By Emily Cedre
Recent WGI Hall of Fame inductee, Marlieta Matthews-Beckman, began her journey into the marching arts world at a very young age. Following in her father’s footsteps, she joined a Drum Corps team at the age of thirteen.
“My father was one of the first African American drum majors from Madison Scouts,” explained Matthews-Beckman. “So, Drum Corps was in my blood.”
When she began marching, Matthews-Beckman was originally a horn player. This was until Sal Salas, a member of another Drum Corps organization, approached her and some of her fellow teammates about becoming a part of his new all-girl winter guard team. Matthews-Beckman took the opportunity and ran with it, beginning her career in the color guard world.
Throughout her journey as a performer, she quickly discovered her love for the precision and details that came with all the fun choreography she and her team were given to compete.
“I was that person when I marched, who was like, let’s have a showdown today,” said Matthews-Beckman. “Who can do these 16-count parts the best and who can do it the cleanest. So, I’ve always liked the cleanliness of winter color guard.”
Using this newfound fondness for the technical side of the sport, Matthews-Beckman found herself wanting to help teach others. After aging out of State Street, she began her career as a technician for the program. Fast forward to 1990, she started teaching at Center Grove High School, followed by being a technician for many groups, including Marian Catholic High School marching band and winter guard, the Cavaliers, and more. While being a technician for the Cavaliers, Matthews-Beckman assisted for three years on the program’s indoor percussion team.
“Obviously, I’m not a drummer, so I was on the visual team,” said Matthews-Beckman. “I was responsible for making sure they moved well to their choreography. I remember putting on every single drum and figuring out, ‘can they turn their feet out like this, can they move their drum like this, can they do that,’ and it was just a great experience.”
With so much involvement in the sport under her belt, Matthews-Beckman said that the best part of her journey in the marching arts world so far has been the people she gets to work with every single day. She loves the passion, dedication, and talent shown by all her students and the storytelling that they use to bring a performance to life.
In the coming years, Matthews-Beckman hopes to see a continued improvement of putting athletes’ safety and well-being first, as well as providing as many opportunities as possible for members of the marching arts community.
“Keep offering the scholarships. After all, it’s about the performers. Make sure their platform is the number one priority, as well as their safety. There’s been a whole big thing about props and safety surrounding their usage, so I want to see that continued.”
Matthews-Beckman wants everyone–performers, audience members and judges alike–to remember the love that is fostered within the marching arts world and to always spread love.
“I think that we need to have more love and spread more love,” explained Matthews-Beckman. “I think we all need to lean into what we can do to make ourselves better people. Just be better humans and love people more, we need a lot more love in our world.”
About the Author:
Emily Cedre works as a content creator for OneTouch Direct in Tampa, Florida. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications with a concentration in Broadcast Programming and Production. She also minored in Psychology. She began colorguard in her junior year of high school, was a captain of Sunlake High School’s Open Class team and has since spun for the University of South Florida.
