I couldn't live without....My Water Bottle (weekly line-up)

I know it sounds silly, but ever since I was pregnant with my now-15-month-old daughter, I've needed to drink a ton of water. First it was because, while pregnant, I would get dizzy very easily if I was not well hydrated (low blood pressure). Then, while I was nursing her, I just needed a ton of water so I could keep feeding her!

I'm linking up with a friend at Pursuit of Pink for this post.

Be sure to also check out my post about the importance of water and what I tell my color guard each summer.

About a month before having my daughter, I found this great water bottle by Contigo, at Target!

Features I like:

• It's 32 ounces, so I don't have to refill often
• It has a straw, which I've found helps me drink more water
• It seals really well, no leaks

A fun bonus, the white button "pops" the top up, which my 15 month old gets a kick out of (and she's done it a million times without breaking it!) while she says "POP!" quite loudly.

Do you have a water bottle or mug you can't live without?

Color Guard: What to do over the summer

Summer is an incredible time to try new things if you're in the world of color guard. Take a look at some of my suggestions below. Be sure to comment with what you like to do over the summer!!! And if you have spin clinics for me to add, just let me know. And be sure to check out some of my other popular posts (20 Signs You Were In Color Guard, Tips for Handling Parent Negativity, and I Couldn't Live Without...Color Guard)

My biggest advice: remember that you can learn and get ideas or inspiration from anywhere!!!

Take dance classes
Most areas have dance classes in the summer that are for teens or adults. Google search your area and see what you find. Oftentimes, studios offer the first class for free!!! Don't just stick with a style you are comfortable with, try new things too. I was trained in ballet and modern, but LOVED taking hip-hop in the summers because the music was fun and the class was always energetic. I've also ventured out to take Irish dance, flamenco, and ballroom styles. Anything goes!

One summer, I actually required my fall guard to take 2 dance classes (not 2 sessions, just two classes). They could be ANY style, and they just had to let me know what they took, when and where. One of my students took a hula class while on vacation in Hawaii!!

Go to performances
Find all the local venues that have performances of all types. Don't limit yourself to dance (though those are great!); seek out musical theater, plays, and acrobatic shows like Shen Yen. Also don't forget to check all the local dance studios for their performances, or local universities. They have much cheaper tickets and some really passionate actors/dancers/performers. Every performance you watch, good or bad, has something you can take away as a nugget of an idea or an inspiration. 

If a Drum Corps show is coming your way, be sure to check it out! There are two circuits of drum corps: Drum Corps International (DCI) and Drum Corps Associates (DCA). Most people think of DCI, but DCA has some great shows, too!

Watch videos
Check out WGIZone for videos of color guards. But you probably already watch tons of guard videos. Try branching out to other art forms! Perhaps head over to YouTube and check out these options:

• Kate Jablonski (contemporary style)
• Anaheim Ballet
• Petatonix (A Capella)
• Broadway
• Baton Twirling
• Traditional Florentine Flags

Go to a camp/clinic
Multiple companies and organizations now offer summer spin clinics or camps. Three organizations that run formal multi-day camps (some commuter, some overnight) are run by:

• Vivace Productions (my personal favorite since I taught at that camp a number of summers)
• Fred J Miller (many of my friends were instructors and this was the camp I went to in high school)
• Marching Auxiliaries

More recently, individual color guard programs have started offering 1- or 2-day clinics. My team, Stonewall Independent, does one every summer, usually on a Saturday or Sunday. Here is a listing of Facebook pages to follow so you can find out about various clinics, but also check any local teams that may not be included here! You can also check with your local circuit.

• Stonewall Independent (Northern, VA)
• Onyx (Dayton, OH)
• Emanon (New Jersey)
• Paramount (Georgia)
• James Madison University (Virginia)
• Allegoria (Ohio)
• University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA)

Practice with your team!

At a minimum, ask your director if you can have regular practice time over the summer with your team! While I was in high school we practiced one afternoon a week, starting about 2 weeks after school ended, all the way up until band camp started. We worked on equipment technique and learned parts for the show. One of my friend's teams used to start rehearsal a week or two after winter guard ended (so in April!!) and would have a once a week dance class for a couple hours. It's also a great time for the director to bring in some guest instructors to learn new equipment styles or try some new dance moves. It's also the time of year to let everyone learn weapon, even if they may not make the weapon line for the fall.

4 Tips for Handling Parent Negativity

Every coach will have a time - probably at least once a season - where they have disagreements with parents. Whether it's your logistical planning, discussions over rehearsal times, teaching methods, artistic choices, or prop building, even adults do not deal well with criticism. If parents are unhappy, chances are they will talk to other parents before they tell you. These issues can be difficult to handle, so below are four tips to help manage, and get ahead of, parent negativity.

If this blog is interesting or helpful, please comment below! You may also want to check out other posts on the blog: food for long rehearsals, teaching performance qualities, and real-world application of Stonewall Independent guard rules.

What other ideas do you use with your team (and the question is for coaches, members or parents!)?

Set expectations
The first and best way to promote a positive environment for both the students and parents is to set very clear expectations at the outset. Some expectations that I like to set include the following:

• Rehearsal start times indicate when we start dancing/spinning/teaching, that isn't the time you arrive - remember you have to get the floor set up, equipment out, props assembled
• The end time for rehearsal is when we stop spinning. After that time we still need to have our final talk, and then clean everything up. If a handful of students have to leave early because of parent pressure, that means everyone else in the guard needs to pick up their slack, and that cannot be a regular occurrence or it will cause friction
• Our goal is to do well at competitions, but the scores and the placement do not define us. We can do the best we absolutely can but the score/placement is up to 5 individuals and their perspective of our show. We ask that parents encourage their students to strive for excellence, not a score
• Competition days are 100% reserved for color guard. The days schedules are not available until 2 weeks beforehand, so those days need to be free from any other commitments. Then when our rehearsal/competition schedule for the day is communicated to the team and parents, always include the disclaimer that the schedule is subject to change because show schedules are always in flux on site
• Whenever at a competition, only positive comments about other guards are allowed (or don't say anything at all - but really every guard has something positive you can talk about). Parents need to understand this just as much as the members. You never know who's in the bathroom with you getting dressed, or who's sitting behind you in the stands. Assume someone around you is with the guard you're talking about.

Promote dialogue
One of the best things you can do to flesh out any discontent or complaints about competitions is to promote dialogue between parents and staff. If you notice that parents are only expressing their concerns to each other, it might be a good idea to host a town-hall style meeting or one-on-one conferences to get these thoughts out in the open. However, keep in mind that if you want parents to feel comfortable voicing their concerns and complaints to you, it’s essential to remain empathetic, understanding and professional. Chances are that parent grievances are not an attack on you as a coach, even though they may initially come off that way. If you say you'll change something, be sure to follow through. If you disagree, share with the parent that you understand where they are coming from but you respectfully disagree.

Establish a social media policy

While you can’t control what parents and students post on their own social media accounts, you can ask them to remain respectful and positive while posting on or about your guard's page. Stonewall Independent has an unwritten (but very clearly understood) social media policy that outlines what content they encourage and what type of comments are not tolerated. Additionally, many color guards tell their members not to share any clips of their show, share photos of rehearsals, or comments about the show content without the okay from the director. We demand (politely) that our members also only post encouraging and complimentary posts to or about other guards. Then again, our members are selected based on their character as much as their spinning ability so this isn't something we tend to worry about, thank goodness!

Solicit volunteers
Color guards rely heavily on help from parents and volunteers. I find that soliciting volunteers and giving parents various roles/jobs, keeps them engaged. The benefit is that by volunteering, they start to see all the moving parts and therefore understand when schedules are flexible, or extra rehearsals are needed. If you don't see your calls for volunteers working, ask a parent or two to organize volunteers. Perhaps one parent is in charge of props and floor/prop/trailer logistics and they solicit volunteers for building, maintenance, transporting, etc. Then one volunteer can be in charge of chaperone coordination for every trip (one guard actually assigned a different parent to coordinate each show so no one had a huge burden and more parents were involved!). You can also have a parent in charge of any forms, or medical needs of students. Once guard I worked with had a policy of having 1 parent at every single rehearsal (usually split in two shifts) and they were there for emergencies, to help open locked doors on weekends, and just be there as an extra set of hands (usually they brought a book to read or yarn to knit).

20 Signs You Are (or Were) in Color Guard

I have seen so many lists circulating on social media about signs you did x, y, or z sport and I think color guard deserves one! If you like this blog, check out some of my others: tips for turning, building strength for turning, 7 dance terms explained, and how to learn faster. Or click on Dance & Spin above.

What would you add to the list below??

1. You have at least one persistent injury. Maybe it's your back, or your knees, or your ankles, but something on you remembers how you tortured it to get those 3 counts perfect in that one show.

2. You often try to see if you can still throw a six (or whatever was hardest in your shows).

3. You remember how to do Peggy spins.

4. You save old costumes and reuse them for awesome Halloween costumes.

5. The smell of any tarp brings back memories of unfolding the winter guard floor.

6. In any yoga/pilates/exercise class, you try to stand on the 50.

7. You call the center of anything "the 50."

8. Dance Moms doesn't hold a candle to "Guard Moms" (and dads for that matter). I mean, do the Dance Moms have to build props that can be set up and torn down in 60 seconds, and travel in a tiny trailer?

9. Speaking of props, if you speak to someone in theater you have to translate to "backdrops," and remember their "props" are things you'd likely want to spin or throw in the air.

10. You know a ton of music in every genre on any music station. Ode to Joy. Send in the Clowns. My Immortal. Anything Phillip Glass. Vivaldi's Four Seasons....all of them. Black Magic Woman. February (Dar Williams). Its the End of the World. You name it, a guard has probably done it.

11. "And" is a count, and it's forever vitally important.

12. You still find random bobby pins, even if you haven't performed in a decade.

13. "Get it" or "You got it" is part of your every day speech, but non-guard folks don't understand.

14. You still have old gloves...and they smell gross!

15. When you get stressed out, you have the "keep pushing" talk with yourself.

16. You love and loathe glitter, simultaneously.

17. You get the urge to spin anything and everything: umbrellas, brooms, baguettes, you name it!

18. You watch guard videos, for hours on end, just for fun.

Plug for WGI's new Zone! - http://wgizone.com/

19. You get used to not drinking water, and you bring snacks you can eat quickly in case you get a 30 second break. You take what you can get!

20. At work or in school, you hate when people ask unnecessary questions and waste time. Those questions were conditioned out of you in guard rehearsals!



If you made it through all 20, I nominate you for the #ispinbecause challenge!!! Write a post/tweet/update using the hashtag #ispinbecause and #WGI2015 to tell us why you spin!!!

The challenge was started by #stonewallindependent as a social media campaign to raise awareness about color guard and what there is to love. Be sure to nominate someone at the end of your post!

I Couldn't Live Without...Color Guard (weekly line-up)

Those who know me, know that I don't just dance, or teach dance, I actually coach a nationally competitive winter guard called Stonewall Independent. I'm not sure what I would do if I didn't get to coach guard!!! I'm hooking up with a friend at Pursuit of Pink for this post.

Stonewall Independent, or SI as we like to abbreviate it, is based out of Manassas, VA. I started working with Stonewall Jackson HS winter guard in 2011 (flower show) and 2012 (eclipse) where we competed locally in a Scholastic A class. Then in 2013 we went into the Independent A class with our show "Saying Goodbye," and went to Winter Guard International (WGI) world championships for the first time with this team. They won the silver medal out of all units competing in their class!!! In 2014 they were promoted into Independent Open class and we made finals with our show about a journey. This year we're heading to Dayton for WGI championships in a few weeks and were positioned to do well again with our show "Harmony in Disarray."

About a week ago I prompted SI to start an #ispinbecause challenge on social media to share why they each spin, and then nominate others to take the challenge. I've been so excited by the trend we've started!! It's great to hear why everyone chooses to perform in this crazy guard activity, and we've heard some inspiring stories as well.

Personally, #ispinbecause it gives me life and breath. I LIVE for the moments when I get to perform even if that is just when I'm demonstrating some choreography.

While I have loved hearing all of the reasons people spin, here's the one that's my absolute favorite so far!

I Couldn't Live Without....Pasta! (weekly line-up)

It's been quite a while since I've posted, but I saw this new weekly line-up hosted by a friend of mine at Pursuit of Pink and thought I'd give it a shot!

Every week, at least once, my family has pasta in some way, shape or form. Not only is it sometimes the main feature of a meal, I also use it to reinvent leftovers all the time! Here are a few ideas for pasta that I've made over the past few weeks:

• Spaghetti w/ Tomato Sauce and Leftover Pot Roast (essentially a ragu)
• Shrimp Scampi w/ linguini (white wine, lemon, butter, basil, YUM!)
• Baked Leftover Pasta (add extra cheese and some milk or cream)
• Mac & Cheese (homemade or boxed) w/ broccoli or butternut squash or spiced up with pickled jalapenos
• Spaghetti al Melone from Giada De Laurentiis
• Linguini Shrimp Fra Diavolo w/ Rao's brand Fra Diavolo Sauce

No surprise that my one year old daughter loves pasta. But what IS a surprise is that she'll eat it almost no matter what sauce is on it. The biggest surprise was that she scarfed down the scampi!!!

What are some ways you like to incorporate pasta into your meal?