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OAWB: Water Break Weekly – Pride Says Goodbye, Twirl Says Hello, and DCI Heats Up
125 Plays6 days ago
This week on On A Water Break Weekly, we’re twirling into something special! Author and longtime color guard veteran Jase Peoples joins us to talk about Twirl—his new YA novel that centers queer identity, color guard culture, and the power of found family. We get into his 32 Count Life Story, talk representation in marching arts literature, and how Twirl is already resonating with performers across the country.
To Catch up on the Book with Jase Peeples (@jasepeeples). Check it out (bit.ly/3Z8n1Fi)
Plus, it’s a packed sideline with Jackie, Ricardo, Trish, and special guest Jase jumping in on this week’s topics, including:
- 📚 The creative and cultural inspiration behind Twirl
- 🏳️🌈 LGBTQ+ visibility in color guard and youth lit
- 🥁 The official end of Pride of Cincinnati’s legendary run
- 🎓 Scholarships and student success stories
- 📼 Old school color guard history and what we’ve forgotten
- 💬 60‑Second Tech Block: performance consistency
- 😤 What Are We Doing?!: Ballad bans, uniform disasters, and program legacy
- 🎉 Gush & Go: DCI move-ins, new jobs, and big guard wins
💥 Whether you’re headed to spring training, starting summer camps, or just missing Dayton, this episode will hit you right in the show feels.
💬 Want to be on the show? Fill out our guest form: https://linktr.ee/onawaterbreak
📬 Email us: onawaterbreakpodcast@gmail.com
📺 Watch us on YouTube & subscribe
📱 Follow us everywhere @onawaterbreak
🛍️ Brought to you by Guard Closet – www.guardcloset.com
🧳 Sponsored by Peak Group Travel – www.peakgrouptravel.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Teasers
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey everyone, and welcome back to On a Water Break, the podcast where we talk everything you and your friends are talking about at rehearsal on a water break. In this week's episode, we're going to find out what made Ricardo say... oh he talks about performance consistency with the instructor in the book.
00:00:16
Speaker
Why Trish said... Trish, you don't get it. You can pass the guidance office at any time of the day and there are seniors in there crying. All this and more on this week's episode of On a Water Break.
Listener Interaction and Engagement
00:00:30
Speaker
Adolph the Met and go. Welcome to On a Water Break. The podcast where we talk everything marching arts.
00:00:42
Speaker
Everyone, bring it in. It's time for a water break. Hey everyone, it's Jackie. We have a great episode this week and we are going to twirl today. If you have any questions or if you want to be part of our broadcast, please feel free to reach out.
00:00:59
Speaker
Talk to me. I'm friendly. Before we go see who's on the sidelines for this episode, make sure you go and subscribe on your favorite listening app. Write us those reviews. I have been reading them. Thank you to those of you who have already been writing reviews.
00:01:12
Speaker
I read them as they come in. I love i love hearing these positive reviews about the podcast. It's been so so much fun building this. Make sure you share this episode with a friend. And if you have a question or a good topic to talk about, make sure you reach out. Like I was saying, email us at on a water break podcast at gmail.com.
00:01:30
Speaker
You can find us on all of our social media and send us a DM if you want to be on the show. And we have a form you can fill out just to Check it out at our LinkedIn bio and we will get you up on the show. i am so, so excited to get into this week's episode.
00:01:48
Speaker
We've been doing a lot of homework for it. So let's check out who's on the sidelines this week. Trish, how are you? a hey. i hear you're in the middle of strip spring training.
Updates from Trish and Ricardo
00:02:00
Speaker
Yes, yes. It's the first year we're actually doing this. um The band is actually going to come back you know after a summer break, known a lot of their music. So because of that, the guards just push it forward with a lot of choreo. So I'm excited about that because it's going to less for us to at band camp. So all good there.
00:02:20
Speaker
so this is your spring training for your fall marching show. Yes, yes. That's amazing. That's amazing. What's going on with the sounds?
00:02:32
Speaker
The sounds are acting wacky.
00:02:36
Speaker
The drummers are just really, really hyped. They're ready to get going. Yeah, what's going on with them? I guess it's move-in day this weekend, right? Yeah, it is. All of our J-Sci kids are leaving like today.
00:02:48
Speaker
Ricardo's here. I heard you had a very exciting week. Congratulations. Oh my gosh. Thank you. It's crazy little whirlwind of the last few weeks for me. So i just to catch the listeners up and why you haven't really seen me, you guys know that I left my job and I got promoted, moved to the district office, but I was finishing my last musical at Braden River High School. We were doing Hadestown, teen edition, and I completely put myself in the place of thinking that I was done on April the 28th.
00:03:21
Speaker
And then on April the 30th, I got an email saying, And we have been nominated for 12 Broadway Star the Future awards, including Best Musical.
00:03:34
Speaker
I received personal nominations and nods for Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography. But we placed in the top five and got to perform last week on stage at the Straz Center, which is Tampa's giant performing arts hall.
00:03:48
Speaker
And i got to spend a couple more weeks with my kids and being in rehearsal. so it's but was time It's a great way to go out. You know, have to tell you never even like, like this never even occurred to me until you're like out there winning all these awards. I'm like, you know, there are awards for theater productions that are not like, you know, not besides just like Broadway. Obviously know about the Tonys and all that stuff, but like there's stuff all the way up for high school and such. And like, I was never a theater person. So this just never even occurred to me. So I absolutely loved hearing about that for you. And I was just like,
00:04:23
Speaker
Go Ricardo. That's my brand. Yeah, thanks. It's funny because I, you know, growing up, I didn't know about all of these things and that they existed. And it's just been in the last few years of teaching that I've been exposed to more stuff. And so I i will say this, you know, it's hard to put like numbers and quantify art, but it is nice to be recognized when you put your heart and soul into some art and other people think that your art is great.
00:04:48
Speaker
And so it also has pushed my kids a lot, like, you know, having that feedback from professionals and getting to see groups that like are winning awards. And so it was the whole experience was just wonderful. I hate that I'm like walking away from it. I wouldn't get it where I want it to be, but.
00:05:07
Speaker
You know, all good things have to come to an end and then there's another chapter waiting for me on the other side. So we'll see. You're going to touch like so many more lives with this. You're just going to keep keep expanding and growing. I love it.
00:05:19
Speaker
I hope so. I hope so.
Meet Jace Peoples and His Work
00:05:22
Speaker
Well, we have a very special guest today on the sidelines. I'm very excited to introduce Jace Peoples. He is the author of the book Twirl, which is out now.
00:05:36
Speaker
We can find it on Amazon.
00:05:40
Speaker
Well, before we actually get into the meat and potatoes of this conversation, we have a little feature that we need to do that we do with all of our guests. It's called the 32 count life story.
00:05:52
Speaker
So what we're going to is we're going to give you a metronome and you're going to be taken way back to your younger years. Sorry. And you're going to get Adolf the Met and you're going to just tell us your entire life story from birth to now in that 32 counts.
00:06:09
Speaker
Do you think you can handle it? Oh, yeah. That's a lot of years, but no pressure. No pressure whatsoever. All right. Let's do it.
00:06:20
Speaker
Let's do it. All right. I grew up in California. I marched color guard in high school. Then I marched in the Blue Devils World Class Winter Guard from 1995 to 97. I taught mini guards for several years after that.
00:06:32
Speaker
I graduated college with a degree in creative writing. I became a journalist starting in entertainment journalism. i now work in health journalism. And my new novel, Twirl, was just released on May 9th.
00:06:45
Speaker
Yay! Yay!
00:06:47
Speaker
Okay, I have to say it was the one that got thrown in there that I was not expecting was the health journalism. So you're like up on all of your biology and such. No, in news, like breaking news. So health news. I started off ah my journalism career working for a magazine called The Advocate, and I was the entertainment editor there for many years and ended up making the switch just before the pandemic hit, a couple of years before the pandemic. So I had a front row.
00:07:15
Speaker
Good job, security. um Right, right. So yeah, big change, but fun challenging. I'm a biology professor. So that's like, well, wait, tag, tag right there.
00:07:26
Speaker
But the book twirls. Fantastic. We all have a copy and tell us, how did this come to be? can't, I have a, I'm sure a lot of us can relate to this. We've all wanted to see more stories about people like us and Color Guard and our sport.
00:07:43
Speaker
We have like movies about spelling bees and all of these different kinds of sports, you know, synchronized swimming. And why not? It's past time. It's past time that we had a story where our sport was the backdrop.
00:07:55
Speaker
And i thought why not be the one to create that?
00:08:01
Speaker
I am going to jump in because, Jace, first of all, Let me tell you, this is how this went down. We got a message that you were going to be on the podcast. And then Trish sent us a PDF of the book. And I was like, girl, you are giving me homework.
00:08:16
Speaker
Ain't nobody got time for homework. And I was in rehearsal for the Broadway Star Awards. And I was like, it was in between kids rehearsing and doing stuff. And I opened it up and I started reading. And from the first paragraph, I was hooked.
00:08:29
Speaker
I was hooked. First of all, I want to thank you for writing characters. that mean so much to so many of us in the color guard world, because you're right, we don't get any type of representation.
00:08:43
Speaker
And then again, with the queer representation of the students in the book and the characters in the book, I mean, it was just, it was magic. It was, and I'm not finished yet, audience, so we're not going to give any real spoilers about the book today because I can't put it down. And when I get done, going go back to reading.
00:09:01
Speaker
But these characters, the language that they speak was color guard language, how they talk to each other. It was just like when I get with Trish or when I get with Jackie or anybody else that has done color guard anywhere, it's exactly how we talk to each other because it's universal.
00:09:18
Speaker
But the backdrop of being in rehearsal mode and going to a show and what that feels like. And all of this stuff is in the book. And i my brain was going wild. I could see all of these moments. I could see the costumes. I could see stand-in by Sanjay and the block and people throwing a cold seven challenge. Like every one of those things was like- It's so true.
00:09:42
Speaker
My brain. And i love every second of this. Like, thank you. Thank you for writing something. for us, by us, that truly is insightful, but also accessible to everybody else. Because the first thing that I did after I started reading it was I told my entire Color Guard staff I told all the people in my office, I was like, everybody, this is Ricky's book club of the week, sick.
00:10:10
Speaker
Everything don't get it. And I have had people in the office, like my homegirls that love to read a lot, they're like, girl, this book is good. and non-color guard people, non-color guard people, they're like, book is, i can't put it down.
00:10:23
Speaker
It is the thing. Thank you. Thank you. i mean, that's high, high praise. But I think yeah one of the things when we were shopping the book around, one of the comments that I got from a publisher that ended passing was that they felt that Color Guard was too niche and Winter Guard was too niche of activity. And we all know, right? We all know the reach that our activity has and the number of people that are involved and how deeply they become involved. i mean, a majority of us become lifelong fans.
00:10:54
Speaker
And yeah so I knew that this would have reach. It just had to get out there.
00:11:02
Speaker
yeah I think Color Guard feels niche to people who didn't do Color Guard because they only see the performers and the current competitive groups that are out there.
00:11:14
Speaker
They don't see all of the people who have gone on to do other things. They don't see those of us who became biology teachers and those of us who became theater teachers. and everything else that we've got to do, and where Color Guard has influenced every single aspect of everything that we do, but we're not currently performing anymore. And so they think people on the outside are like, oh yeah, this whatever, that person used to do Color Guard, it's not a big deal. But it's like, no, we're here, and we are a very, very large
The Value of Color Guard Skills
00:11:44
Speaker
group of people. We just do so many different things, because Color Guard prepares you for so many different things.
00:11:49
Speaker
All of those skills are so transferable. You know, it's funny you say that. There is a line, and no spoilers in the book, but there is a line where one of the parents, who also used to be a Color Guard performer, is talking to her son, and he's upset that things aren't going his way.
00:12:04
Speaker
And she says, you know, if you're upset because things aren't going according to a plan, then I think you might be missing the most important lesson that we can learn from Color Guard, and that is that life is all about the recoveries that anybody can take. Oh, wow.
00:12:19
Speaker
but But anybody can do anything when it all goes your way or it goes according to plan, but it's what you do in those unexpected moments and how you carry on. That's where magic can happen. And sometimes in the color guard world, those are some of the best parts of some of the performances that we've seen at WGI.
00:12:36
Speaker
Well, that's that's where you learn. you know And I teach this way with my kids because in a world of perfection being presented to students constantly, like when they look at social media, they see perfect bodies and they see all of this stuff.
00:12:50
Speaker
And then even more trickling into the color guard world, they see edited videos of people doing these tricks that they spent A million times rehearsing and dropping and doing wrong, but all they see is this one time where they do it perfect and then that's out there for the world to see forever.
00:13:05
Speaker
I tell them, you have to learn from your mistakes. If you do everything perfect all of the time, then you're not learning anything and then that's boring. You have to challenge yourself. And it is about that recovery. What do you do when something goes wrong?
00:13:19
Speaker
How going to fix from it? And that's what Colangard teaches us. One of the many things that Colangard teaches us, but One of the most important things for sure.
00:13:29
Speaker
mean, discipline, camaraderie, I mean, teamwork, the list goes on and on and on. like Communication. Yes. I love that it-
00:13:43
Speaker
but The book definitely hooks you in right from the beginning. And like the characters, it's but the characters. A lot of times when you read some of these books, especially there's so many self-published books that are out there now that are just sort of like, oh, I could pick this up and read it. and And it's like, there's no character development or anything like that. And like, I feel like This was the first one I've read in a long time.
00:14:03
Speaker
The first just for entertainment book I've read in a long time where it was like, oh, we have like character development and they're learning all these lessons and things. But it's the consistency of personality, I feel like throughout the book.
00:14:14
Speaker
So you have, you know, it's not just from one person's point of view, but you have these different personalities and they are, even though they're learning lessons, they're still who they are by the end.
00:14:25
Speaker
They are like, like I am who I am and that's not going to change. but I am going to learn and become better. I really' i ah cannot overstate how good this book is. Thank you.
00:14:37
Speaker
I really have to give a shout out to my publisher, Ever19, also, because I think they saw past just the color guard aspect of it and really hooked into the human element of it, which is really like the central part of any story.
00:14:51
Speaker
Jace, I have a question for you. So, and this is somewhat of a spoiler, but it is going to help everyone who reads it. We see this book, the book goes back and forth from chapter to chapter, either being from Ethan's perspective or Danny's perspective, but the story is continuing to move forward.
00:15:09
Speaker
It's such an interesting way of writing and it allows us to be endured to these characters in different ways because we get... their thoughts and their feelings behind it, and then also what they're saying.
00:15:22
Speaker
How did you think to write it that way? It really just felt right because I think when you get to spend some time with the inner monologue of someone, it really endures you, their struggle a lot more.
00:15:35
Speaker
And being able to pass it off back and forth, I felt like just sort of like a it gave me an opportunity to grow with both of them at the same time, but down the course of the same story.
00:15:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's just such a cool way to tie the whole thing together and push the storyline forward. And again, like I said, I'm on chapter 10. I'm halfway through it right now. And I just, I'm hooked on it. These characters, the storyline, and another thing is you're writing love story between two color guard performers who both happen to be male.
00:16:09
Speaker
And it's the story of how I wish my life would have gone in the 1900s when was their age. but when i was their age
00:16:22
Speaker
provocative. It's not lewd. It's just truly like a love story. And it reminds me to give a reference for people who want some type of reference. If you have seen Heartbreaker or you have read Heartbreaker, how it is just this triumphant moment of two queer kids just being able to figure out their lives and there's not a lot of judgment happening with them and everyone is cool.
00:16:44
Speaker
Like, it's that. And... It's such a positive thing that we definitely need right now in this world. Absolutely.
00:16:55
Speaker
You know, I feel like Color Guard was, as a ah young ah teenager coming out, Color Guard was one of the few spaces where I felt like I could really be myself and met other people like me for the very first time in an environment where we were all working on something together, something better than just outside of ourselves, you know?
00:17:13
Speaker
And i mean, granted, it was a different world in then nineteen hundreds the
00:17:19
Speaker
is making someone old. I know, right? Sometimes it doesn't seem like it's been that long ago, but it really has been. I think this is the 30th year. my God, I'm aging myself. This is 30 years from my very first year in world-class colored art, where I was a world-class performer, which was 1995. So yeah. my God, that hurts.
00:17:41
Speaker
But yeah, color art has always been a very accepting world overall. And I think that's what draws a lot of us to it is that found family, that sense of found family.
00:17:51
Speaker
That, it's so true. That like, I refer all the time to the people I marched with as, as my family, as my found family. And like, I know so many people who do in this activity. So where can people pick up a copy of this?
00:18:05
Speaker
Our listeners are like chomping now they're ready. Yeah, you can pick up a copy on Amazon. E-book and paperback are available. Also on barnesandnoble.com.
00:18:17
Speaker
ah Both versions are available
News in the Marching World
00:18:19
Speaker
there. E-book is available on Apple and pretty much you anywhere where you can get e-books. I'm going to like Ricardo and order myself a physical copy too because this needs to be on my shelf. I'm just saying.
00:18:30
Speaker
Can I just say, it feels so holy in my hands and know that now we have a story about Wintergard out there. It's like... It's just an amazing feat. And I'm so thankful that you were able to do this and put pen to paper and create something that shows our world and allows other people to be in our world and doing it in such a positive way. I i am your biggest fan.
00:18:56
Speaker
and I am the Jace Peoples, president of the Jace Peoples fan club. Guys, you can send me all emails. I will sort through the fan mail. It is just, this is great.
00:19:07
Speaker
Thank you. And you know, we're overdue. like we are overdue for more stories about our activity and our experiences. And I hope that maybe this will help inspire somebody else who feels the same to write one from their point of view and their experience and share more.
00:19:23
Speaker
I did a little promo on our social. So when she sent us a copy the book, Jeremy was like, why don't you do like a little, what are we doing? You know, little promo. And I did it on Tuesday afternoon from my desk on my lunch break.
00:19:36
Speaker
My kids are at lunch. And one of my guard kids that night said to me, I really want to read that book. What did we say? What are we doing? I'm reading this book and we're going to Jay's people's on this week. And one of my guard kids walked up to me that night at spring training that we just talking about.
00:19:50
Speaker
Hey, Trish, I saw that. I think I really want to read it. said, you should check it out. Definitely. i mean, it's perfect. So YA book is perfect for high schoolers and anyone who just loves a good love story.
00:20:04
Speaker
Absolutely. That's awesome. Well, we need to talk about some of the episodes that we have been putting out lately.
00:20:17
Speaker
So, uh, Of course, I want to bring it up again, and I feel like ah I've been bringing it up every episode, but it's worth talking about. On a water break with Matt Harloff, he did his performance with Travis Scott at Coachella, and we got to interview him. I say we. I'm just sad that I wasn't there.
00:20:35
Speaker
That's why I keep bringing it back up, because I wasn't on that episode. But, uh. It's a really good one. So I also just last week released my episode with the new DCI correspondence for the 2025 season.
00:20:49
Speaker
the These students, oh my gosh, I'm amazed by them. Okay. First of all, like I'm amazed by how young they seem on the one hand, but then...
00:21:02
Speaker
they're marching DCI. i Like they're the same age that I was when I marched DCI and the kids just get younger and younger every year, but they are some really upstanding performers and they've got some cool plans. I'm really looking forward to seeing all the content that they put out this summer and can't wait to get them their scholarship money.
00:21:26
Speaker
So why don't we see what's happening in the news this week?
00:21:46
Speaker
All right, we're going to start off with Ricardo. Well, I am coming with some very, very sad news in the color guard world.
00:21:56
Speaker
um After four decades in the activity, Pride of Cincinnati, the current WGI world champion, has called it an official quiz.
00:22:09
Speaker
Pride Cincinnati has had 23 medal-winning programs at the WGI championships in history that stretches back over four days, and they are leaving behind an indelible mark on the world of color guard.
00:22:23
Speaker
As someone who is an alumni of Pride Cincinnati, I can tell you that Pride's reach goes all throughout our color guard activities. So many of our current instructors and teachers have been a part of it.
00:22:35
Speaker
And if they haven't been a part of it, they have been inspired by things that the Pride Cincinnati has done. And I myself am personally devastated because Pride has always been my color guard. Ever since I jumped into the color guard world and found out what Winter Guard was and was watching shows, Pride was the guard that inspired me. Pride still is the guard that inspires me. Like I...
00:23:00
Speaker
I don't know what the activity is going to be like without such a powerhouse, you know, performing. That's really true. But how lucky are we, just to let me explain it real quick, how lucky are we that we got so many years of great programs for such a great group?
00:23:20
Speaker
We all have our Pride show, don't we? Yes. Oh yeah, for sure. I don't know that I have a single favorite. I think there's too many. There's like a list of them and it's like, how do I rank them?
00:23:32
Speaker
I mean, I'm even thinking back to like the roller skate days with the pink show. Do you guys like, is anybody else like that far back into color guard that you can remember when they did that?
00:23:43
Speaker
And I know you, how did I not know you marched there? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What year? 2008, Bridge Over Troubled Water. what Oh, my God. Wow. Yeah. that ah That's a top one, i have to say.
00:23:56
Speaker
Just that I think back learning that show and like what, how it changed me as a teacher, like being in the room with with Rosie and Andy Toth and Mike Gaines and Bart and Charlie and everybody else that came in that was, caught and Jim Moore and everybody that, fricking Johnny, sweetie Johnny.
00:24:18
Speaker
Like how they taught and the way that they taught us, it was just like, you got to bring yourself to it. And that's why those shows are so great and everybody loves them because it's like these great people are pouring their hearts into you, but they're also pulling you out of it as well. Oh my God. It's just, I'm going to miss that element of Color Guard so much.
00:24:39
Speaker
They're all legends. Like the Simone Biles, like getting taught by the Simone Biles of Color Guard. Every one of them. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. So after reading their announcement, i I was sad at first, but then I actually started to think about what they said. And I was like, you know, and this it piques my curiosity for what's next for their organization because their organization isn't going anywhere.
00:25:07
Speaker
You know, they talked about it and I'm interested to see what they do with it. You know, they said they're still going to serve education. They're still going to continue to serve students. And and I think there's a lot of creative ways.
00:25:21
Speaker
I just know as someone who's running on for profit for a long time, and know there's a lot of things you could do with it. And according to what they said in their announcement, there's stuff in the pipeline already getting ready to come. So I'm very interested to see where they're going to go with that.
00:25:37
Speaker
I hope so. Just, I don't want that organization to ever go anywhere. It's just, just way too important, way too iconic in our, in our, world to not exist. Well, look what they did. Look what they did the virtual year. I mean, they won the virtual year. It amazing. Yes. What they did. So, you know, we know they have the capability to do something other than what's on a gym floor. So, you know, you're right. It's going to be really exciting to see what happens next.
00:26:08
Speaker
Leave it to Protestants there to change the activity. again, they're going to do it in some sort of cool way. And it's going to be Yes, exactly. That new way of living virtual show was, that was great.
00:26:21
Speaker
And they're speaking the break before. When they've come back, they've come back bigger and better than ever. So this, may you know, let's see what happens in the future. Absolutely. I can go next.
00:26:34
Speaker
So apparently there is um a boy, McNair High School in DeKalb County, Georgia. um Jaden Wright applied to dozens of colleges and earned more than $3.4 million dollars in And the reason why we're bringing this up is um a lot of it was in music scholarships.
00:26:58
Speaker
So I mean, why? Rejection is just redirection. He said, I got into about 40 or 50 schools, which is incredible because we were talking about this off camera before these kids. We don't know why this year in particular people closely related to me are going. They're just going through it.
00:27:17
Speaker
I mean, one of one when one of my seniors was having a moment at rehearsal about college acceptances this year, one of my juniors came up to me and said, Trish, you don't get it.
00:27:29
Speaker
You can pass the guidance office at any time of the day. And there are seniors in there crying. because they're not getting into the schools they want. There's just so much going on, you know, nationally right now.
00:27:40
Speaker
So to to read a really good positive story and affect us in a way too, because a lot of this money he earned in music scholarships is is really incredible.
00:27:51
Speaker
So kudos to him. Listen, I try to explain to parents all the time, your child is going to be able to get a music scholarship a whole lot easier than they are sports scholarship.
00:28:06
Speaker
I know sports are important and they're valuable to those students, but you know there are a lot more people going to college for free, playing an instrument or being in a color guard or any of those things. And there are playing a sport. And we put so much emphasis as a society on validating that sports side of things more. And we are letting these wonderful musicians in these programs not get the recognition that they need. Like we don't do sport. We don't do signings for all of the kids who get band scholarships, but we do them for kids that can't.
00:28:39
Speaker
you know, sports scholarship. And there's only like two or three, but then we have 15 kids that just graduated that got a full ride to one of the schools down the road. So it's, we have to celebrate this and we have to make people know that these music programs and scholarships are available for students like that. And There is an end method to this. Even if they aren't going to be a music major, just playing in a college band, the experience of that and the money that's out there, go for it.
00:29:08
Speaker
Go for it, kids. Even the experience, if I could just add real quick, I've had a couple of students who ended up writing ended up writing their essay when they were applying to colleges based on their Color Guard experience.
00:29:20
Speaker
Oh, yeah. They accepted to Stanford, and it was because of that experience that they were able to get that the door Well, and you look at any college admissions expert, they will tell you they look for kids who have been in band and organizations like that because they know those kids, especially if they've been in some type of competitive band, because they know that the drive of those students, they know how to organize their time.
00:29:47
Speaker
They know how to respect others. They know how to work with other people. Like it's all of these things that colleges are looking for. It's the huge green flag for colleges to give students who participated in band and marching arts scholarships and admissions into school. So.
00:30:04
Speaker
Absolutely. So my story this week is very bittersweet one. The legendary. Mifflin County High School director of bands known as Mr. B. Mr. Belfiore is retiring after 44 years of being their band director. He was hired on in 1991 and only had 20 bands. Hmm.
00:30:30
Speaker
and only a twin bands
00:30:34
Speaker
And he has grown the program over that amount of time. The school just got a new stadium and he was hoping to be able to March the first show that stadium. But unfortunately he is retiring before they start using it next fall. So he says he's going to be there.
00:30:53
Speaker
He's going to cheer the band on as soon as they're there playing. But, uh, He is very much looking forward to his retirement. He says his ah hips and his knees are looking forward to retirement the most.
00:31:05
Speaker
My hips and my knees are looking forward to retirement too. When do I get to do that? Same, Mr. B. Same. My hips and knees are tired, child.
00:31:17
Speaker
And Trish, I think you have the last one. I can certainly jump in there. um Cooper High School band director Marcus Hahn followed his parents' footsteps into music. um one of his early memories yeah of One of my early memories of my father is being on his shoulders as he walked through the marching band, Marcus Hahn said in October.
00:31:42
Speaker
His parents, Richard and Jeanette Han, were driving to a funeral where they died in a collision with a dump truck. And, if you know, it's just, it's such, such a tragic story.
00:31:54
Speaker
My dad never missed a concert, Marcus says. And um it's just, it's really, really, it's really sad. And, you know, wherere we're sending all good thoughts and love to the family. And, um you know, yeah, it's just, you know, when things like this happen, it's just really, really sad.
00:32:15
Speaker
think this is where the film family of our activity is is really comforting. Yeah, it's really true. i think just being able to come together and take care of each other in these sort of moments is so important.
00:32:30
Speaker
It really is. And having empathy for one another, which, you know, i feel like we we need more of that these days. Oh, for sure. Absolutely.
Guard Closet Services and Practice
00:32:40
Speaker
All right. Well, we need to have a word with our sponsor real quick. So if you are going to be getting your signed copies, the table is over. Just pick one up and Jace is going to be here. I'll go get him a marker real quick.
00:32:54
Speaker
Thank you.
00:33:08
Speaker
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Guard Closet was founded as a consignment shop in 2000. Since then, it has grown to become your one-stop shop for the marching arts. Do you need consignment uniforms and flags for your color guard, marching band, or drum line?
00:33:23
Speaker
We have thousands of sets of consignments in stock and ready to ship. Do you need show design and custom choreography? Our designers have years of experience in the marching arts. Do you need to sell your items and clear out your storage areas?
00:33:37
Speaker
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00:33:50
Speaker
We can set up a microsite for easy student ordering of a wide variety of items. Do you need custom costumes or flags? We can help get you great designs from our team through top vendors like Show Day Designs.
00:34:01
Speaker
Have you listened to our podcast on a water break? Weekly episodes and bonus content keep you entertained and informed with what's going on in the marching arts. For over 25 years, Guard Closet has been here to help.
00:34:14
Speaker
Check us out at guardcloset.com or follow us on social media.
00:34:33
Speaker
All right, everybody. Come on back over here. Put your books down. You can't read them right now. Save those for after practice. We got to do 60 Second Tech Block. sixty 60 Second Tech Block.
00:34:51
Speaker
All right, we're going to do our 60 Second Tech Vlog. This is the segment where one of our hosts or guest clinicians is put on the spot to deliver a nonstop 60 second tech session on a topic that needs some serious attention after the last run.
00:35:05
Speaker
Our special tech this week has come prepared with three topics to talk about for a full 60 seconds straight. Now, no hesitation, no pauses, just pure technical gold. You can't stumble or anything.
00:35:19
Speaker
So this week, we're going to throw it over to Jace. So we're really putting you on the spot here. Okay, so your first, your three best topics were performance consistency, breath control throughout a performance, um and then maybe this is one for our new instructors, but preparing your group before a performance.
00:35:40
Speaker
What do we want to vote on, Trish and Ricardo? Oh, performance consistency. Oh, he talks about performance consistency with the instructor in the book. So I feel like that's going to be the topic that we need to go through today.
00:35:56
Speaker
I'm game. I'm game. Let's go for some performance consistency. That was the thing that we got yelled at for most when I was in DC. i I'm just saying, oh not just me, the whole team, but.
00:36:07
Speaker
Definitely, let's do it. All right. I'm putting 60 seconds on the clock. I got. All right. Let's do it. All right. So performance consistency. And I want to start off by saying there is a saying that says practice makes perfect.
00:36:21
Speaker
But I think that perfect practice makes perfect. Now, what does that mean? That means that in practice, you need to do everything that you do in a live performance in your run throughs.
00:36:33
Speaker
And that doesn't just mean the way you spin, the way you dance. That means the way you emote, the way you perform. So if you are, and we've probably all seen this where somebody makes a sound. the ah little a little little expression and equipment goes flying.
00:36:48
Speaker
And it's because they introduced something new into their live performance that they hadn't done in rehearsal. So if you are making eye contact and winking at one of your fellow performers, you want to make a little head gock on a catch, you have to do that every single run through.
00:37:05
Speaker
and I would say for instructors to encourage your performers to do that. Four, three, two, and one. I'm gonna all of it With time to spare, yes. So Jace, was that Andrew giving us that lecture?
00:37:24
Speaker
You know, I have to actually say that that actually was inspired by my instructor, Scott Chandler from Blue Devils. And in 1996, we would often do little things in the performance. And sometimes it would really throw people off.
00:37:38
Speaker
And he sat us down and he said, if you're going to scream, you know, a big like, woohoo on this catch, you have to do that every single run through. And, you know, He was right. And that's something I've tried to pass on to everybody i have taught. Because the more comfortable you can make your performers, the more comfortable they are, and the better their performance is likely going to be.
00:37:59
Speaker
Amen. That's why he is the man, the myth, the legend. Not the myth. He is the actual living, breathing person that is just about him out there somewhere, too, though.
00:38:13
Speaker
He is mentioned in the book. um Actually, two of the parents, ah they're fictional characters, but they were actually Blue Devils in my years. So I thought that would just be a nice little tip of the hat to add.
00:38:24
Speaker
Yeah, when that comes up in the book, I said, oh my God, he actually mentions God's name. oh
00:38:32
Speaker
All good, all good. Well, that was a solid 60 second tech block. Hopefully someone out there just got the tech advice that they didn't know they needed. But now it's time to switch things up because it's time for everyone's favorite.
00:38:45
Speaker
What are we doing? What are we doing?
00:38:56
Speaker
What are we doing? All right, this is the part of the show where we get to let loose a little bit or maybe a lot. This is your chance to rant about something in the marching arts that just doesn't make sense.
00:39:08
Speaker
So maybe it's a tradition that needs to go. Maybe it's a habit that performers can't seem to break. Maybe it's something that makes you think, why are we even doing this? Or why haven't we started doing this yet?
00:39:19
Speaker
Whatever. This is your moment to call it out. So who's got something they need to get off their chest? Ricardo, you're making the face. Child, you know, starting this conversation today made me think back to like what I call the glory days of Color Guard, which Color Guard is constantly
Color Guard History and Creativity
00:39:38
Speaker
evolving. But what are we doing not learning the history and watching older groups' performances? Like, why are we not going back and looking at like what was going on in the 90s with the Blue Devils and James Logan and all those places? And like,
00:39:54
Speaker
looking at drum corps from back in the day with like Star of Indiana, how these groups change the activity. like We think that just like all of this stuff is just happening now. like There is such a rich history to our activity that happened before 2015, people.
00:40:11
Speaker
like Go back, pull out some videos. I was watching a video a couple weeks ago from the 1980, I can't remember, it's like 84, 85, Spirit of Atlanta, and just what that was and what that color guard group looked like and the horn line. This is our history.
00:40:28
Speaker
We need to know where we come from. We don't need to let that just like fall to the wayside and just think that we can only do what's happening right now. Look and see what happened before you.
00:40:40
Speaker
Oh my God.
00:40:46
Speaker
In 1989, that needs to be taught to everybody. I feel like that was such a pivotal moment in Wintergard when they did the Patty Hearst show. I adored that show growing up. It was just so crazy and different and weird.
00:40:59
Speaker
yeah It's so funny that like now we have this whole like technology where we can go back and look at stuff on YouTube and stuff. There's the wealth of information that's out there for you. But I remember back in the 1900s when we used to get the DVDs, everybody had DVDs. have VHSs from back in the day. So do I. do too.
00:41:19
Speaker
And just coming home from school every day and watching like all the older stuff that was like 10 years before my time, but just watching it, learning those tricks, learning all that stuff, learning how they made drill moves, how all that stuff happened.
00:41:32
Speaker
Yeah. We don't have that now. don't have that. We just got like the quick little social media post of like, you know, oh, we're going to put our show on top, like a 30 second clip of our show with some other music that's like popular right now. You're going to see all the highlights. No, girl, go back and watch the old stuff.
00:41:49
Speaker
A thousand percent. I keep telling my boyfriend, when I'm gone, sell it. Sell my collection. You're going to make so much money. Just sell it. And then he tells me he's going before me, but we're not, you know, it's definitely not a race.
00:42:04
Speaker
Okay. Well, Trish, I hope we live for a long time, both of us, but when you put it in your will to give me that collection, if you go before me. all right. I'll let him know. So I need to do a shameless plug because now people are going to ask about it because they always ask about it every year. The Spintronics Color Guard camp that I did for like 15 years.
00:42:28
Speaker
We're not currently doing it because I have small babies at home and ah that's basically all I have time for is that and this. But that was actually one of the biggest features of our Color Guard camp was that we took an entire evening.
00:42:44
Speaker
Everybody got like snacks and popcorn and stuff. All of the instructors. Now, when we first started, all the instructors brought their DVDs. And as time went on, we were able to use YouTube and stuff too.
00:42:55
Speaker
And we would show all of the old color guard stuff. We took it through it back as far as we could back to the 1970s. We had some dci from the 70s and we pulled some of that and we did little clips of this and that. Sometimes we would show whole shows. Yeah.
00:43:12
Speaker
every Everyone loves to watch me when I was like in Memphis sound because I was like the camp director and they'd be like, look, there she is. She dropped her triple at world championships when she marched up in class.
00:43:24
Speaker
And so it was like, it was this great way of connecting though too, because all the kids got to connect and see their instructors as, as younger performers too. I am so, was so, so, so proud of that. Justin surface who has been on the podcast before too.
00:43:38
Speaker
He was kind of the one who took charge of that and really made it into an amazing class. We have a playlist on YouTube still too. So if anyone's like, what older videos should we watch?
00:43:50
Speaker
Go to Spintronics YouTube channel. Like I said, shameless plug, pull up our playlist. I think it's called color guard history night. And yeah, And if you guys see it and you're like, oh, you need to add this video, I will add whatever videos. I will make that playlist fleshed out. Done and done.
00:44:08
Speaker
Trish, that was the longest, what are we doing in history, by the way? Trish, what are we doing? It was pretty long, but it was a good one. I enjoyed that. Worth it. Worth it.
00:44:21
Speaker
Maybe you guys can help me. like What am I doing? So I've been talking on this episode about, you know, my spring trainings at my high school team. And, you know, for those who've been following along through my journey through this winter, um my kids went to Dayton for the first time. And, you know, they made the top essay class at our local circuit and they had a really successful year.
00:44:45
Speaker
But now we have those newbies coming in. And, you know, we don't have like a JV program. We used to have a little club guard, which I'm going to try to bring back. um But with the the club guard this year, you know, we try to get the middle schoolers in.
00:45:00
Speaker
And it's also a good place for kids in the flag line and the winter guard who want to learn weapon. They come an hour early and we put together a little club guard show, whatever. um It just didn't take off this year. That's another reason why we're in this position. But, know,
00:45:15
Speaker
Maybe you guys can help me. Audience, people on the podcast, whatever. what are we like what What am I doing? What am I going to do with these kids who, you know my returning members who are on this you know higher level now and these newbies coming in, you know just we're just teaching them the basics ah you know in such a short period of time. How are we going to mend that together?
00:45:39
Speaker
What am I doing? You know what I used to do, Trish, back when I was still the high school instructor? here did I use the older kids to teach the younger kids. I stopped teaching basics probably 10 years ago.
00:45:53
Speaker
and would clean it and fix it and make it what I need to be. But I would give those older kids responsibility and they felt more ownership of the program because they were passing on something that they knew.
00:46:04
Speaker
to the next generation. I like that. So that's like the easiest way to do that. And then what we always do with our kids is that like our kids spend all three pieces, or did when I was teaching, spun all three pieces of equipment.
00:46:18
Speaker
So we would start off with the basic stuff and then I would have my class set up in levels. So like the advanced kids would be in one group on one side, the middle of the road kids would be in the middle and then the newbie kids would be on the other side. And we kind of scaffold what the technique block looked for each group.
00:46:37
Speaker
So it was more advanced with advanced kids. It was like adding little things for the intermediate kids and then the beginning kids, like we're like, we're going to just do drop spin. So yes that's how I worked that whole situation out. And it just helped the kids grow.
00:46:51
Speaker
um And everybody was bored the entire time because they were having to stand in a block and do drop spins. But also, you have to teach them that doing the technique is the most important part of everything. Oh, a thousand percent. Then it doesn't matter.
00:47:05
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, you know I've been around a while. I've kind of had an idea, but i I just wanted to hear what other people had to say. And I appreciate that. Thank you. That's, I mean, that's beautiful. We started doing that at Twin Tronics too. I feel like that's, that's the smart thing to do. Great minds.
00:47:23
Speaker
Jace, what are we doing? What are we doing? Okay. and i This may be a hot take, but maybe just for one year, could we, could we just ban all ballads for A-class?
00:47:38
Speaker
Freaks! What?
00:47:45
Speaker
what people can come up with that's different, that's not more of like regurgitating the same. We could go back to that, but to balance, but just what one year, no balance. i I almost feel as if sometimes that when you branch out, because I'm known for like the sassy, like i pull off sassy and do sassy really well, because, you know, it might sort of be my personality.
00:48:04
Speaker
But I feel like every time we lean into that sassiness, like we get dinged because no one really knows how to understand. They're like, you're not doing a ballad. You're not having these slow, sustained moments. And I'm like, every everybody doesn't need to do a ballot in A class.
00:48:18
Speaker
That is why the audience goes to sleep during A class. And they get excited about opening world class because you're giving us something interesting. It ain't got to be a ballot, girl. That's what I used to tell people of people, I would say, audience is going to be asleep. Now it's time to wake them up.
00:48:34
Speaker
Yeah. and With that kind of energy. They're ready for it.
00:48:40
Speaker
Love that idea. give me Give me some excitement. I'm excited about the next segment. So now that we got that off our chest, let's twirl our way into some good news.
Exciting Developments and Farewell
00:48:52
Speaker
it's called Gush and Go, not Gush and Go.
00:48:54
Speaker
Wrong one. one It's all good. Great job, everyone. Set your equipment down. and Go.
00:49:03
Speaker
That's the right one. Yes, we got it. So shout out something awesome happening in your life. It can be marching arts related or otherwise. Maybe you're excited about a performance, student success, big life event, just something cool you want to brag about, like winning awards.
00:49:19
Speaker
No negativity here, just pure unfiltered hype. So who's got something to gush about? I'm to gush first. ah Do it. So, you know, we did one already, but Drum Corps movements are happening, guys. I'm about to head across the country for a couple days to go and teach st Drum Corps with the Academy.
00:49:37
Speaker
So I'm super excited about that. I'm excited to get out of Florida for a little bit, even though it's going to be like 105 in Phoenix. There's not going to be any humidity, and I feel like I can breathe. so And I'm really excited to see the kids.
00:49:52
Speaker
That's my favorite part is the kids. I feel like they keep us young. oh Absolutely. absolutely Trish, do you want to gush and go on about? going to stay on the move-in topic. and you probably guys are probably tired of hearing me say this, but just so thrilled and happy that my cousin Haley is leaving for spring training with Spirit of Atlanta.
00:50:14
Speaker
And I'm just so excited. are as my aunt told me at a shower a few weeks ago, she's going to Spirit of America. ah i said, didn't you just tell me she drove to Atlanta?
00:50:27
Speaker
But okay. Love you, Aunt Lorraine. Atlanta's in America. It is. The family is, we're just so excited. I'm so excited that finally in my family, I have another one of me out there.
00:50:41
Speaker
So Haley, I'm going to be following you all summer. I can't wait to see you in Allentown and have a great time. Is she in the color guard, Trish? She is. I was just going to be Delta Diamond. I was at Delta Diamond too. that but That was my first drum corps.
00:50:59
Speaker
Yes. Jace, what would you like to gush and go on about? I mean, I guess it could be kind of cliche and just say, you know, I'm really happy to have the twirl out there. It's just, it's only been like two weeks and it's just been really awesome to see some of the early responses to it. And like getting to talk with you guys here today. Thank you, by the way, for having me on. And it's just, it's wonderful to see that this is a story that definitely people want to hear.
00:51:25
Speaker
You know, I wasn't just deluding myself. No. It's a story we didn't know we needed. right it is setting souls right.
00:51:36
Speaker
And I am just, I can't wait, get off of this podcast recording so I go finish. You'll have to let me know what say. I'm excited to post it all over social media. Thank you. Thank you, guys.
00:51:49
Speaker
I want to do one more gush about move-ins just because of my DCI correspondence. They're literally all in transit right now. We just recorded dci So by the time this airs, they're all in spring training and what have you, but we recorded their episode last night and, uh,
00:52:07
Speaker
we're going to be but like, they basically were getting on planes starting six hours after our recording. So they're just on planes. In fact, one of the girls was actually driving and like stopped at a hotel to record our episode to stay the night.
00:52:23
Speaker
And then they were going to be driving again in the morning. So these, these kids are like putting in so much work to March DCI and it's just so beautiful to see. I'm so excited. Can't wait to bring you there. They're all of their content this summer.
00:52:36
Speaker
But yeah,
00:52:39
Speaker
And are we going to find out what everybody's shows are soon? Like I'm dying over here. What's everybody doing this summer? Blue Devils will announce the day before they perform it.
00:52:50
Speaker
so we there' no sorry Sorry, the Blue Coats. The Blue Coats is what I was trying to say. They're going to announce it the day before they perform it. It's crazy. We're so excited. I can't wait. Building up that suspense.
00:53:01
Speaker
Yeah. It's going to be a good season.
00:53:07
Speaker
All right. Thank you guys for a great rehearsal this week. Thank you, Jace Peoples, for spending time with us today. Where can our listeners follow you on social media? Thank you. You can follow me at Jace Peoples on Instagram.
00:53:21
Speaker
And yeah, I'll be posting updates about Twirl. You can pick up Twirl at Amazon or barnesandnoble.com. And if you do, please help me spread the word and leave a review. And I hope you'll follow these characters as much as I did telling their story.
00:53:36
Speaker
All five stars. All five stars. Even if you don't quite read it, like five stars, then read it. Then you'll know it deserves the five stars. We'll just get all those reviews out there. Hopefully it opens the door for more stories.
00:53:48
Speaker
We get to hear more people tell more stories about Color Guard and You guys have got a question or a good topic to talk about. Email us at on a water break podcast at gmail.com or find us on social media. Send us a DM if you want to be on the show.
00:54:01
Speaker
We even have a form to fill out. If you'd like to be guests, make sure that you check out our link in bio on all of our social media. You could also just take out your phone, make a little video, send it to us, and maybe we'll throw you up on the podcast soon.
00:54:16
Speaker
One more thing. Don't forget about our YouTube channel so you can see all of our lovely faces. You can see what the cover of Twirl looks like. You can see my beautiful blue stars background. All of that.
00:54:27
Speaker
You can see Ricardo's amazing nails. Oh, my gosh. I have been drooling over those this entire episode, by the way. Oh, my God. oh my god So go subscribe on our YouTube channel.
00:54:40
Speaker
Before you close out your podcast listening app, make sure you also subscribe on there, write us a review, share this with a friend, follow us on all of our social media at on a water break, and we'll see you at the next rehearsal on a water break.
00:54:54
Speaker
The On a Water Break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and Christine Reams. The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lida. To learn more, visit LidaMusic.com.
00:55:06
Speaker
And until next time, thanks for tuning in.
00:55:13
Speaker
super