Bringing it All Together

The memos I’ve been sending you each week have been intended to address the priorities most of you would have at this calendar time. I promise you that if you heed this advice you can only benefit. Please take the time to review them, apply what you can to where you are in the show creation and don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at all. Remember, I’m happy to listen to your show tunes, chat about your concept or answer any concern you have.

In no time at all it will be the holiday season and many of you will be facing challenges in rehearsal space and your kids being all over the place visiting relatives, etc. Take this time to do your own “homework” and have as much detailing done as you can. Especially work on your calendar gearing toward production of the show. Start focusing on your floor, your costumes and your props. The biggest treat you can give your audience is a show where the students are wearing their show attire, have their real flags and a completed floor. Early season, when so many groups perform in the old standby “black unitards” you’re making it tougher to “stand out” and be remembered.

Let’s talk about your floor
On the subject of the floor, this is a good time to give you some food for thought as you plan that major part of your show “look.” So, I offer you some little tips to consider.

A floor that is excessively busy will “gobble” up the guard and make them less visible and less accessible. Often the show becomes more about the floor than about your design and your performers.
You can design your floor to aid the guard in “set points” or as color blocks to highlight areas where you will stage features.
You can design the floor to enrich the look of the show concept and help set the stage and tell the story.
If you paint geometrics on the floor, please don’t ignore them when you stage. You know the old saying: “use them or lose them.”
The floor is the biggest visual on the stage; as you plan it, you must coordinate the design/color of the costumes and the flags so that the whole color story and the design story work together.
How about a few words on costuming?
Remember, wearing spandex is a privilege, not a “right.” Be sensitive to changing young bodies.
Design your costumes for the extremes of the body sizes so that the very tall very thin body will be flattered and so that the short round body will also be flattered. Never design the costume only for the perfect body. Thank goodness we have the choice of customizing the looks for each individual student or section.
If the dominant color is on the body, the eye will naturally go there. If the dominant color is in the flags, the eye will go there. Regardless of choice, the two must be in harmony in both cut and color. You need to plan all the visuals in tandem to create an impressive look and elevate the production value.
Remember that the color yellow tends to exceed its boundaries. It can sometimes seem to bleed larger than it should.
Finally, a word on Taste
(This is a Biggie)

TASTE Taste is what you like.
Having taste implies an educated and discriminating awareness
Showing taste implies a sensitivity to your audience and “their” taste.
Being tasteful implies application of all of the above
Tasty means that it worked!
So my friends, with the holiday season upon us, this will wrap up the planning portion of our dialogs. I’ll resume our weekly conversations right after Christmas. In the meantime, we’re working on ways and means to offer you more services, on-line discussions, Q&A sessions via teleconferencing, etc. That’s OUR homework for this next slot of time.

By all means if you have any suggestions for how better we can serve you just tell me about them and I’ll try to make it happen. Personally, I’d love to be able to teleconference directly with the kids in your guard and answer their questions. Who knows, maybe even that can happen?

So, enjoy the holidays, get your planning and personal homework done and don’t hesitate to contact me for any reason or any question. I love hearing from you.

Best regards,
Shirlee Whitcomb

Getting The Most From Critique

Critique is a unique opportunity to understand and exchange information and concepts with the judges who have adjudicated your unit. The following is intended to help you to get the most from your critiques.
PREPARATION
Know the system: When approaching critiques, it’s paramount to have a working knowledge of the adjudication process, including a current copy of the W.G.I. manual. Having a thorough grasp of the system, with all of its quirky and complicated terminology, will help you decipher your file commentary and guide you toward asking the most pertinent questions.
Understand your evaluation: Critique allows instructors time with judges to ask questions and clarify comments that were recorded on files. This is also an opportunity for you to help guide the judges in understanding your program. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to listen to the recorded evaluations prior to critique. We understand this can be difficult because of contest conditions or performance times. However, this is a priority in making critique work for you and the judge. You can also designate staff members to handle this task. This allows you to approach critique with a strategy to provide and receive the best information in critique.
Take notes: While you are listening to your recorded evaluations, take notes about the comments or questions that the evaluations generate. This will help you to understand what the judges are seeing and hearing and allows you to approach critique with a plan. Judges sometimes see over thirty units in a contest, so having specific questions helps us to recall your evaluation.
Develop a plan: Use your notes to develop a plan going into critique. That plan could be as simple as getting clarity from a judge about a comment on the recording or it could be to ensure that each judge understands the intent of a specific moment that may not be clear to everyone. If you have a group of staff that will be handling critique, be sure that everyone understands the plan going in. “So, what did you think?” may not be the best plan or approach to any critique. Knowing your competitive goals for the season should help guide the plan and discussion.
EXECUTION
Timing is everything: Once in critique, it’s important to stay focused and use your time wisely. Use your notes to express questions, comments, and concerns in critique. Keep in mind that most critiques are only 3 minutes long. If you are sitting with 2 judges, that means you have one and a half minutes with each judge to ask questions, get feedback and make your points.
Promote understanding: There is no better time to sell your program to judges, than in critique. This includes explaining parts of the program that might be “a work in progress”. There’s also nothing wrong with asking judges to “take another look” if you have concerns about how the judges are reading your intent. We can misread programs, especially with limited viewings.
Open mind: Keep in mind that you live with your program for months, so ideas and concepts that you think are obvious may not be readily discernable to the judges. If several judges have trouble reading your intent, then it might be time to reevaluate. Being open minded to this third-party perspective may save you many headaches down the road.
A Class: If you are competing in the A class, it is important to keep in mind that it’s far more important to have excellent training, than a deep, esoteric programming concept. In A class, it is the “how” that is more important than the “what” of your program. Your preparation for critique may focus more on performance issues than design issues.
Control emotions: Keep negative emotions under control, out of the hallway and out of critique. Remember that critique is an opportunity to clarify comments and ask questions, so good communication skills are a big plus. As judges, we understand the countless hours you devote to your programs, to your kids, and to the activity. Naturally there’s going to be great passion and commitment on your part. But judges are human too, and don’t like to feel attacked or slighted. Mutual respect goes a long way toward a successful critique.
Find take-aways: Be sure that critique ends well. A good technique for doing this is to agree with the judge on two things you can both take away from the critique. In other words, “I will agree to look at this, if you can please take a look at that”. This creates working relationships with the judges that will pay off in your future evaluations.
Direct concerns: If you have concerns about your evaluation or the exchange of information in critique, talk to the Chief Judge immediately. The Chief Judge is able to address your concerns while they are fresh on everyone’s mind. If that is not possible, then take advantage of the post-contest surveys that we will email to each unit director after the contest weekend. We value your opinions and take your concerns very seriously.
2009 was an outstanding year for MEPA. There were quality units throughout the various classes that made our job very difficult and made the season exciting and successful. I look forward to working with you to build on the success of last season in order to make 2010 a banner year for the Mideast Performance Association.

Jim Brooks/Chris Tomsa
MEJA Guard Training Director

UPFRONT: Steps to Starting a Winter Guard

UPFRONT: Steps to Starting a Winter Guard

Many guards are part of a larger organizational body such as marching bands or drum corps. When starting a competitive winter guard, you should consider the following aspects:

Structure of the Organization
If you are part of a larger organization the organizational structure will already be in place. Determine the role of the guard within the larger framework. Chances are that legal considerations may be in place already because of the parent body. Make sure you understand the ?reporting? relationships, job descriptions, and goals of the guard relative to the parent body, etc.

Instructors
Instruction will be needed to address the selection of music, program design, equipment, technique of movement, and teaching and perfecting the product, etc. These duties may be done by a single individual or several depending on the resources available and your needs. In some instances the management and instructor may be the same individual. If you are a scholastic guard, don?t overlook the possible talent pool from your music faculty.

Members
In order to compete using Winter Guard International (WGI) rules, units competing as a scholastic guard must draw all members from the same school or a school that feeds that particular high school.

Contests
If a local circuit/association is already established in your general area, contact them for information on membership, dues, obligations, judging clinics, rules, etc. A complete listing of local circuits is available on www.wgi.org. Most established circuits have a class of competition for units at all levels of experience. If a circuit is not available in your general area, contact the WGI office and we will try to help get something started or direct you to the closest circuit available.

Transportation
The organization will need a mode of transportation to contests; consider bus, vans or individual cars.

Equipment
Obviously, you will need the appropriate equipment which includes flags, optional rifles, and/or sabers. Consider special props which are an option; these are almost always designed and made by the group.

Rehearsal Facilities
Indoor facilities will be needed with a minimum floor space of 50 x 70 feet. Arrange for facilities well in advance. Be sure the proper paper work is done and in order.

Housing
From time to time you will require housing (gym, hotel, private homes, rec. centers) for camps or overnight trips.

Finances & Budgets
This will depend on how ambitious you wish to be. All of the above considerations involve cost and will have to be considered in light of your organization and structure. Since the contest situation does not offer money in a prize structure, fund raising becomes an important part of your program.

Rules & Regulations
Be sure you are clear on any rules or boundaries either set by your sponsoring body, or which you may wish to set for your staff, boosters and performers. Study the rules and score sheets and philosophy of programming carefully. The staff and members should understand them so they know what is expected of them, and so they can start out with the greatest opportunity for success. Rules, score sheets and adjudication manuals can be obtained from WGI.

TIME MANAGEMENT

Work Less, Produce More, Have Fun

In every work situation, time is of the essence. The person who plans his/her time and details the tangi­ble aspects of the job will find themselves far and ahead of those who fly by the seat of their pants. The guard program plan is no exception. Developing this kind of time planning will not only serve you well, it will impress every other individual with whom you work. Everyone has lives they must attend to outside of this activity. They will support you best when they can know your needs well in advance.

The Master Calendar

The master calendar is for everyone connected with the production of your color guard.

On your master calendar, enter established dates for all rehearsals, performances, trips, exams, proms, school breaks or any other date that will impact on your production schedule.

Working backwards from the date of the first show, figure how many rehearsals you will need to teach the show. Note the start of production showing all rehearsals.
Working backwards from when you will begin teaching the show, determine how many weeks you will need to teach basics. (If you are a scholastic guard, some of your basics may already have been taught prior to band season). Note this class time. Be sure you allow time needed to teach technique.

If you are a scholastic guard, move to the calendar time when the fall season ends and schedule the time you will begin the winter rehearsals.
Plan time to have the show finished in its first draft for the first contest. You place your students at a gigantic disadvantage if they only have 2 or 3 minutes of sketched-out staging and nothing else. You also cheat your audience.
Indicate all staff meetings
Project when your music must be chosen
Indicate when costume and prop designs must be complete.
Indicate a production schedule for sewing people showing when you want prototypes made.
Indicate budget-planning deadlines.
Indicate show-planning meetings.
Indicate fundraisers.

This is Your Production & Performance Schedule
Did you allow any time off between marching band and your winter guard? Please consider burnout. Determine whether you want to hold 2 or 3 full weekend guard camps which will give you Friday night for 4 hours, Saturday for 8 hours and Sunday for 4 to 6 hours, or if you want to do all-day Satur days or a series of week nights. Of course, you have to make sure your students don?t let their schoolwork suffer, so be careful of overdoing school nights.

Put any reminder on your calendar that will keep you on target. Give this calendar to every person involved in this project. Prepare a more simplified version for the performers. If you plan your time, you are far more likely to succeed, far less apt to be caught off base or behind schedule and parents, mem­bers and administration will be better able to support your efforts. Your calendar should be as detailed as possible and your lesson plans drawn to accommodate the time lines projected.

Be Prepared, Set Realistic Goals, Make Agreements
If you are the person responsible for establishing the rehearsal plan, please make sure that each person participating in the rehearsal is fully aware of what you expect from him or her. This includes every student, each member of the staff, etc. Be realistic in terms of your goals for the time, and be sure that your agreements with your staff are clear. If you say you?re giving them 40 minutes to do a specific task, be clear that they know what that task is and that they can achieve it.

Tell the students at the start of the class what you expect to accomplish in that particular rehearsal so they will understand what you are expecting from them. This should work toward keeping your frustration level at a minimum and allow you to measure the progress you are projecting throughout the season.

Your Time Projection Might Look Something Like This:
Orientation Meeting: (Held prior to the start of your scheduled rehearsals): Discuss your goals, show videos, talk about the outside study plan, and be excited and motivated. Encourage them to take notes or hand out an outline of the material you covered. Get an enthusiastic commitment from your members.
Month #l: Rehearsal twice a week for 3 hours; learn basic movement 90 minutes and basic equipment technique 90 minutes.
Month #2: Rehearsal twice a week for 3 hours; first hour movement technique, second hour equipment technique. Third hour learn movement and equipment vocabulary, start combined movement and equipment traveling combinations, etc. Saturday l hour warm-ups, 3 hours Rehearsal – learn the show.
Month #3: Rehearsal twice a week for 3 hours. First hour movement technique relative to the show vocabulary; second hour equipment techniques relative to the show vocabulary, third hour review, continue to learn material, detail and add new material, and refine and clean. Saturday, following warm-ups, detail the show, refine and coordinate.
Month #4: Performances begin. Rehearsals will focus on movement and equipment warm-ups, technique review on existing vocabulary, makE adjustments or improvements, refine and detail. Clean on the move. Work on performance communication.

Time will no doubt be your greatest adversary. There is never enough to do what you truly want and need to do. Be realistic about this. The program set forth here is optimum. Variances will occur in terms of the ability of your students to learn and retain. It will vary in terms of the rehearsal time given to you and the demands placed upon you to do countless other things. Your greatest task could be in motivating the students to a level of desire for excellence that will transcend the various time restrictions we all know are bound to occur.

This article is an excerpt of is an excerpt from Shirlee Whitcomb?s book, The Art of Making Winter Guard that can be found at www.wgi.org.

Shirlee Whitcomb was one of the founders of WGI and has served as the WGI Education Director for over 25 years. She is the Judge Coordinator and Education Director for Western Band Association servicing over 110 Bands in California. She has served as both designer and adjudicator for drum corps and marching bands. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.

For additional music education articles, please visit the School Band and Orchestra archives at:www.sbomagazine.com/sbomag/sbomags.html

What if the weather is bad?

We’re in Ohio, we perform in the Winter, and as we know, one day it can be sunny mild and the next day, a major winter storm can be upon us.  Every MEPA show benefits not only our students, but our directors, show sponsors, the MEPA organization, and the many fans who look forward to the competition season each winter.  Only in the most extreme of circumstances would we cancel a show because of weather but in the event that it did happen, after contacting our participating directors, we would post that information right here on mepa-circuit.org.

Directors, make sure we have on file an e-mail address that you are able to check at any time.  The best address is one that you can pick up on your cell phone.  If you are not confident that we have an address that you can check at the last minute, please contact us so we can update it.  While we would like to call, the amount of participants at our shows makes it inpractical to call for last minute changes such as this.

Rest assured that no show will be cancelled unless absolutely necessary.

MEPA Guard Featured in Focus Magazine

MEPA is home to some of the best winter guards and percussion ensembles in the nation. In the most recent edition of WGI’s Focus Magazine, Miamisburg High School Winter Guard is featured. Congratulations to all the performers and staff of Miamisburg Winter Guard and their director, Jim Olson

Click here to read the article

Creating the Blue Print

The Composing Process
I’m constantly amazed at how many folks either don’t understand the “composition” sub-caption in EA or else carry their own interpretation of what they THINK it is or should be. Some find it helpful if you compare this process to having an architect create a blue print for your house. You know how many rooms you want, where you want them placed and what function they’ll serve. Now consider transferring this to your program. You know the EVENTS you want to showcase, you have an idea of where on the stage you’d like them to be, and you know their function within the program. This is a starting point for conceptualizing the show through time.
Before you start, please review the components of design – line, shape, texture, dimension, negative/positive space, balance, motion, unity, etc. THIS CANNOT BE SKIPPED. The elements of design are like our alphabet of 26 letters. From those 26 letters you can create every word in the language. From the elements of design, you can create a program that is artistically stimulating, diverse and efficient.
OPTIONS:

Geometric design (drill – pictures & patterns)
Freeform Staging (texture & motion to set up a feature; be sure it is well-planned & orchestrated)
Presentational features (staged events dominated by body and equipment but lacking the motion and design variety that elevates the design.) This is mostly “functional” and the easiest option. However, it lacks the depth brought to the design through motion and shape or geometry.
Which comes first? Some folks will stage first then layer with body and equipment. Some folks will compose the body and equipment first then create the staging and design the connections (transitions) from set to set. The most successful designers conceptualize all of the components (form/staging, body and equipment) and then build the composition with all thoughts in mind.
WHAT GETS POINTS – THE ASSETS

Variety of design options in both staging and in body and equipment
MUSICALITY, MUSICALITY, MUSICALITY!!!! Follow the musical structure of phrase length, meter, tempo, DYNAMICS, depth of music (multiple lines.)
Clarity of your intent. The design must be clear on the floor and not exist ONLY in your mind’s eye.
Well designed transitions. Smart use of motion, avoiding the simple functional choice in lieu of quality design and evolution of the ideas.
Characteristics. If your show has a clear cut personality or character, make sure the performers have the suitable characteristics written into their show. If not, let the musical style suggest the characteristics that would enhance the depth of your design.
Always and forever EXCELLENCE.
WHAT IS PROBLEMATIC – THE LIABILITIES

Limiting your options – Repetition runs the risk of boredom.
Random acts of color guard without purpose or connection
Lack of relevance to the music
Over-writing. Don’t set the kids up for failure
Excess abstraction – we need to “get it”
Wandering around the stage without reason or intent
REMEMBER

Features must work together (unity)
Good combination of drill, texture & some presentational moments is a wise choice
Impact points are usually strongest when set on a good geometric form.
Motion — vary your methods of travel from set to set. Create not only a rhythm in travel modes, but offer the students an opportunity to show varied skills.
Space – vary your spatial relationships to bring life to the staging. Work in pairs or trios or clusters, work in close space occasionally (it will force you to write the body/equipment differently)
You can be creative and successful at every level of development. Write for your students’ success.
This is only a thumbnail overview of the most salient points. Please don’t hesitate to initiate dialog on any areas you want expanded on. Much of the success with even the least mature guards lies in the smart choices of the designer. If you are fully prepared and have a good understanding of the composing process, your students will be able to handle what you give them.
Best regards,
Shirlee Whitcomb

Teaching Techniques That Win

How do you develop a well-trained, disciplined unit that performs and rehearses well with a low budget, minimal staff and time constraints? I am a firm believer that if you want to create a well rounded, successful program you must build it on a solid foundation. The first and most important element is patience. Developing any sort of consistency, be it with technique or expectations, takes time. This “time”, in my experience, is measured in seasons, not days or weeks. You have to consistently demonstrate that your expectations, approach to instruction and overall vision will create results. Those results will attract people.

Being a part of several successful units in the greater Dayton and Cincinnati area, I have found that success is measured more by student growth than by ranking, or results. At Lakota West, we have built our program around five pillars that we feel are essential to both successful seasons and successful units. These pillars are respect, responsibility, professionalism, goal setting and time-management. These words are always brought back to the unit during rehearsals, preparing for shows weekends, right before walking on the floor and after a performance. Through our high, yet attainable, personal expectations our unit rises to each occasion. These pillars are supported with highly consistent technique in all aspects as well as a great level of organization by the staff. We strive to make each rehearsal as effective as possible and come in with a pre-thought, detailed plan and schedule. This shows our unit that we take our job seriously and motivates them to do theirs. Finally, we set (S.M.A.R.T.) goals both with our students and for ourselves as a staff. These specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goals give all of us benchmarks to work towards. Whether they are set weekly, or focus on the entire season, these goals can center on technique, personal performance issues or the entire ensemble.

No matter the level of unit, beginners to world class, I approach each rehearsal with the same basic skills. First, I come equipped with several ways to explain the same idea. If a student does not grasp the concept or skill I am demonstrating, I either show the skill differently or explain it in a different fashion. This flexibility helps all students to succeed, not just traditional learners. Secondly, I respect each student I instruct. I make sure that I talk to them, not down to them. As instructors, it is very easy to become frustrated when students are not achieving what you are asking of them. Remember that this activity does not come as easy to everyone. The students are still growing and our job is to foster and support that growth. Lastly, I make sure I have a well thought out plan for my segment of instruction. Whether I am teaching a small portion of a larger rehearsal or an entire ensemble block, I come with a plan. This plan contains some short-term attainable goals; realistic objectives that I would like to accomplish during my time. It is important to walk into each rehearsal with a plan of what you hope to accomplish.

Developing your program and teaching style does not happen over night, it takes time. Do not lose focus or get frustrated with yourself. If you are building your program on a solid, sturdy foundation it will happen. Having been involved in the teaching aspect of the pageantry arts for over 13 years I can honestly say, “the more solid your foundation, the more solid your program will be”.

Clint Fisher
Lakota West Guard Director