Jerome High School
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Ambush Color Guard
What IS the Color Guard?
The Color Guard is part of the Jerome High School “Ambush of Tigers” marching unit, and along with the marching band members form a performance group that performs in parades and perfects a nine-minute “field show” that we perform at football games and in competitions throughout the western United States. While the band members create the music, the Color Guard creates much of the visual appeal of the performance, using spectacular flags and other props, even utilizing dance at times to portray the visual message of the music. We are part marching, part dance, part theater, and all entertainment! After marching season ends in early November, the members can continue learning their art as part of the Winter Color Guard (or “WinterGuard”) on the gym floor, performing similar skills to recorded music at basketball games and other opportunities.
Tell me about the Ambush Of Tigers…
The “Idiot’s Guide” to the 2008 season is attached, but basically, the Ambush is the most visible artistic organization in Jerome. Under the direction of Gordon Smith, the Ambush of Tigers Marching Unit has grown from the forty members who marched in2005 to twice the size in 2008, and has placed in the top ten in the state of Idaho the last two years. We are developing a reputation for unique and memorable shows, presenting our version of “James Bond” in ’06 and then breaking the conventions down with our “Jerome Centennial” show last year. This year’s “West Side Story” will be another stand-out show, updating the music and story of Leonard Bernstein’s award-winning Broadway musical and Oscar-winning movie to the 21st century. The Ambush has competed in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, and this fall makes its first trip to northern California for a parade and field show contest in October. We are the primary ambassadors for JHS and the city of Jerome, as devoted to the education of our students and doing things “the right way” as we are to entertaining our audiences and earning competitive success.
Who runs the Ambush and its color guard?
Besides Mr. Smith, who handles the visual design as well as the overall direction of the Ambush, the other names you need to know include Mrs. Stephanie Santos, our choreographer, and captains Jeff Hiatt, Ari Lohnes, and Schae Lohnes, the three students who (along with Mr. Smith and Mrs. Santos) will be helping you learn everything you need to learn to become an outstanding color guard member: flag and marching technique, performance excellence, and the specific steps and choreography for our shows. Mr. Smith’s email is smithg@d261.k12.id.us, and Mrs. Santos’ is hunnyzmail@hotmail.com – contact them with any color guard questions you need answers to (especially if you can’t get the information from fellow guard members!).
What are the costs involved in being part of the Ambush Color Guard?
At the beginning of the season all guard members will be required to purchase the following “base pieces” of the costume that will be used year round and will be the same year to year. There will be additional pieces and accessories that will need to be purchased as the year goes on but we do keep them as cheap as possible to make this a more cost-effective activity.
BASE PIECES: Black Leotard, Black Palazzo Pants, Black Jazz Sneakers, Travel Uniform (Embroidery), Gloves, Practice Flag/Pole, Body Tights.
We CAN NOT order these items for the members unless they are paid for! The total cost for the base pieces is $200.00. This can be made in payments but please do remember we can’t place an order without the funds.
Other fees such as dance competitions and accessories will all just need to be paid for at the time we decide on costumes for that specific performance or dance.
There will be a few car washes, possibly some potato sells, and hopefully some other fund-raisers the CG Members will have a chance to participate in to help earn money for the additional costs. Everything that the member purchases will be theirs to keep and at the end of the year, if someone has grown out of or decides to quit there will be an option for those members to sell back a few of their base pieces for future CG Members.
Commitment
Everyone joining the Ambush Color Guard needs to be very serious about being part of the performing group. Each person occupies a specific spot in the show, and every “hole” in the show hurts the performance, so it’s vital to be at every performance. It is a commitment that needs to be kept. We have a lot of fun, but there is hard work involved. Sometimes you may get bored or discouraged, but that is okay. Please, if you have any doubts or are getting discouraged, talk to your captains or instructors. We will do everything in our power to keep things interesting and help you when you are feeling down, or are having troubles with routines, or just life in general. We will remember that you have grades to keep up and family commitments as well, as long as you remember that you’re a member of our “Ambush” family that depends on you, too. We just ask that you try to leave the personal life at the door and just live in the “Color Guard” moment while you are at practice and performances.
Attendance is very important!
1. You must attend all practices and be prompt. Any missed practices must be pre-approved by the director, and it will be your own responsibility to make up anything you have missed with another guard member.
2. If your absences are excessive or prevent you from knowing the show, you will not be allowed to perform in the show until you do know the show well enough to hold your part together. While a ‘hole’ is very detrimental, so is a member who obviously doesn’t know their part… and that’s more harmful to the morale of the other members than the hole is.
3. Be prompt and ready to go by the time practices or performances are scheduled to start.
Remember, we are not your care-takers. You will be responsible for having all of your parts and pieces for each performance together and ready. This includes hair and basic makeup on. We will be scheduling a meeting for members and parents to all get together to go over specific hair, makeup, and presentation policies.
So, what’s our schedule for 2008?
We have a lot of opportunities for you to get experience in working with flags, and we’re going to ask you to help us do everything possible to make sure you know how to use the flags correctly and proficiently before we start teaching you the choreography in July:
- The Magic Valley Marching Band is run by Mr. Smith, and it’s going to be comprised of students from throughout the Magic Valley, many of whom will be learning right alongside you! The first meeting is April 26, rehearsals are each Saturday morning in May, and the performance is on May 31 in the Western Days parade in Twin Falls. The information on this exciting opportunity is attached.
- We’ll have a couple of training sessions in June and July where we can give you some one-on-one instruction – as we get to summer and visit with each of you about your schedules, we’ll set up those dates.
- We strongly encourage any members who have not previously attended Cavalcade USA’s color guard camp at Boise State to make plans to attend July 7-11. Besides top-notch instruction you’ll also get to attend the world-class drum & bugle corps contest there during the camp. There are scholarships available through the Music Boosters for students to apply for – information is attached.
- By July 14, you should have received some sort of basics instruction that will get you going as we start to put the show together. Each day from July 14-18, we will be teaching the entire color guard the basic choreography of the field show for the season, and we’ll need you at the high school from 7 – 8:30 p.m. each day. Mr. Smith and Mrs. Santos will be teaching new material at each session, and it’s important that every member attend.
- Then we’re into the schedule on the “Idiot’s Guide”… Marching Camp July 22-25 and 28th, where we’ll learn marching as an entire Ambush unit, the Fair Parade on July 29th, Field Show Camp August 12-15, where we’ll learn the details of the field maneuvers for the show (and head to Roaring Springs after our last session), and then we begin our Tuesday-through-Friday zero hour rehearsals and then the school year. We’ll perform at all four home varsity football games on September 5th, 12th, October 10th and 24th, and we’ll be making four trips: Ketchum for Wagon Days parade on August 30th, and competitions in Caldwell on October 4th and Pocatello on the 11th. Our final trip is our most extensive: we’ll be taking a three-day trip to northern California on October 17-19 for the Del Oro Spectacular (we’ll perform at a parade and a football game as well as a field show contest).
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