here I am. My marching band season has drawn to a close, and as always, I am loving what some of our performers are putting out there… [Err, yes, I may [...]
CGE Welcomes our newest regular contributor, Chelley Thelen. In her first article, Chelley shares her experience working with younger (elementary and middle school) students. One of the best things you can do for your high school guard program is to start training your members at a young age. Successful football teams, for instance, often have [...]
WGASC judge Chris Casteel discusses strategies for keeping your performers motivated through the mid-season slump!
Have difficulty finding time to maintain your rehearsal of fundamentals throughout the season? This article has ideas for how to fit in critical rehearsal of fundamental skills at every rehearsal throughout the entire season even as focus shifts towards design and choreography. Coaches and Adjudicators agree a strong training program with a solid foundation in [...]
Providing clear counts for choreography is important. When first learning work, teach the motion that you wish to occur without structure. This helps to get the movement “into the muscles”. Next, define each count of music. This helps to clarify pathways, momentum, and timing. Finally, teaching the use of subdivision (1 & 2 & 3…) [...]
To aid our girls in getting the drill/routine down I video the instructor doing the routine and upload it onto my computer. I then burn copies of the drills for each girl so when they are practicing at home if they get dazed and confused they can pop the disk in their pc and see [...]
Here is an article I co-wrote for Halftime Magazine on Mastering Memorization . It has tips for performers on ways to make memorizing routines easier! The article is applicable to both guard and instrumentalists! Please visit their website and support this exciting new publication that features our favorite activities!
The job of a student leader comes with frustrations. What you are doing is difficult and time consuming and you probably have many other important responsibilities pulling at you from other areas of your life. First, understand that it is normal to feel frustrated from time to time. Second, take a step back and breathe! [...]
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Special Edition of Halftime Magazine – Color Guard Sectionals
If you’re a regular reader here at CGE then you probably know that we’re big fans here of Halftime Magazine. For those who may not be familiar with Halftime it is a print magazine specifically for the marching arts community. It was founded in 2007 by Editor/CEO Christine Ngeo Katzman and publishes 6 times a [...]
From the Archives: It’s all about Travel Safety
This week we pulled two articles from the archives regarding hotel and travel safety. This is it! If you’re going on an overnight trip this is one of those important moments in your experience as a coach to teach your students something that could serve to keep them safe throughout their lives – well beyond [...]
From the Archives: Can it be TOO clean???
This week’s articles from the archives: A Movement Moment #10: Too Clean? by Cheryl Myers (03/18/2010) Our resident “Movement Chick” suggests that yes… it is, perhaps, possible to be too clean… check out the article to see what she means. The ‘Winterguard Wand’ and Championships by Chris Casteel (06/09/2008) A very important article by Chris [...]
From the Archives: Planning for Championships
Earlier this month we asked for your best advice for planning an overnight trip on the facebook page. If you missed it make sure to look it up and check out the best advice from the community if you’re looking forward to your first overnight championships trip. This week we pulled 2 of our past [...]
Get Subscriptions to Halftime Magazine for only $1.00 each!
Halftime Magazine has a fantastic program we wanted to share with our readers. Directors can purchase a group subscription with copies for every student and staff member of your group for just $1.00 per person, per year. We love Halftime Magazine! And what better way to get your students excited for the next season while [...]
This has got to be the simplest Fun Friday craft project yet! It’ll only take you minutes (beyond gathering the supplies) but you’re sure to put smiles on the faces of your performers! ‘Flag’ Candy Canes Materials needed: Craft Felt Glue gun Sheet of paper Candy cane Instructions: Using the sheet of paper, cut a [...]
Remember in kindergarten everyone would gather around the teacher for story time? Everyone loves listening to stories, even high school kids! In our guard, we have ‘story time’ and it is connected to the development of our team core values. One of our values is to ‘Be good people’ and treat each other with respect. [...]
Materials needed: 20” x 50” fabric 2 x 80” pieces of cording Puffy paints, buttons, ribbon, bows, etc for decorating Cut 20” x 50” piece of fabric (you can alter the size to meet your needs). Fold in ½, right sides together. From top edge, mark 2” down. (Fig. 1) Using ½” seams, sew below [...]
This is a fun activity the entire band participates in! During marching season students create spirit bags for their own sections, for every performance. Spirit bags contain a few treats and some fun baubles from the dollar store (a glow stick, mardi gras beads, lip gloss, etc). Coaches and directors sometimes add a little note [...]
September is typically a tough month for kids since they have so many responsibilities, homework, the social scene of high school, and it can take some time to figure out the balance between life and marching band. It’s always the toughest time for my kids, even when they know the expectations of the guard. Once [...]
This has got to be the simplest Fun Friday craft project yet! It’ll only take you minutes (beyond gathering the supplies) but you’re sure to put smiles on the faces of your performers! ‘Flag’ Candy Canes Materials needed: Craft Felt Glue gun Sheet of paper Candy cane Instructions: Using the sheet of paper, cut a [...]
ON THE WEB: Band Saves Lives and Fundraises at the Same Time
We thought this was an interesting/unique approach to both service and fundraising – check out this New Jersey marching band that saves lives while also earning some money for their program. Win/Win!
ON THE WEB: Podcast about starting a brand new WG program
Episode 47 of the Marching Roundtable podcast series (posted December 12, 2011) is an interview with Tim LeBlanc – a guard instructor from TX who has also been a participant in the CGE community on Facebook – about his experience starting a brand new winter guard at a new school. Check it out! Episode 47: [...]
Remember in kindergarten everyone would gather around the teacher for story time? Everyone loves listening to stories, even high school kids! In our guard, we have ‘story time’ and it is connected to the development of our team core values. One of our values is to ‘Be good people’ and treat each other with respect. [...]
Budget-Conscious Costume Transformation
Being involved in the color guard world, we all know what it is like to be on a budget. Some of you are probably thinking, “What budget? I wish I had money to budget!” This year I needed to allocate more money for flag fabric since we purchased 2 shaded-silk swing flags for each member [...]
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