Color Guard
Color Guard is the non-instrumental section of the Marching Band. Students interpret the music being played by the instrumental musicians through dance and the synchronized spinning of flags, sabers, and rifles. In addition, they work with backdrops, props, and scenery created for the show to provide additional visual aspects to the performance. In recent years, there have been five to eight students in the Glen Ridge High School Color Guard.
Basic color guard moves include: jazz runs, a dance move used as a graceful way to run with bent knees and upright posture across the football field; right shoulder, positioning the flag with the bottom of the pole by your belly button and your right hand by the flag’s silk tape; and stripping the flag, holding the flag silk with your fingers so you won’t reveal the flag’s color(s). Flag poles and silks both come in different sizes, and there are different shapes and textures for silks, as well. Some have six-foot metal poles with flags around three feet long. Swing flags are smaller and are usually used in pairs. Flags frequently have weights to make them easier to toss into the air. However, even with the weights, weather conditions such as wind and rain can affect a flag’s spin and disrupt a toss if not correctly taken into account.
In addition to performances at home football games, the Color Guard not only adds to the overall score of the Marching Band, but is also judged in its own category, usually called auxiliary.
Students interested in Color Guard sign up in the spring. They don’t need to audition or have previous experience to join.
Required Athletic Health Forms https://www.glenridge.org/Domain/151
