Dripping Springs is what they call a curse show because it is the first show of the season, but that was not the case this year as our Canyon Varsity Color Guard took the floor and took first place with them. I had the pleasure of writing about some of the people and skills needed for such an accomplishment.
This year Color Guard has a new director, Miss. Macy Harmison. Her official title is Assistant Band Director. She teaches Symphonic Band and is the “teacher of record” for the Color Guard classes. She takes their attendance, makes sure they are ready for class, and gives them their grades. She came to Canyon because she heard how welcoming the other band directors would be to her. She is excited to get to know the Canyon students now that they are her students. When asked if there is anything she would want them to take away from their time with her, she said, “That I care about them infinitely and the only thing I hope that they take out of my class is that they’ve improved, learned and grown in some way.”
Matthew Sotelo has been with the Canyon color guard team for four years now as the choreographer. The day-to-day for the team consists of assessing the class the day before, practicing techniques, adding or changing parts of the show, then planning for the next day. Mr. Sotelo has been a color guard director for 10 years now and he says that it’s never really the same. When building a show, he will start with one piece whether it is a piece of music, an image, or even the guard members themselves. “This year’s [show] in particular for the varsity. They are very good moving group, so we chose something that was a little more pretty, a little bit more light and airy, so that fits their aesthetic very well,” said Mr. Sotelo.
This year’s junior varsity show is to the piano version of Taylor Swift’s “Forever and Always”. The aesthetic is light and airy. This year’s varsity show is to a piece from Joni Mitchell called “Cactus Tree”. ”The song basically talks about a woman going through life in a journey and meeting people along the way, whether that’s a significant other, a friend… and figuring out what her journey is and where she’s going in life, and the way we’re telling our part of it is…they’re choosing their own path and their own journey… It’s a very freeing show about taking your journey whichever direction you want to go,” stated Mr. Sotelo.
Sheyla Hechevarria has been on varsity for four years. Something that motivates her when performing is the applause, and some advice her coaches give her is to breathe. When asked how it felt to win first so early in the season, she said, “It feels good to have the hard work pay off,” said Sheyla.
Lorelei Vaden has been on varsity for four years. Something that motivates her when performing is the crowd. Some advice her coaches give her is to count. When asked how she felt winning the competition she said, “Exhilarating…it was fun.”
It was such an honor to talk to our color guard team and learn a bit about what it takes to create an award winning show, who creates the shows, and the new members of their team. We here on the Cougar Tracks team wish you luck with the rest of your season.
