Tuesday, November 15, 2011

A New Season!!!

A couple weeks ago the Park Hill South guard opened up auditions for the winter guard season. We were looking to grown in numbers of course.....but I was also looking forward to finding some new talent.

We had 10 girls return from the fall...the same girls to marched with us in our competitive shows and we ended up having 10 new students audition. It was very exciting to think that we might have a chance to DOUBLE the group in the course of 5 days...very exciting!

When auditions were over we ended up taking 17 into the winter guard...10 returning members and 7 new! We even have 1 boy on the guard, which the girls were very excited about.

Since auditions we have had 3 rehearsals, focusing on training and giving all the members a good foundations before we start in on the show. The first night we literally stayed in the dance room for the full 3 hours! : )

Last night we taught a 16 count phrase that will be in the show and this Thursday we start on staging! I am super excited about this season...I look forward to seeing how the kids grow and improve. I have seen so much come out of them already. I cant wait to see what they look like on March 3rd!

Ill keep posting on our progress....and even post some videos of our new exercises we are doing. Should be FUN!

Monday, September 26, 2011

PHS Eye Make Up

Ok girls....found a video on how I want your eye make up to look. I have the eye shadow to make this happen but if you have eye shadow colors that are VERY close to the ones the girls uses in the video than you can use them. It needs to be dark remember, because we are performing far away from our audience!

First, here is the eye shadows I have that you will be using.

This color we will put all over the lid. It needs to be a light (maybe even with time shimmer to it) shade of purple.



The second color is the middle one your see in the picture below. It needs to be a dark purple and will be applied to the outside half of the lid and the crease. The third color needs to be a super dark purple or a midnight blue like the bottom color you see in the picture below. This will be applied to the outside triangle. The last color is the High Light color...the top color you see in the picture below. We will put this in this inside corners of the eye and right below the eye brow.




Again, if you have (very) similar colors then use them. But watch the video a couple times and practice it on your self before Friday. Hopefully we will have a few of you who can do this VERY well and can help the others. Here is the video....



I am also adding one more video! Something I thought you might like for the eye liner!



Its simple but cute.

Oh! And don't forget your lip stick! I needs to be darker than what you would usually wear!!!




Eventually I think Id like for everyone to start wearing fake eye lashes! So, Ill get you a video on that soon!

PHS Sock Bun

Hey girls! Hope this helps since I wont be able to be there for your game on Friday! I know my blog has music and it might make it hard to hear the video...so just scroll all the way down to the bottom of my blog and pause the music.

Both girls use tube socks for their buns.....and since a lot of you have LONG hair and had a lot of hair to wrap around the bun last time, maybe a longer sock would help. So, if you have darker hair get a pair of black tube socks and if you have blonde hair get a pair of white tube socks. Those of you who have really long hair you might want to double up the sock like the one girls does in the video....those who have more of a medium length can probably just use one.

If you didn't have a lot of hair to wrap around your bun the last time then you can probably just use the sock you did last time.

Ok, here are the 2 videos. Remember! For our guard hair we are doing a LOW SIDE BUN. The part must be on the left and the bun must be on the right. As low as possible and as much to the right as possible. It should be very close to your right ear.

Notice how smooth their pony tails are before they even do the bun. we will have NO bangs out and everything should be smooth and pulled back. It is important that we all look the same and the hair is as clean and neat as possible. We will not braid the hair....looks like it might cause more bumps and we don't want that.





Finally Back

It has been a WHILE since I have been able to post. But I am back....Finally!

Since the last update...winter guard for Willard was just crazy busy and the season flew by. Both the Middle School and the High School had great seasons.....both finishing 2nd in their class and receiving the Silver Medal! I hope the girls were happy with how the season finished up....I know I was very proud of both groups.

After the winter guard season the decision for me to move to KC was made.....which made things even more frantic and busy. With the move coming up I really didn't have a guard lined out to work with so I didn't have much to post at the time. There were a few programs that may have had openings, but I just had to wait till I was actually up in KC and could meet with people.

During the summer I spent my time moving.....one on my least favorite things to do. But I also was able to work with Lindsey Hansen on a couple of her guards. I was able to help her out with the Blue Springs Color Guard and the Webb City Color Guard....which was more fun then I even anticipated! Lots of energy and enthusiasm working with a designer like Lindsey, I hope to do it again next summer!

I also worked with the Salem Color Guard again this summer. This was my 3rd season with them. Each year gets better and better and I am looking forward to seeing how they are next year.

By the end of the summer I was asked to come on staff at Park Hill South to help with their color guard. The band director there has been there now for 3 years and is taking them in a great direction. I am having a great time working with him as well as the color guard sponsor.

The girls are great as well....energetic and willing to work! I have high hopes for them and some big dreams for their future seasons!

That's about it for now. Good Luck to all the Marching programs and their seasons this fall!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

4 Days and Counting...

We have 4 days till our next competition! Super excited!

Practice went really well this morning for the High School girls. We finished our new ending and also worked the beginning.

We are trying to work our way through our big moments of the show this week. Making sure those are as strong as they can be for the weekend. No big changes with the snow hitting the other week and cutting out 6 of our 8 rehearsals.

The Middle School will be adding on their ending today as well. Then we will work through the show and try to detail as much as we can....without maxing out their brains!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

MS Guard this Friday

For the first time the Middle School Winter Guard did a full run through of their 2011 show! We still need to add on the ending and fill in a few transitions....but it is still pretty full!

I'm so proud of them! They are doing a great job!


This coming week we will just get the girls more and more comfortable with the show, clean up some transitions, teach Bethany (the girl that walks through the diagonal) her solo, and put on the ending.

I cant wait for the Parkview show! Wish them luck! : )

Friday, February 11, 2011

Crazy Week!

I meant to video the Middle School's run through last night.....but I have been all over the place this week and my camera died 1 minute into the show!

With all the snow days and Late Start days.....I just cant seem to get back into the swing of things. I don't normally "forget" to do thing. I plan things out and get the job done, but this week I have dropped the ball on a couple occasions!

We have MS rehearsal tonight so I will try to video their run though, again! It is super cute! There are a couple empty ish places, but I don't want to max them out, so we will probably leave them that way for the Parkview show. Wish them luck!!!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Dedication

A couple weeks ago something that has never happened to me, as an Instructor, actually happened. A girl on my guard was injured! Like....really bad.

It is a long story, one that I feel like I have told a million times because everyone wants to know what happened. But to make a long story short, one of our best middle school girls broke a growth plat while she was doing the splits. Crazy!

This girl is nothing like I have ever taught before in my life. I am going on 8 years of teaching color guard now....and she is amazing. Completely fearless and dedicated to the team and the activity. She practices all the time and after only a couple months on rifle...can throw a quad. And not like what you might be thinking...were she just chucks it up in the air. She has perfect technique! Perfect.

She had a solo in the show....a nice triple, very exciting for a Middle School show. So, we had to have someone else step up and do it while she is out. But, one of our 7th graders rose to the challenge.

I know is she bumbed out....having to be out of the show...but she comes to all the practices and cheers on her team! Like I said....she is unlike anyone I have ever taught before in my life!

Extraordinary at the age of 13!

Here she is, the first practice after getting hurt!





And the entire team cant wait to have her back. They were all very worried for her, I know.





Every day we have rehearsal, I look forward to seeing these 25 girls. They are wonderful to work with and practice so hard. We give them a 10 min break, they take 2 and then practice on their own. I look forward to seeing how they will turn out by the end of the season. It will be great, I'm sure!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Another Hair Video

Here is another hair video.....it goes into how to do the hair style a little bit more than the others. I like how far forward the braids are in the other video I posted....but maybe this video will help you more.


Hair Style for HS guard

Hey girls. On your day off how about you try this hair style for our "show hair" this year!

I really liked the look of Sam's hair that one day at rehearsal.....so I went looking on youtube.com to find a tutorial to teach us all how to do it.

I found 2 links...

This one I like the most. But once you get the double braids to hold back the front of your hair DO NOT put the hair up and back. We will leave the hair down.....with some teasing to give it some volume.




Here is a second video that just goes into where and how to make the braids.....the braids are not holding back the front of her hair so I dont like it as much.





This looks like something we can do very quickly and easily. It didnt look like every one's hair could do the "Gabby poof" (and look mostly the same for all of you) so we need to find something EASY that everyone can do.

Feel free to text me if it works or if you think you will need help with this style.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

New Work Out

We told the guard girls this year we would be adding a free weights exercise to their warm up process this year. They were all very excited and when they found out their uniforms were sleeveless this year....some were even asking when we could start!

This morning was our first day of the new exercise and I think it went GREAT. All of the girls were able to have weights and they started "feeling the burn" just mid way through it! Laurissa and I had fun doing it too! Cheering on the girls made it feel easy. I guess we will see how I feel tomorrow.

I look forward to seeing how this effects our girls upper body strength. I'm hoping it really improves our tosses and catches, but I hope more than just those things are effected. Ill let you know if a month or so. : )

All in all....great practice this morning. Fun even at 6:30 in the morning!

Monday, January 24, 2011

First Show!

The Willard High School Winter Guard earned the Top Score in their class this Saturday. Their first show out and the girls did a great job. They did everything we could ask of them....and they even looked like they were having a great time.

Here are some of my favorite pics of the day....taken by an aunt of one of the guard girls "Jeana Combs Photography" They aren't in order....sorry if that messes with you mind. : )

2 of our BEST dancers start the show, coming toward each other on the purple and yellow sections of the wheel. Gabby is shown waiting for the music to begin.





Shelby and Danielle looking great on their saber/rifle





Little Rachel on flag.....this girl has come such a long way, I'm so proud of her.





Emily, our Captain, on dance...doing the move that made the girls very soar the day after they first learned it.





Olivia starts the show as the only girl not in the circle.





Lil D....our first rifle to come out. Oh Yeah! And she is a FRESHMAN!





Gabby...using her eyes! Good Job!





Emily waiting to toss her saber triple.....which will soon be bumped up to a quad





Danielle....wow! She is such a great performer!





Another one of our Seniors, Carly.





Rifle ripple.....Allie in the front and Lil D behind her.



Ill be putting a video up of their show soon. When it is complete.....we still have just a couple spots to fill in.
Congrats again girls. You did GREAT!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Cute Across the Floors!

The Middle School girls are getting so good with their across the floors. Thought I would share one of my favorites!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

3 Days Away...

The High School girls are 3 days away from their first competition. The staff is very pleased with where they are right now going into this first show and I think the girls are excited too.

Last year (because we had so many snow days right off the bat in January) we had a LOT of blank spots in the show. The girls were standing and just doing staging a good amount of the show. Which, of course, hurt their score because the judges didn't have much to judge.

This year we have the entire show staged and only a couple moments with no choreography. I think we are in good shape for Saturday and I know we are FAR more complete than last year.

Wish us luck, that we don't have snow days here at the end of the week. That could really make us lose momentum going into MSU. I want the girls to start their season with a BANG so they know how Awesome they are!!!

Monday, January 17, 2011

MS Uniforms

I Middle School girls got to see and try on their uniforms the first week back from Christmas break. While they had them on they went through some of their across-the-floors and some flag work, just to get use to them. You could really tell the girls who aren't use to wearing more form fitting cloths, but they all looked great.
Last Friday I had a few of them put them back on so I could take a few pictures. One of the girls even had the head band with her to show in the pics!

They seem to really like the uniforms and they all look super cute in them!
That last pose sure looks familiar! I didn't even tell them to do that. Now I have matching pics of both the HS and MS girls doing that! Very cute!!!

Friday, January 14, 2011

High School Uniforms

The High School uniforms came in last week and we had the girls try them on Monday during my 1st hour planning period. They all looked so good in them!

After school that day I asked 3 of the girls if they could take my phone and take some pics on them in the uniform while I was in a teachers meeting.

I think they might have had a little too much fun with it.....but thats ok. Here are our 2011 winter guard uniforms. Designed and made by Creative Costuming.




The 2011 Season

Wow!

It is official! The 2011 is really here. Both the HS and MS guards have been hard at work for a couple months now and the staff was preparing long before that.

The High School (competing in Scholastic B again this year) will have their first festival a week from tomorrow. We are in a great place right now, with only our ending to put on the floor and a few spots of choreography to fill in.

The Middle School opened up the guard to 7th graders this year, so we will be performing with 26 members (16 8th graders and 10 7th graders) which is a nice jump in numbers from our small but mighty guard of 10 last year.

I will try to put pics of the groups uniforms on here in the next couple days and maybe a couple video clips of the MS girls.

Good luck to all the Winter Guards out there this season. 2011 is going to be FANTASTIC!!!