And I love, love, love the guard. You’re right, they are very talented people. I could do the dance part, but not the throwing of the equipment. I’d end up with multiple concussions. I especially love it when there are male guard members. I admire the courage it must take for a guy to get out there and do it. And most of the males I’ve seen are REALLY good. OK, I’m rambling now. I’ll stop.

Sorry, I used brackets with the word smile between them to show humor…..but forgot about HTML not showing them….without them, my post looks like I’m annoyed and I’m not

Just trying to explain how it all works

Peace,
Cathie

They do modernize “props” and make them work for the show, but the flags, rifles and sabers aren’t considered props, they’re considered the color guard’s equipment (just as the brass player’s equipment is their horn).

If they didn’t use this equipment in the show….their scores would be much lower. Sometimes they can modify their equipment so that it thematically fits the show (ie the violins they were spinning were actually modified rifles, that looked like half violins) but sometimes, they can’t. Throwing jalapenos in the air just isn’t the same level of difficulty .

Guards have actually progressed quite a bit from the old VFW days. They do a lot less equipment work than they use to. Now they integrate dance, use of props and even character acting in with all their equipment work….they’re very talented performers who are required to wear many hats!

Ooh, now that’s really cool! See, that’s what I’m taking about!

Hi Cathie! That definitely helps! I’m all for tradition. But one thing that confuses me is that the programs have developed over time to these wonderful productions, which I would call far from the old tradition of the VFW. I mean, Nacho Libre? That’s about as modern as you can get. So why don’t they modernize the props (sorry if I’m using the wrong word, don’t mean to offend.) and incorporate new ones that go along with the program?

Like for Nacho Libre, the color guard could be spinning and throwing wooden jalapeños. I think that would be awesome! Because I assume that the Nacho Libre program has to be a bit tongue-in-cheek.And I’m focusing on Nacho Libre because I like to say it in my mind a lot and roll my R’s.

And I’m pretty sure there weren’t rifles during Adam and Eve’s time, so how about spinning wooden serpents? That? Would be awesome.

I think these corps folks should hire me to do a prop makeover.

The rifles are a traditional piece of guard equipment. The first drum and bugle corps were started by veterans organizations like the VFW, etc and were originally made up of veterans…it was only later that VFW’s started corps for youth.

The original color guard…did exactly that, they guarded the colors (ie the flag)…So it was someone carrying the American Flag, and then someone one either side with a saber on one side and a rifle on the other. As time went on, the color guard went from guarding THE flag to carrying and spinning flags and the equipment they originally carried…rifles and sabers.

Hope that helps.

Peace,
Cathie
member of Cadets ’86 – ’90

And I’m an Indy fan. I’m always happy, although a little apprehensive, when someone else from one of the more glamerous areas of the country becomes a fan. Do you have any idea how many former Californians are living here(Hint: that’s why Trader Joe’s put two of their first locations in the east here)? I have probably a good two dozen friends I know well that moved here from either coast–and LOVE it. Just not sure I want the word getting out any further, because then everyone will want to move here…

Just had Shakespeare on the Canal, which was great…Much Ado About Nothing…free…and in a couple of weeks there’s Shakespeare in the Park, Twelfth Night, free, by a different group…the Fringe is going on now, but most things aren’t kid-friendly.

And just went wandering down the streets and Monon Trail in Broad Ripple and had a sort of meandering meal: appetizers at one place (overlooking the canal), main course somewhere else, again overlooking the canal; dessert yet a third place, overlooking the trail. Windowshopping and peoplewatching as we walked between restaurants.

I have to wonder if what Indy now has isn’t akin to the kidn of ambience and attractiveness that made New York such a magnet 150 years ago: culture and bustling activity, yet with the friendliness and relative safety of a small town. Just bigger.