John Paynter

(http://www.bigorangepride.com/Marching_Band_Pictures_2008_1.html)

I am interested in why colorguard got started because I really love the activity. I started in colorguard my freshman year. I didn’t know anyone in the guard, I only knew my friends that joined the band, so it was the perfect opportunity to make new friends. I am so happy that I joined, and stayed with it, because it has been the best experience of my life. There are so many emotions that can be experienced all at the same time: happiness, anger, disappointment, excitement, love, hate, and any other ones you could think of. When you perform, it’s the best feeling in the world. It’s a feeling like you’re on top of the world. It’s almost like a natural high. You have eight minutes to make that audience love you, and every time they cheer for a perfect toss, it makes you feel like you’re ten feet tall, and no one can bring you down. The closeness of the group is also amazing. We’re like one big family. We know how to have the most fun together and we make moments last forever. We all have the same basic mentality about things, so we have our own genre of humor, and it’s great. All of my best friends are in the band and I love them all to death. It makes me really sad that I’m going to have to say goodbye to most of them this year when they graduate. But that got me to thinking, what would I have ever done if there was no colorguard with the marching band? Granted, I probably would have just marched my flute, but it wouldn’t have been the same experience.

Before all the flashy colors, and fun tosses, colorguard used to be a serious group that just presented the colors of our country, while the band would play a patriotic tune in a military parade. Now it’s almost like it’s a full out sport. Marching band is very competitive, and could be thought of as harder than any other activity. It’s not like other sports, where you have to go out and try to impress six different people every weekend and hope they like you. It’s very challenging. Colorguard is intended to be very emotional and eye catching to really show how the music feels. To do this, members of the colorguard would use flags, rifles, sabers, or any other props that could help the visual effect of the show. Also, the patterns and colors of the flags and uniforms could reflect the theme of the movement. With all of these visual effects put together and performed correctly, it makes for an unforgettable musical experience.

Before colorguard got put on the field with the band, they used to travel around as a part of some of the drum and bugle corps. They used to go around teaching people, and spreading the ideas of colorguard. John Paynter, the band director at Northwestern University in the 70s and 80s, was one of the first to put a colorguard with the band. The visual effects of the colorguard grabbed everyone’s attention. It was like a whole new experience. After the addition of colorguard to all of these college bands, high schools started catching on. Soon enough, everyone had a colorguard. With thanks to John Paynter and a few other band directors for starting the idea.

I can only hope to do my best in the years I have left in colorguard. I mean, Mr. John Paynter didn’t put us out there just so we could not succeed in our art. Eventually, I want to be a color guard director and make sure the activity never dies. I am very passionate about this sport and am thankful to the people who thought it up.