Winter Guard At Warsaw Performing 'Romeo & Juliet'
Winter Guard At Warsaw Performing 'Romeo & Juliet'
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Winter Guard At Warsaw Performing 'Romeo & Juliet'"Romeo & Juliet" is getting a different spin to it thanks to the Warsaw Community High School Winter Guard.
According to co-directors Hannah Helman and Sarah Fox, the Guard this year is performing to the song "Romeo & Juliet" as sung by the Indigo Girls. Helman said it's very upbeat, only using acoustic guitar and voice."I think we've done really well" this season, said Fox. The team's show is very challenging for their level, she said.
On Jan. 23, the Guard had its first competition at Goshen, receiving a Gold Rating and third place. Helman said they were in Class AAA, but were promoted to Class AA because their score was above the promotion line.
At Bishop Dwenger on Jan. 30, WCHS took fourth place. During competition at Heritage Feb. 6, they took fifth. They took the Silver Feb. 13 at New Palestine and at Anderson Feb. 20.
Saturday is their final competition. It's division finals at Center Grove High School.
The Winter Guard also will perform their show for families, friends and the public March 19 in the WCHS Career Center Gym. The show is free and starts at 6 p.m.
Of the 10 members of the Winter Guard, they have only one male member, senior Justin Cordero. Since the group is performing "Romeo & Juliet," Helman and Fox decided to make Cordero the center of the performance.
"He's pretty talented so we wanted to make him the focal point," said Fox.
As Romeo, Cordero has some solo parts, but also does have a duet part with senior Liz Reusser.
"It makes me feel kind of famous," said Cordero. "I do like the spotlight."
Reusser finds her part very physical. In one part of the choreography, as Juliet, Reusser tells "Romeo" she would do anything for him. He rejects her and pushes her to the floor.
"There's moments where you're caught in it. You are in your own little bubble. There's tears in your eyes," Cordero said.
In another moment, Romeo and Juliet embrace. Right before the embrace, Cordero throws his baton in the air, catching it right after he and Reusser hug.
"Sometimes it's scary when he does his toss near me, but I trust him," Reusser said.
Reusser is in her second year of Winter Guard, while Cordero is in his fourth.
"It's exciting but kind of sad at the end. It's exciting because it's the show, it's my senior year. It's sad because it's my last show," said Reusser.
"You have to be dedicated," Cordero offered as advice to the younger Winter Guard members. "Listen to the instructors. Don't talk back. Don't be late. Keep your grades up. And it's very physically active, I think."
"Oh, yeah!" Reusser agreed.
"Don't be lazy," said Cordero.
Fox said they really like their uniforms this year, too. "We went all out," she said. Helman said the uniforms are a little Renaissance mixed with some modern flair.
The tarp for their performance is painted gray. Fox said the song references a street and streetlight, so gray seemed like a good choice.
Winter guard is an indoor color guard activity, derived from the outdoor summer activity that is commonly part of marching band or drum corps, according to Wikipedia.org Color guard is performed outdoors on a football field or parade route, and is part of a marching band or drum corps. Winter guard is performed indoors, usually in a gym or indoor arena during the winter or spring season. Instead of performing as a visual accent to the marching band, each winter guard team picks its own music to perform to. This helps to encourage individuality. Winter guard teams are judged, not only on talent and precision, but also on creativity. There are multiple ways that winter guards perform. They can use various equipment, props, and dance moves, according to Wikipedia.
