By Kellie Finch
Paint of every possible hue covered Unionville HS’s tarp, props, performers, and instruments after their finals run in Dayton, Ohio this past season.
Appearing as if they just won a high-energy paintball tournament rather than finishing an indoor percussion show, students took a moment to soak everything in as audience members leaped to their feet—creating unforgettable memories that could only be described as a work of art—Jackson Pollock’s art, of course.
For Unionville’s Director of Percussion Cody Stafford, pursuing a Pollock-inspired show was always in the back of his mind. After doing a Pollock show when he was in high school, Stafford knew he wanted to create his own interpretation.
Stafford first pitched the idea to his staff in 2018, but it didn’t take off until 2023—when Unionville was heading home from World Championships
“The nuts and bolts of the show were figured out on the bus ride home from Dayton the year before,” Stafford said.
Stafford took a month-and-a-half-long graduate class centered around creativity that spring at the University of Virginia. His final project for the class ended up being a storyboard of the Pollock show, kicking off its design process.
As a history teacher during the school day, Stafford said he’s very familiar with researching, which makes designing shows easier. His design team, made up of five music and visual designers, created playlists of songs, videos, and images to help brainstorm show ideas. In August and September, the design meetings start.
Once Stafford’s team settled on the Pollock concept and knew they wanted students to paint live during the show, they faced a dilemma: what type of paint they should use and how to make it work with the rest of the show.
“The whole year was kind of just experimenting of how we’re going to figure this out,” Stafford said. “And then when we decided we’re going to throw 12 gallons of paint on the floor in finals, figuring out how to actually throw paint from buckets was an undertaking.”
Stafford ended up collaborating largely with Unionville’s art department to ensure the logistics and authenticity of the painting would work the way they wanted.
“Each individual brush stroke was written to the music,” Stafford said.
They decided on diluted, washable tempera paint rather than the typical cornstarch-water combination many groups in the past have used. They then had to find a way to throw the paint safely, which required a lot of practice.
Along with figuring out paint logistics, one of Stafford’s other priorities was ensuring each of his students felt confident getting on and off of the floor, which can sometimes be hard to communicate.
“Getting students confident in what they’re doing and understanding their individual role in the larger picture was very important to us,” Stafford said.
Confidence starts with the basics, Stafford said. Ensuring that the students feel comfortable marching the show and blending with the rest of the ensemble will give them confidence in other parts of the show.
“You can’t really run before you walk,” Stafford said.
One of Unionville’s biggest focal points throughout the season, musically, was their front ensemble section. Only two of their members had picked up mallets before, Stafford said. This forced Unionville to rely heavily on their older battery section early on, before the front ensemble grew to where they were in Dayton.
“The run that they had in finals was the best front ensemble run that we’ve ever had in my 12 years at Unionville,” Stafford said. “For them to be able to go out and do that, that was absolutely incredible.”
Getting to that point took a village, however. After a late preliminary performance Thursday and in anticipation of an early semifinal performance Friday, it was all hands on deck for Unionville parents and staff to power wash the paint off of their tarp and repaint their props white.
“[It took] a lot of towels, a lot of water and a lot of very tired staff members and parents,” Stafford said.
After a successful first two performances, it was time for the final one—this time, in UD Arena, home to the famous (and sometimes infamous) tunnel.
The steepness of the UD Arena tunnel proved to be a challenge as Unionville exited the floor, with one of the props beginning to drip paint up the ramp. This caused a delay in the show and a hefty penalty for the ensemble. However, Stafford wanted his students to focus on the positives of the experience rather than their final score.
“It was unfortunate that it happened, but, at the end of the day, they’re going to remember that feeling, standing on the floor, not what the placement was,” Stafford said.
The crowd energy was electric as performers flung paint onto nearly every square inch of the performance floor—people and instruments included. This created an atmosphere that can only be described as magical.
“At the end of the show, that crowd reaction is something that I know that I’d never experienced in an A class finals,” Stafford said. “I’d never seen a crowd react like that. It was worth every tenth of that penalty.”
For the students, the memories made in Dayton were more valuable than any score or placement. Aster White, a member of the front ensemble, described feeling cathartic during her last performance.
“All of the work I had put in since November was finally culminating at that moment,” White said. “As I hit the last cymbal crash in the show I felt a wave of happiness, sadness, shock and stress.”
Lana Reno, a member of the battery, said the chaos and uniqueness of the entire season made it especially memorable and kept the students having fun.
“The paint added a level of chaos to every show,” Reno said. “We never really knew what was going to happen. It seemed like no matter how much we planned, someone would end up slipping off a painted prop or spilling a bucket of paint. This sounds terrible, but it taught the whole group to take the final placement less seriously, and just enjoy ourselves and put on a good show while having fun.”
For staff, students, and UD Arena audience members, Unionville’s 2024 show painted its mark—a rather colorful one, of course—and produced something Pollock would be proud of.
About the Author:
Kellie Finch is an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pursuing her BA in Media and Journalism through the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. At UNC, she is a member of the Marching Tar Heels in the tenor saxophone section. She participated in WGI winds during all four years of high school playing the alto saxophone, where she discovered her love for music and the activity through her experiences and the people she met.
