Valiant after winning 1st place at Rolesville High School; Source: Valiant Instagram
While the Marching Virginians season is officially over, the Valiant winter guard season is in full swing! A couple weeks ago, the blog posted an article by Alexandra Bridgeland about Valiant and their 2020 show “Entropy”. I thought the post was very interesting and captured the essence of the kind of community that Valiant has (you should definitely go read it if you haven’t yet!), but it made me wonder how a student-run organization comes together to create something as complicated as an indoor guard show as someone who has only ever been a part of the marching band. Luckily, Olivia Monseur and Hailey Schmidt, MVs and the student director and assistant director of Valiant, were kind enough to answer the questions I had about the creative process of such an artistic endeavor.
1. Can you describe the process of creating a theme for a Valiant guard show?
“At the end of last year, I knew I wanted to do a show about space this year. I didn't know much more than that until I started listening to potential show songs. It was after listening to dozens of different songs that I came across “Jupiter” by Sleeping at Last and I fell in love with that song.”
-Olivia Monseur, Student Director of Valiant
“The process of creating a winterguard show theme varies from director to director. However, all directors can admit this; you must plan months in advance. Winter guard programs are extremely detail oriented and the individual(s) in charge of creating the program have to build a show that can be "read" by the audience; meaning that the theme you want to portray is a subject that can be shown through costumes, props, floor patterns, etc. With this, directors aim for a variety of locations to look for show themes. Some directors come up with an idea exclusively in their heads (selecting the music, props, ext. to mimic the theme), while others may search for songs, costumes or flags, or props for inspiration to build off of. Once one aspect of the show is selected, the director will build off of that particular aspect and develop a show with a backstory significant to the director.”
-Hailey Schmidt, Assistant Student Director of Valiant
2. How did you decide on the 2020 theme of “Entropy”?
“Listening to lyrics of the song Jupiter, ‘make my messes matter, make this chaos count’, my science brain immediately went towards the concept of entropy and the movement of order to disorder. I wanted the idea of space or a galaxy to be a metaphor for something human that we can all relate to.”
-Olivia Monseur
3. What is the process of creating choreography/ work for the show?
“Choreography is one of those things that evolves over the course of the whole season.
I saw these moments in my head last year that I knew I wanted to create: like in the flag feature, there's a moment where lines 1, 3, and 5 face to the back while spinning, and lines 2 and 4 face to the front, and it's on the words "make this chaos count", and they come back together after that moment. I had that image in my head for so long, so I knew I wanted to ensure that was included in the show.
Once we have those impactful moments, it's a matter of filling in the other spots, and that usually comes with trial and error, and just trying things out.”
-Olivia Monseur
“Choreographing routines for the show happens more in 'random increments' rather than in order from start to finish. For example, when members of Valiant arrived at the start of the season, they learned three different parts of the show: the beginning dance feature, part of the rifle feature (which occurs in the middle of the program), and part of the ending flag feature. They were not taught the connecting portions of the show until later in the season. After those main features were choreographed and taught, we began to tackle more of the transitional aspects of the show; the mini flag feature, the ending of the show, and the little sections of choreography needed to pick up flags/exchange equipment. For many directors, this is a common practice; they listen to the music and find certain parts of the music to be easier to choreograph to than others. The more natural/easy-to-write choreography pieces are always tackled first while the other parts of the show may take much longer to choreograph. These more difficult sections sometimes require spinning alone and improvising to music until something clicks; when you find a portion of choreography that you definitely want to include in the show. From this definite portion of choreography, one can build off of it either forwards or backwards in the music until you finally have the section of choreography you need for the show. However, like many aspects of show writing, this pattern of creating choreography varies dramatically from person to person.”
-Hailey Schmidt
Valiant performing their mini-flag feature; Source: Valiant Instagram
4. What is the process for choosing accompanying music? Does the music come first and the show follow?
“For me, the loose "theme" of the show came first (space), then I found the music, and then I connected the music and theme on a deeper level (like using entropy as a metaphor).”
-Olivia Monseur
“Selecting accompanying music typically happens prior to the building of a winterguard show and can either be either natural (popping up on your Spotify feed and having you fall in love with the song), or searched for (requiring some time to look up the genre of music you are aiming to find and sorting through until you find a song that matches the theme you plan for your show to be).”
-Hailey Schmidt
5. How would you describe the differences between a Valiant show and a color guard routine for a Marching Virginians show?
“You can do so much more in a winter guard show than you can in an outdoor show. For example, we have lifts, rifle exchanges, flag exchanges, and a lot of dance work that involves going to the ground and exploring different levels. We can be so much more creative in a winter guard show because it's just the guard, as opposed to accompanying a marching band.”
-Olivia Monseur
“The style of spinning/performing Valiant shows and winter guard shows in general is typically very different than Marching Virginians due to two key factors; the choreography design and equipment used in each show. In many Marching Virginians’ shows, color guard members use exclusively flag and dance in order to present the theme of each show. In fact, it wasn't until last year when the color guard was started using rifles during the Marching Virginians’ season. Additionally, the style of choreography for the MV's is much more traditional than Valiant shows; especially during pregame and VT halftime routines such as Tech Triumph. In these shows, the choreography is very sharp and "popped and stopped," as one of our coaches, Lisa Van Dyke, loves to say during band camp, and we typically march underneath the flag. Valiant and winterguard choreography, on the other hand, is based more on dance and lyrical styles of choreography. The choreography involves a high degree of dance underneath the flag, as opposed to marching, as well as a style of choreography that flows almost as smooth as a ballet performance. Additionally, winterguard shows require the use of a much higher variety in color guard based equipment including sabres, rifles, dance, and flags. Each piece of equipment serves to add variety to the winterguard programs, and all four of those same aspects are judged in categories of movement, general effect, and execution.”
-Hailey Schmidt
6. What is the most challenging part of creating a show?
“Writing drill that includes good transitions from one piece of equipment to the next is challenging. You never want a moment where there's no one on the floor, so you have to be creative in how you write transitions. It’s a matter of balancing the need for no empty spots in the show, but also that it makes sense for everyone to be doing what they're doing at that time.”
-Olivia Monseur
“The most challenging part of creating a show, which almost any director will admit to, is 100% the transitions. It’s very easy to run, pick up a flag, and run back to a block, but winterguard shows aren't like your typical marching band program (where those sorts of transitions are more supported). Instead, the performance is desired to mirror that of a competition dance routine; having each movement, position, transition of equipment holding meaning and significance. The director must decide when to 'bring in' different features such as rifles, dancers, flags, or sabres, how to bring such features off of the floor, and whether or not the features will interact. This process takes lots of trial and error and may even lower your overall general effect if the transition is unable to be understood by the judges. However, an effective transition has the power of getting the audience ecstatic about your show and may even bump you up into the upper performance tiers in winterguard.”
-Hailey Schmidt
7. What is the most rewarding part of creating a show?
“Witnessing the "lightbulb moment" that members get when they finally achieve something they've been working towards is the most rewarding part.”
-Olivia Monseur
“The most rewarding part has been watching members improve throughout the season. At the start of the season, we gave members a very difficult show; incorporating rather difficult tosses, dance techniques, and weapon choreography that some members were a little hesitant about. However, what's a winter guard show without a bit of a challenge? We went into the season knowing that our members were extremely determined to perform at their highest degree of success and that they would be up for the challenge. When I see a member finally achieve a particular toss or dance step they were struggling with, there is no better feeling than seeing their face light up with excitement; especially as they begin to get the 'move' consistent in each run of the show.”
-Hailey Schmidt
8. Is there anything you want to add or mention that I haven’t asked?
Olivia Monseur and Anna Gamboa holding their first place trophy after a competition; Source: Valiant Instagram
“What I love about winter guard is that a season isn't just about creating a show, it's about growing as a performer and person, and challenging yourself every day. If your skill level and performance ability doesn't improve by the end of your season, then you didn't make the most of your season!”
-Olivia Monseur
After hearing Olivia and Hailey’s answers to my questions, the connection between Valiant and the Marching Virginians is as clear as ever. Both groups work incredibly hard to create an experience that means something special to the audience. Whether that audience is a stadium of football fans or dozens of other color guards at a competition, the MVs are here to bring a memorable experience and a powerful show. Congratulations to the Valiant team for their successes so far, I know I am looking forward to see what you do with the rest of your season!