beyondthefloor

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Am I not cut out for color guard?

Q: “I have never really played any other sports or taken dance lessons. I'm pretty unfit and not flexible. I feel like I would just drag everyone down, but colorguard seems so cool! I'm just worried that someone like me isn't cut out for it.”

A: If you think you can approach it with an open mind, you should give it a try. You might surprise yourself. But I mean it - you have to walk into it without all the preplanned failure. Tell yourself you’re going to try something new and that you’re up for a challenge. Tell yourself they’ll teach you everything you need to know. Tell yourself you can be a part of that something you thought was really cool. Give yourself space to succeed and it’s much more likely to happen. 

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: What to do when you don’t feel you’re good enough for the line you’re on.

Q: “ 1. What do I do if I don't feel like I'm up to par with what I'm being asked to do? 2. How do I work on becoming more consistent in my work (especially tosses)? I've tried to explain to my staff that I am not yet good enough to be consistent or even adjust my height and buzz according to what went wrong in the last toss, but I got a very passive-aggressive "don't talk back, just fix it" kinda attitude in return. They act like I've been spinning weapon for 3 years or something.” 

A: 1. Trust the process. You’re struggling because you’re being challenged, and you have to be challenged to get better. I know it can be frustrating and overwhelming to feel like you’re not achieving what’s being asked of you, but don’t allow yourself to sit in those feelings for too long. Remind yourself that those feelings aren’t helpful. Turn your negative feelings into motivation to practice. 

2. Practice with purpose. Work slowly through your choreography, thinking about yourself as the force controlling the rifle, noticing what technique you’re using to move from each checkpoint to the next. When you make a mistake, treat it like a puzzle to solve rather than a failure to endure. What are you doing with your body to make the rifle do what it’s doing? What happens when you adjust that slightly, is it closer to what you want?  Approach tosses the same way. Work through your prep and fake release until you’re confident your technique is correct. Memorize that feeling and apply it when you’re ready to actually release. Make small adjustments after every rep until the equipment lands in your hands the way it should, then rep the correct technique as much as you can to reenforce your skill. 

A last bit of advice? Don’t “explain” the reason for your lack of ability to your instructors. They don’t want to hear you excuse away your mistakes (yes, that is what you’re doing whether it’s intentional or not), they want you to put in the work to get better. Don’t say you’re not good enough to be consistent, just work on getting more consistent. Ask for help when you make a mistake you don’t know how to fix. Take ownership over the process. Your instructors will be much less dismissive if you’re helping yourself out. 

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Drum corps for your scholastic students.

Q: “Do you allow your members to march drum corps even if it means they’ll miss a lot of material??” 

A: No. My students are not allowed to march drum corps until they’ve left my program. To be absolutely candid, I don’t trust the technical training done at any of the summer programs - I know very well about the shortcuts and bad habits that are allowed on the field for the sake of saving time, and I don’t want to expose my young performers to that kind of approach. I don’t have the time in August to spend retraining veteran members who can’t get through intermediate skills in block anymore because they can’t shake a bad habit or cheat they picked up at a corps. 

[beyondthefloor]

A friendly end of March reminder:

Say “okay, I’ll fix it” after you’re given a correction. If it’s particularly helpful, you can add “thank you.” Outside of that, do not say any other words. None. Shut the fuck up. Don’t defend yourself, don’t explain what went wrong, and for fucks sake don’t question them. Do your part to make the gym tolerable on the fourteen hour pre-Dayton rehearsal days we have ahead of us (and maybe get better at color guard while you’re at it!). 

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Left handed weapon skills.

Q: “What kind of left handed exercises should I use for teaching rifle and sabre?”

A: I’m not sure if you’re asking this because you’re not sure what fundamentals to teach on both sides or because you’re looking for left-side specific exercises to improve strength and control for tosses... so I’m going to answer both questions. 

Every fundamental your students learn on the right, they need to learn on the left. They should be as ambidextrous as possible. Drop spins, spins and stops, flourishes, thumb flips... teach it all on both sides and make sure you always rep on both sides evenly (or the extra reps happen on the left). 

As far as left hand specific exercises, I recommend:  1. When they’re new or during long technique rehearsals it’s worth it to rep sharp preps into fake releases (making sure to adjust the free arm to imitate every rotation you plan on having them toss). It’ll help with muscle memory, timing, and control.  2. Taking the same toss multiple times in a row without stopping. Write a simple four-ish count transition between each toss as a way to get from the catch back to left flat and resist the urge to complicate the exercise with anything else. I know it seems simple, but the stamina, muscle memory, and self-correction ability (and drop recovery, being realistic) they develop from the rapid-fire execution of the same technique over and over is important.  3. A toss pyramid. This is the same nonstop tossing concept as the one I just described, but instead of tossing the same thing over and over they’ll adjust from their lowest to their highest toss and then work back down to their lowest. For example, you’d do: one single, two doubles, three triples, two doubles, one single. This is such an important exercise for when your program throws multiple tosses with multiple rotations - it’s a thinking exercise, a technique adjustment exercise, and a stamina builder all in one. 

I’m aware all of my recommendations were toss specific, but that’s because if you’re training all your fundamentals on the left side that’s the only additional kind of training they’ll need to be capable of spinning weapon well. 

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Wet Silks

Q: “My kids went on the field this morning and now their flags are wet and we have a show tomorrow night help how do I dry them?! I’m PANICKING!””

A: ... has it... never rained before where you live? This is a thing that happens. Take a breath. No need for panic, it is a non-issue.  The silks will dry on their own. Have your students leave them unrolled and out of their bags tonight and they’ll be totally good for tomorrow.  Also, keep in mind that weather happens, judges observe the weather, and there’s no penalty for spinning wet silks in a show. Hell, it may rain during the show. That’s life during outdoor season. Don’t let the little things like that get to you. 

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Band Camp Packing

Q: What do you tell your students to bring for band camp?

A: My students have a packing list that usually reads along these lines: 

- Large, refillable water jug (mandatory)  - Sunscreen (mandatory)  - Bug spray (mandatory)  - Full change of rehearsal clothes, including underwear and socks (mandatory) - Deodorant (mandatory) - A healthy snack that can survive in the heat (mandatory)  - Extra pair of sneakers - Flip flops  - Towel  - Rain jacket - Sunglasses  - Hat or bandana - Sweatshirt and sweatpants  - Painkillers, inhaler, allergy medicine, daily prescribed meds, etc.  - Extra pair of contacts (if applicable, obviously)  - Tampons, pads, or other preferred period product - Extra hair ties, headbands, bobby pins, etc.  - Support brace for any reoccurring injury or joint pain 

I recommend my students show up with two bags: an indoor bag with their change of clothes, medicines, extras, etc. and a waterproof outdoor bag for their water, sunscreen, bugspray, sunglasses, etc. 

It may seem like a really extra list, but there’s something to be said for being prepared and not having to think about it too hard when you’re in the midst of band camp. 

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Cleaning a Toss

Q: I need some pointers. There is a toss in our show that we are having a difficult time synchronizing. The toss is a bottom cone toss. We have looked at release points, rotations, height of the toss and catching it. Any pointers? Help please.

A: It’s the prep. 

A bottom cone as a prep for a cone toss is two counts faster than the four count bottom cone we traditionally teach to new members in technique block. A novice doesn’t understand how to translate those checkpoints naturally, nor do they have the ability to think about it because they’re focusing on the rapidly approaching toss technique.That can result in some wild pathway issues as they cheat their technique to make the prep happen without thinking too hard about it. Those pathway issues mean a major timing issue with your toss itself. 

Clean the prep. Clean the first count, the and count, and the second count, then connect them all together. Once you’ve done that, add a fake release. Talk about not pulling until after the flag has returned to an angle on two. Rep it over and over as a prep with a fake release until you’re confident everyone understands. Then take the toss a few times and you’ll likely see a huge improvement right away. 

Every time you teach a toss of any kind, clean the prep and fake release first so you know everyone is on the same page. That’ll keep you from running into this issue. 

Have fun!

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Apps

Q: What apps do you use when you teach color guard and what for? As specific as possible please!!

A: This is such a unique question and I’ve never even considered the answer before, so let’s see what I come up with: 

- Calendar (default iPhone calendar, synced with Google Calendars)  I use Google Calendars to create, edit, and share my program calendars - I think it’s the most robust and intuitive system available - but I don’t bother with the specific app because I don’t have to. iPhones can sync to Google calendars with full viewing, editing, and deleting power. I use my phone calendar mostly for checking dates and student conflicts, but it’s good to know I have the power to do whatever needs to be done through the default app if something changes on the fly. 

- Maps (default Apple Maps)  Whenever we’re on a bus to a show, I put my GPS on in the background to keep an eye on our route and our ETA. I’ve had bus drivers need me to navigate before so it’s good to be prepared. 

- Email (Edison Mail)  My students, their parents, the band director, the school administration, the competition circuit, the show hosts, and various vendors are all emailing me regularly - rarely during business hours. I check my email on my phone constantly during the evening and nighttime hours in case time sensitive messages land in my inbox (it happens relatively often). I like Edison as my mail app because it allows a lot of customization of shortcuts that help me stay organized and efficient. 

- Things 3 Things 3 is a project management app with an absolute wealth of options that I find incredibly useful. Each task you create can have a deadline, reminders, notes, a checklist, and hashtags. You can create general to do lists, projects with their own notes, deadlines, tasks, and measurement of how close you are to completion, and different areas which can contain as many projects and to dos as you’d like.  I have Things 3 for both my MacBook and my iPhone and though it was pricey to get both and sync them it was well worth it. I do all of my administrative prep work, show design prep work, and end of season preparation with this app. I find it incredibly useful to be able to put so much detail into tasks while I’m thinking about them so I don’t miss anything later. For those of you who have ADHD, a real life, and run a program on your own, consider this. 

- Evernote I use Evernote for everything. I keep a running list of every across the floor we do. I write stream of consciousness show ideas while I listen to new marching band music. I jot down middle of the night thoughts for rehearsal the next day that I don’t want to forget. Anything and everything I feel the need to write about winds up in Evernote.  (I also use Fastnote, an extension app, as one of my anchored four apps because it’s that vital to me. It’s just a no-frills notepad that saves to Evernote quickly and without distractions like titles, tags, etc.) 

- Raindrop.io I do a lot of shopping for costumes, equipment, silks, teamwear, etc. I read a lot of articles about dance or color guard that I want to be able to reference later. I see motivational pictures, useful infographics, and interesting videos I don’t want to lose in the huge internet. I use Raindrop.io as a way to keep visual bookmarks that can be put in folders, tagged, and filtered a million different ways. I find it much easier to maintain and organize than bookmarking things in the browser, and it’s more accessible with phone and computer apps, a website, and multiple browser extensions to choose from. 

- CompetitionSuite My circuit uses CompetitionSuite for registration, show sign ups, critique sign ups, form submission, music submission, spiel sheet completion, and of course for receiving judges commentary, scores, and recaps. During winter guard season I’m on the app and website all the time. If your circuit isn’t using this app yet, suggest it to the powers that be, because it’s incredible. 

- Metronome  It’s literally just called metronome, as are seven hundred other metronome apps in the app store. It doesn’t really matter which one it is, I’m not doing anything fancy with it. I use it to keep tempo when I don’t want to clap but need to speak during the exercise enough that music doesn’t make sense. 

- Google Drive With this app I have access to all of my program forms, documents, emergency contact sheets, budget info, sizing charts, graphics and logos, etc. on the go. It’s surprising how often that’s useful. 

- Music (default iPhone app)  When I cut music for winter guard or download midi files for color guard, they all wind up in iTunes and then subsequently in a playlist in the Music app for use during rehearsal. 

- Spotify My actual music app with playlists for stretching, across the floors, various tempos for equipment exercises, potential show themes, etc. The music discovery element of Spotify helps me find new and interesting songs and remixes all the time to add to my various playlists. 

- iMessage & Phone I text my band director, the athletic director, the transportation director, the marching band staff group chat, my choreographer, my captain(s), and occasionally my other students if there’s something they really need to convey without the wait time of emailing me. I call my band director, people I’m collaborating with, and bus drivers to let them know when and where to pick us up after shows. 

I think that’s everything. I hope it was as detailed a list as you wanted. Thanks for the excellent question! 

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Is Directing Hard?

Q: Is being director actually hard or is it exaggerated? 

A: Being a high school program director is genuinely the most challenging thing I’ve ever done and will probably forever be the most challenging job I’ve ever held. It is never ending, thankless, stressful work that I love with all of my heart. 

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: New Flag Fundamentals

Q: Looking for suggestions. Trying to spice up our flag warm ups. Do you have some suggestions for helping with body facing issues and the way the flag cuts through space?

A: Body facing issues should be handled in movement block first. Teach an exercise that involves separating lower and upper body facings while stationary, then teach the same exercise as an across the floor. If you really want to incorporate flag into body facing training, add flag to the across the floor exercise with minimal work and maximum focus on facings with the pole.  When they’re comfortable with basic body facings, simply add body facings into flag fundamentals for reenforcement. Do pull hits facing every different 45, teach turning cones, etc. 

As for the way the flag cuts through space, I recommend:  - 27 points done slowly  - Cones with seven major checkpoints (flat on the way up, front up angle, cross up angle, flat on the way down, front down angle, cross down angle, return angle) - A barrel turning exercise

I do all of the things I’ve mentioned here and think they’re all really great tools for helping beginners understand their equipment and their contribution to how it can move. I know nothing I mentioned is super exciting, but fundamental training isn’t really the most thrilling - but it’s definitely the most useful and important. Hopefully this is the kind of thing you’re looking for! 

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Dot Books

Q: Dot books... I have never heard of these. What are they and how do you use them??

A: A dot book is a little notebook that a performer ties to their waist and uses as a little personal guide to their show. On each page, the performer will write:  - The set number - The counts in the set - The measure numbers - The rehearsal section letter - Their coordinates on the field - The guide, the shape, any marching notes like passthroughs or body facing changes - The choreography that goes within the set

It’s a good way for performers to check and adjust their drill and make small corrections on their own. It’s also a good way to make sure nothing major gets forgotten or overlooked in the repping and reviewing process during the fall when the drill and choreography were learned weeks before and are details are fading from memory. 

I do not make my color guard performers make or wear dot books during the season because I think It impedes their ability to move freely and serves as a distraction bouncing against their body and threatening to fall off - but with that said I would consider it if my students seemed to really be struggling with show memorization. 

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Interval Times

Q: Haven’t taught regional A in a hot minute... how long is equipment / movement warmup?

A: If your circuit follows the WGI rulebook, you’ll have seven minutes in each warm up. If your circuit doesn’t follow WGI rules (it should, and you should make sure to find a circuit that does), your guess is as good as mine and you should definitely ask about that before you head into the first show. 

[beyondthefloor]

Dear Parent,

Dear Parent,

Your kid joined a high level, nationally competitive program. You had to sign a fucking 16 page membership manual and commitment contract in order to even get the kid to participate - and you just signed that motherfucker without reading it, didn’t you? It’s okay, I’ll give you the crash course: Why yes, I do look young to be a coach. In fact, I am young. Shut the fuck up about that and look at my results. I’m 100% more qualified to be your kids coach than you are at doing whatever you do for a living. I bet you didn’t compete internationally and gain relative fame in human resources, Karen. How many national championships has your accounting department won under your direction, Steve? None? Weird. I bet you can’t even motivate them to clean out the coffee pot at the end of the day. You don’t know shit about what makes a good coach. I don’t want to hear your idea. You literally have no fucking idea what you’re talking about. Don’t email me your suggestion for new team apparel or for a fun new training exercise for us to do. This isn’t girl scouts where the moms can participate as troop leaders and pretend they have superior knowledge about birdseed or some shit. You’re wasting my time. You know why I don’t work with children? Because I hate children. You might enjoy this weird “my kid is a teenager but also just a BABY” thing because you have an undiagnosed mental problem, but some of us are trying to teach your teenager fundamental adult life skills. You can cling to a photo album at home or something - stop getting in my fucking way. When I say the student has to email me if they can’t be at rehearsal, I mean the student. That’s the one who’s younger and attends high school. When I send them a disciplinary email for the sake of record keeping and CC you so everyone is on the same page, the last line ALWAYS says “[Name], I’m CCing your parents on this email so we’re all on the same page, but please be aware that this is your responsibility entirely.” Responding telling your kid you’re going to “get through this together” is both insane and counterproductive. YOUR KID DOESN’T NEED YOU TO HELP THEM “GET THROUGH” THIS BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING TO GET THROUGH. They broke a rule and I called them out - this is called accountability. And so help me if you express it’s not their fault. Yes, it fucking is. You’re making them worse at being a person and therefore you are a shitty fucking parent. Competitions are not family time. You don’t get to come into our team space. This isn’t dance moms. I will have you removed. If your kid comes home and complains that I was “mean” or I “made them do PT” or I “said they didn’t do it right” I need you to really think about that for a fucking second before you hop on your keyboard to type me an 8 paragraph email about how upset your darling is. Your freshman is probably really bad at things. You literally pay money to this program so that they can be better at things. Did you think that would happen through magic? I know they did because they’re fourteen and they have no idea what’s happening until next year but DID YOU GENUINELY THINK your young teenager with no experience was just going to be infallible? Have you ever been outside your home? I’m assuming so, so this shouldn’t be a hard concept for you to understand. If I told your kid to stop being a little bitch, sure thing, send me an email. Report me, whatever the fuck you do in that situation. If I told your kid they need to have a better push up posture and then called them out for not applying the correction GUESS WHAT. THAT’S MY LITERAL JOB. You’re emailing me to tell me that I did my job, and somehow you’re complaining about it. The calendar is accessible to you in six different ways. Jesus fucking christ stop asking me about the calendar. I’m not just going to randomly change it and be like SURPRISE WHOLE NEW CALENDAR TO SHAKE THINGS UP because that’s insane and I am not the insane one in our relationship. Stop teaching your kid to make excuses. When they’re with me their sore toe or whatever the fuck isn’t a huge deal because no one turns it into a deal at all. When they come back and freak out because their “broken toe” is “in so much pain” I know it’s you who did that. If you keep your kid home from practice because they have allergies but they went to school that day you are actually satan. If you bring them to the doctor because they have a bruise or twisted ankle you are lucky to have such nice health insurance. I teach these people classes in understanding and taking care of their bodies with a focus on care for injuries and stretching. They’re fucking fine. Let them get a bump without calling the mayor. I don’t work for you, nor do I work for your kid. Who the fuck put that idea in your head? I will remove you immediately from any event if I hear you spout bigotry, and I will ask you to not return until you can control your mouth. God help you if that bigotry is directed towards one of my students. Idk who you’re regularly communicating with that you think you can send me the same copy/pasted email asking me a question every hour on the hour until I answer you, but that’s not the way things work outside of your head. I don’t sit at my computer waiting for you to ask me the location of the next show (which is on your calendar you never look at because you’re a dirty microwave of a human being). If you describe coaching on this level as a “fun light hobby” I immediately hate you more than anything in the entire world. While you’re sitting on your fucking ass at home watching the Bachelor and old Tiger Woods interviews (oh yeah I know about that, your kid talks about you) I’m training teenagers to be mentally and physically prepared to compete and win. I’m out of the house doing 14 hour workdays so your kid can have enough evening rehearsal time during the week, I give up my Saturdays, and I spend my “free time” planning. I have to answer your goddamn emails. The health, safety, success, and a significant portion of the growth of these teenagers comes from my influence and the program I run. It’s not some casual picnic I’m showing up to that we can laugh about together. If I have a stellar relationship with your offspring, BE HAPPY THERE’S AN ADULT IN THEIR LIFE THEY CAN TRUST. I cannot count the number of times I’ve had a kid crying in my office because they couldn’t handle a situation on their own but didn’t want to talk to their parent about it for whatever reason. I’m not running some popularity contest here. I want your kid to be their best - even when it has nothing to do with me or my team. Try it sometime. Also, as an addition to this one, STOP BEING SHITTY. Your homosexual child knows you’re avoiding them because you know they’re going to come out soon. Your 18 year old is scared to have safe sex because she thinks you will literally harm her physically if you catch her with condoms. Your stepdaughter got into a fistfight because she’s frustrated that you drug test her every morning despite the fact that she’s never done drugs. Finally, you’re welcome. You’re welcome for the hours upon hours of hard labor that go into making sure your kid has somewhere they feel challenged and successful and comfortable. You’re welcome for talking to your kid like they’re a human being, respecting them, and asking for nothing but their attendance and honest attempts during rehearsal. You’re welcome for giving them their college recommendation letters, making sure they get into national honor society, making sure they have scholarships and accolades to mention on their applications, and for being their reference for their first jobs. You’re welcome for teaching them how to go to an interview, how to handle stress, how to address physical and mental ailments, and how to act professional in public. You’re welcome for fucking loving them, protecting them, teaching them, wiping their tears, and waking up every day trying to do right by them. You’re fucking welcome. Love, Coach

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Individual Flag Bags

Q: Individual flag bags!?

A: ... are you... asking if they exist? If I use one? If you should use one? 

I have no idea what the question is (since there isn’t one) so I’m just going to go ahead and answer those three I made up. 

1. Yes, individual flag bags exist. 

2. Yes, I make sure every program I’m involved with as a captain and as a director uses individual flag bags. They’re so much better from a logistical standpoint than any communal option. 

3. If you’re responsible for making the equipment storage/transportation choices for a program, definitely go for individual flag bags. If you’re an independent performer and/or instructor looking for the best way to handle your personal equipment, an individual flag bag is right for you.  If you’re a student, there is no need for you to buy an individual flag bag. Either your program uses them and you will have one issued to you for the season along with your equipment or your program uses communal storage and won’t want you keeping your equipment separate. Even if you own your own practice equipment for using at home, unless there’s some sort of major damage risk with access to your stuff (a puppy or toddler being good examples), you don’t need a special bag for storage. 

[beyondthefloor]

To All The New Captains:

To all the new captains:

- Your responsibility isn’t to be the best at color guard, your responsibility is to be the best at being IN color guard. There’s a huge difference there. I don’t give a shit if my captain drops their flag, so long as they pick it back up and do it again. I don’t care if they don’t always know the best way to teach everyone so long as they’re putting in the effort to get everyone the help they need and using all of their available resources to make everyone their best - including and especially themselves. You should be early to every practice to help get everything set up. You should be respectful and engaged during rehearsal. You should be professional with everyone, even if you don’t get along in real life. You should always wear what you’re supposed to wear, be where you’re supposed to be, and do what you’re supposed to do. It’s actually really easy to be the ideal member if you’re coming from a place of love. - Lead by example. Do not ask your teammates to do anything you would not do and are not already doing. Meaning, you can’t tell Suzie to run a lap for being late if you were late last week and you didn’t run one. People will notice what you are doing far more than they will notice what you are saying. If you want everyone to help put together the prop, you’d better start putting together the prop before asking everyone else to join in. If you want the flagline to roll their flags nicely, roll yours nicely. Simple. - Learn to stop taking things personally. It feels like a slap in the tit when someone blatantly breaks a rule, is rude, doesn’t do what you asked, talks back, etc. Step back from the situation and remember that no one is out to get you or make you feel/look bad. Color guard is hard, rules are annoying, and everyone has a whole life outside of rehearsal. It is almost NEVER about you. Do not engage in any sort of argument or fight. If someone is being an asshole, bring it to your director privately. - On a related note, ask for help and delegate. You have to be doing a ton of work, but not all of the work. Color guard isn’t a captain on fire running around and then a bunch of other random assholes laughing and sitting around. Everyone should be putting in work, doing the little things no one really wants to do, contributing to the community. Make a schedule for people to bring the props to the field so you’re not always the one doing it. Ask Jenny if she can help the new kid tape their flag because you’re doing something else right now. Talk to Sam about working with a girl who just can’t get the choreography because Sam is in that part and you’re not. Every season I ask my auditionees what they would do if they weren’t on a line and they had to clean that line during a sectional. These children almost always say “I’d learn that work and then know all the checkpoints and clean it that way.” Baby honey child. No. No you won’t, you definitely can’t, and nobody has time for you to be doing shit you don’t need to do in the first place. Use your eyeballs. Who knows the work? Who has been here for a while and definitely understands the counts? Ask that person to help you. Hell, ask them to run the set for you if you’re really not familiar with it. If no one seems like they’re the shining star of the group? Run the section and ask people what counts they think something should be. Majority rules. Fix what you can. Tell your instructor what you did and how you did it. The end. You’re not giving up any power by letting other people have influence in the program. The most confident and successful leaders are the ones who aren’t at all afraid of giving other people the ability to lead or help or teach. - Fake it til you make it. In real life I’m shy, I have anxiety, I doubt myself at every turn… but when I go to color guard none of that exists and I act like the confident version of myself. I act like I’m outgoing. I stand in front of a block and I talk about color guard because I know about color guard. I teach as though I know what I’m saying because I do. I give instructions as though I know what I want and I know it’ll be good for the program because I do. I’m in my position because I know what’s up - same as you. You might have to pretend, and you might have to swallow your fear, and you’ll definitely fuck up and say the wrong thing sometimes or teach something a little weird by accident. It HAPPENS. It’ll happen again. I write color guard shows for a living and ask my kids what the counts I cleaned last week were sometimes because I don’t remember because I don’t know everything. Let it happen. Don’t be too hard on yourself.

[beyondthefloor]

Q&A: Costuming With Restrictions

Q:  So I have two guard members who cannot have their shoulders or knees showing due to religious guidelines. Do you have any experience with this? I was thinking of just buying leggings/underarmour, but I want them to not feel like they are "sticking out" from everyone else. Ideas?

A: Find a costume that works for everybody without modification. There’s no reason not to do so, especially when your limitations are so simple to abide by. There are thousands of beautiful costumes on the market that cover both shoulders and knees, and unless your show theme is “I’m wearing shorts,” you’ll be able to easily find plenty of options that work for your aesthetic and the needs of the cast. 

Costume for the program you have, not the program you want.