The production of the marching show is an intricate, multi-faceted process. Many people work together to create the marching show every year. Before the process of actually learning drill and choreography begins, work occurs behind the scenes to make the show come into fruition.
The Director of Fine Arts, Mr. Keith Witt, puts together the theme and accompanying music of the show, and his daughter makes the costumes. The Marching Director and Associate Director of Bands, Reid Atkinson, writes the music and creates the flag designs. Color Guard specialists are hired to create choreography, as well as people to create Band choreography and design drills, respectively. Overall, the production of the show costs $40,000 minimum yearly. Laura Braun, Band director of Judson High School for five years, weighed in on the topic.
“The marching show is a giant undertaking, but it’s so on display every Friday night and every Saturday when we do competitions, so it has to be a big production… It’s kind of a wild adventure that it costs [so] much to do one marching show per year. I think a lot of people don’t realize everything that goes into it. But thankfully I think our show is a really good product this year.”
Both the head director, Franko Young and the techs under contract of him have created separate sections of the choreography. Salem Roberson, one of the techs, created the beginning of the swing flag work, Yaira Nieves-Marquez, the other tech, created the dance work and the end of the swing flag work, and Young, created the rest of the choreography, including the first movement flag, rifle work, and third movement flag. Nieves described her process of creating the choreography.
“My process going through [creating choreography] is to try to keep it musical but also at the same level of (and slightly challenging for) each performer so that way we can continue to grow further and further.”
“Night at the Opera” has been in production since the summer Band Camp started in late July. The show has been continuously growing over the school year, with more music, drill, and choreography added weekly. When asked how the production process has been, Senior Hannah Zatorski, co-captain of the Color Guard for two years now, said that it has been a bit troublesome due to the slower timeline of learning new choreography.
“[It’s been] a little bit frustrating because I feel like we should be moving at a faster pace than we are but I can’t control that because I have to rely completely on Franko [the head Color Guard director]. So it’s a little bit difficult to have to trust the process because so far the process is failing me.”
Captains have different duties than civilian Guard members. They have to keep the rest of the Color Guard in check so that the directors have an easier time doing their job, as well as helping underclassmen with their choreography and drills. Senior Jada Williams, head Captain, explained the labors of the role.
“I do have a lot of pressure on me, making sure that everyone stays in line, knows their choreography and drill, and knows when to focus. Compared to… before being a Captain, I was just outgoing, free, learning my drill, and had no expectations other than putting it out on the field… [No responsibilities like keeping] the Guard under wraps or anything like that,” Williams said.
When it comes to choreography and drill, some people get it faster than others. One of the expectations of Captains is to assist people with learning the correct technique for each. All of the captains had a variety of insights into the task. Zatorski explained that teaching others is not black and white. She has to adapt to people’s learning styles.
“You have to learn how to teach in different ways so that different people can understand it. Because some people are visual learners, some people need everything broken down, and some people need to learn [in other ways],” Zatorski said. “With drill, it’s a little bit difficult because some people don’t want to actually learn how to do it and just want us to tell them where to go… It’s still pretty rewarding though, when you teach someone something that they’re struggling with and they finally get it, it’s nice.”
Williams enjoys teaching others choreography. It gives her a sense of accomplishment in breaking the chain of uncertainty that a lot of freshmen experience when joining Color Guard, as it’s not an elective that’s offered in most middle schools.
“It’s fun teaching others and helping them because I’ve been in their shoes where I’m a newbie coming in, not knowing anything, and not having anyone to help me learn what this is and know my drill. So, I’m happy that I’m able to do that for others and help them learn and not feel like how I did when I came in.”
Creating choreography and teaching choreography are two different battles. Sometimes choreography has to be adjusted to make it either simpler so that it’s achievable, or more complex if it isn’t not very intricate and eye-catching. Roberson described her experience in the process of teaching choreography.
“It’s a learning experience. None of them have done it before. It’s a lot because there’s so many of and it can be stressful sometimes but honestly, my goal is to make sure everyone knows what’s going on, and has the opportunity to be in the full show if they put in the effort.”
Junior Mauryana Compton, a first-year Lieutenant, details the importance of thoroughly understanding the choreography before teaching it to others.
“I would say it’s been interesting because you have to make sure you get all of the details down and if you don’t then you would be teaching [the choreography] wrong. So, it’s been a ride.”
Going on after the Judson Diamonds dance team throughout the football season, the Judson Rocket Band and Color Guard performed their show “Night at the Opera”, during halftime at varsity football games. Now that competition season for the band has concluded, the show will not be performed again.
If you missed it, an alternative performance will take place during halftime of the varsity football game at 7:30 pm Thursday, Nov. 2, at D.W. Rutledge Stadium against New Braunfels. Come out and support the Judson Rocket football team and fine arts programs!