12
A&E
May 2022
ae.arcadiaquill@gmail.com
COLOR G UARD PE RF O R M ANC E AT N AT I ON A LS
By Maryam Sadeghifard and Kira Camacho A&E Editor, Staff Writer The Color Guard team at our school due to their incredible talents and hard work had performed in the Winter Guard International Color Guard Championships, traveling all the way to Dayton, Ohio. This event is one that takes dedication, perseverance, and true talent to be able to compete. At the end of the World Championships for Color Guard Arcadia placed seventh in the nation. The impressive and inspiring team of Color Guard placing this in the nation is a great strive, making the students at Arcadia High School (AHS) proud. “The championship has more pressure as performers and viewers around the world have the opportunity to watch our show,” said senior Ella Nancarrow “Along with that, we compete against the best high school Color Guard teams in the nation.” The roles everyone played in the championships all helped make the team prosper on so many levels that otherwise couldn’t have been done without the leadership and teamwork that they have learned. “My role in ‘Making Our Scars Gold’ was all equipment which was saber, rifle, and the gold flag towards the end of the show,” said Nancarrow. “I am proud to say I am the only member in the show that spins all pieces of equipment that are showcased in making our scars gold,” said senior Sebina Rothschild. “My equipment includes: rifle, saber, silk, part one flag, and the flag feature flag. Some notable parts I have in the show are: the opening flag toss and a featured flag toss before the flag feature.” “For the majority of the show I spin flag, I also spin rile and dance throughout the show,” said junior Giselle Meeks. “I take pride in being one of the many talented soloists in this production,” said senior Shawn Pardo. “Not only would I dance, but I spun my mediums: rifle and saber. On top of spinning the equipment, the costume helped us embody liquid gold, flowing and dancing our way to ‘heal the scars of the past.’ So even as a soloist, the costume would help me blend with the rest of the members so that we could be one.” After dealing with a long time away from Color Guard due to the two years that were taken away from them because of COVID-19, this experience was a truly unforgettable one for all the team. There were many highlights of the night as well as a result of this.
groups (professional groups) perform,” said Rothschild. “Watching independent [Color Guard] is always mind blowing as the tricks and choreography are so complex. When watching independent [Color Guard], the energy in the arena is insane! The crowd is so supportive of every group that competes.” “Not only was performing a special moment for me, but what happened behind the scenes made things more magical. I loved the little things we would do, like our inside jokes, going bowling, and obsessing over a stupid claw machine. Having such a close bond with all of the members on this team glued our family-like relationship into a secure friendship, making us incredibly comfortable with each other. This positive energy we shared also spread throughout our perfor-
the bus,” said Nancarrow. With the blood racing among all the audience and competitors especially, when the results were announced this was a very special ergy in the arena is insane! The crowd is so supportive of every group that competes.” With the blood racing among all the audience and competitors especially, when the results were announced this was a very special moment for Arcadia. “In all honesty, I felt that we could’ve been placed higher,” said Pardo. “I know how strong we are as a team, and I know we could’ve performed a better show. But despite the flaws of that performance, I’m proud of how far we’ve come as a team, and I’m so incredibly proud of being the seventh best scholastic Color Guard nationally.”
mance, being one of the reasons why our performances are always so strong.” said Prado “Performing was definitely one of the highlights for the night,” said Meeks. “We always have a group scene where we get all of our jitters and nerves out right before we enter the arena. Our instructors say their messages, then our captains and our upperclassmen. At this point, everyone is ecstatic, cheeks are plumped and our bodies are running full of adrenaline.” “One of my highlights of the night of semifinals where we had to refold our floor since it was raining right after our show and while we were waiting in the bus for our trailer, we were having a little dance party in the bus,” said Nancarrow.
“By the end of the night, I was relieved we had finished champs on a good note! We had solid runs throughout the whole week and made memories that’ll last a lifetime.” said Rothschild “I was proud of our family and what we had accomplished this season, being seventh in the nation was a big deal, especially since the Guard had not placed in finals for some time,” said Meeks. “It’s an incredible moment where I am surrounded by people who have gone through this whole season with me and who I am honored to call family. As well as watching other World Class performances, getting to see shows live is a different experience then watching behind a screen on YouTube. Some perfor-
mances literally gave me shivers. It was an unmatched feeling to be in the crowd cheering and supporting those on the floor.” “I felt really relieved that we got through the week since it was a pretty long week, but I was really happy that we did score a lot better than we did back in 2019!” said Nancarrow. Even though everyone was proud of their work as a team, they also learned a lot and gained more experience for the future to come. “Over these past months, our team has learned resilience, confidence, and trust. We’ve all pushed through this arduous journey, discovered talents we never thought we were capable of, and trusted one another, all leading to an amazing season.” “Usually Dayton would be an annual thing for the guard to fly out to participate in,” said Meeks. “But due to COVID-19, the event could not be hosted for three years meaning that for most of us, this was the first time that we would experience going to Dayton for championships. We got to experience how supportive the Color Guard communities were in other states and how we all had the same struggles. We also got to see the different techniques that they used while spinning equipment. All in all, this experience brought a new definition of what Color Guard means to me personally, and as a family,” Make sure to congratulate the Color Guard members for their achievements, regardless of the ranking, their hard work and dedication to Color Guard is worth much more than imaginable!
kcamacho@arcadiaquill.com msadeghifard@arcadiaquill.com
Photo courtesy of Sabina Rothschild Graphic Courtesy of FREEPIK
