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Richmond Color Guard Regional Review
Feb 4, 2008
By Irving Matchen
Powhatan High School was the site of the Richmond regional. Over thirty guards were anxious to unleash their plethora of productions as the gymnasium filled with anticipation of seeing who would walk away as early crowd favorites. This regional had a number of scholastic A guards competing and I thought it fair to start there.
The Scholastic A division continues to grow and equally the performers are just as impressive with their skills. Capturing the gold medal was West Carteret HS (75.20), performing a show titled, “The Giving Tree”. A beautifully narrated story of a boy and a tree expressed through their dance, movement and equipment work. Clayton HS (73.00), a crowd favorite, performed a show title “A Native’s Journey“. Filled with wonderful spinning and great closing flag feature, this show will evolve to be a well received show come championship week in Dayton. Wakefield HS (71.50) had one of the most emotionally filled performances. A Nurse‘s Diary (I Never Knew His Name). Stools used very effectively throughout the show and made for a very nice solo saber toss and catch. Concord HS (70.70) just missed out on a medal performing a show titled, “A Promise Broken. Great visual effect as the show developed, breaks in the tarp became apparent to match the theme. Dobyns-Bennett HS (69.20) in eye catching lime green costumes to symbolize spring drew a much deserved applause. Look for this show to develop as the season progresses. Broad Run HS (64.30) another young guard being asked to show so much emotion in a show titled, “Ready Set, Don’t Go”. As what may happen in scholastic competition from preliminaries to finals this is where there were several placement changes. Terry Sanford HS (62.30), Northwestern HS (61.80), Cary HS (61.20), Colonial Heights HS (59.60), Powhatan HS (58.10), and Tennessee HS (57.60) all put on expiring finals performances.
Independent A. Nothing will catch your eye faster than a unit who can spin well! That’s exactly what Wakefield Independent (73.40) did to capture the gold medal. Performing a fast paced show, that never let up until the end. Bassett Independent (70.20) strong equipment couple with tons of movement to a show titled, “Mindless Menace of Violence“. Impact Independent (68.20), bronze medalist, certainly should feel good about their weekend and competitive season to come. Another crowd favorite this weekend performing their show titled, Romeo and Juliet. Very strong rifle section. Carolina Visual Independent (63.50), Nuance Winter-guard (59.50) grape feet and all performed their version of “From Grapes to Glass“. Their tarp representing a barrel of grapes as this group danced spun and moved their way through an exciting filled show.
South Brunswick HS (66.50) our only competing Scholastic Open guard. These young ladies in their beautiful royal blue costumes performed a show titled “Perhaps”. SBHS dance technique showed throughout their performance displaying a confident performance.
The Independent Open division pitted two finalists from the 2007 world championships: Etude and First Flight. Swapping positions after prelims; it was Etude (73.00) winning the gold medal. Garbed in various shades of brown, Etude scoring high in equipment and GE wowed the audience throughout. Wonderful solo saber toss in the middle of the show. First Flight (71.70). There wasn’t much that separated these two competitors as far as captions. This group has some performers who love an audience’s attention. Both of these units are looking to build upon their finish from last year‘s championships.
Competing in their second year as an Independent World guard, Croatan (64.40)performing a show titled, “Crossing Over”, amazed the audience with their graceful style. Many controlled tosses and eye catching flag feature.
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