Here's your chance to join the DV Marching Band Color Guard

MILFORD — The Delaware Valley Marching Band Color Guard is hold its second annual recruitment open house at 3:15 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 1, Monday, Feb. 4, and Tuesday, Feb. 5, in the Delaware Valley Middle School Cafeteria (across from the Band Room) in Milford.
“Do you or anyone you know want to be a part of this exciting performance group?" asks James Campistrous, the color guard coach. "Well, first of all, you must love to throw things around. Yes, I said that. Throw things like flags, sabers and equipment in the air. And yes, catch it too.”
He said 2018 was a fantastic year for the Delaware Valley Marching Band Color Guard.
“New uniforms, new flags, new competitions, and new experiences made this year the most fun thus far," he said.
What is color guard? Color guard is called the "sport of the arts," Campistrous said. Although color guard is a sport because of its physical and competitive aspects, it is also considered an art. The performers use the elements of expression, and their equipment to tell a story. The music, drill, and scenery set the stage, and the color guard performers complete the show.
This combination of sports and arts has evolved the color guard into a dynamic visual and musical performance activity. It is the color guard’s job to bring life to a piece of music. Colors, fashion, flair, excitement, pizazz, sophistication, and subtlety along with the triad of performance — audience/performer/design — allows the color guard to interpret the music that the marching band is playing via synchronized flag work, equipment, body movement, and expression, thus giving the show a personality.
“The Delaware Valley Marching Band is a competitive organization," said Rick Bullock, the DV Band director explains. "Much like other athletic activities and sports such as, diving, wrestling, and gymnastics, they are all judged and scored by an objective opinion instead of a subjective score. Color guard is part of marching band. The marching band provides the music and performs drill work by creating shapes and movement on the field. Even though you can tell how dramatic a show is by the type of music, the added color, effect, drama, and emotion to the show by the color guard provide the show’s awe-inspiring results.”
If this seems like something you’d like to do, then join one of the open houses to chat with the color guard members and the coach — and try some stuff throwing for yourself.