2017 WGI Pittsburgh Color Guard Regional

Full Recap Of WGI Pittsburgh Color Guard Regional

Check out the recap of the WGI Pittsburgh Color Guard Regional from March 4-5.

Mar 8, 2017 by Michael Gilley

Full Recap Of WGI Pittsburgh Color Guard Regional

In a month known for frenzied competitions, the WGI Sport of the Arts began its own form of March Madness at the WGI Pittsburgh Color Guard Regional this past weekend.

Rising to the top of the hotly contested Scholastic A class, Gateway High School's show about Norma Desmond, a movie character from the 1950 noir classic "Sunset Boulevard," took top honors with a score of 82.310, which also moved the Monroeville, Pennsylvania, color guard up to No. 3 in the class' current standings. In her portrayal of Desmond, Gateway's Rachel Borst recited one of film's iconic monologues to the audience inside Norwin Senior High School. Moments later, there was a beautiful flag feature set to just the sounds of a movie reel clicking along.

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Borst reciting the Norma Desmond monologue during Gateway's performance

While Indiana's Goshen High School did not win the Scholastic A class, it did win over the crowd during its finals performance. During the middle of its finals run, the CD used to play Goshen's soundtrack suddenly skipped and stopped playing. Instantly, the performers started counting aloud and encouraging each other to keep going. The crowd joined in as well, furiously cheering for them as they continued to spin.

"In a performance art, there isn't a halftime, or a quarter, or a clock to stop [the performance]," Goshen director Takesha Stoll said, "You have to keep going, and in our case the music stopped."

However, Stoll called out for the students to stop and reset once the audio problem was resolved. WGI did review the situation during the next break and determined it was not the fault of the CD provided. Administrators then removed the timing penalty initially assessed to Goshen.

In the Scholastic Open, Cicero-North Syracuse Central High School continued to impress. The Cicero, New York, color guard posted the highest score in the country over the weekend with an 84.00, clearly establishing themselves as the favorite in the Open class ahead of the World Championships in Dayton, Ohio on April 6-8.

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Cicero-North Syracuse Central High School is leading the way in Scholastic Open

In the Independent realm, Stonewall Independent is also leading the way toward the World Championships. After dropping a 83.80, the group from Manassas, Virginia, finds itself on top of the current rankings. Look for Stonewall to have a strong showing this year in Dayton.

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After winning the Independent Open World Championship last year, Juxtaposition from Westerville, Ohio, is riding the momentum through the ranks of the World Class.

Their show is based on the character Miss Havisham from the Charles Dickens novel "Great Expectations." In a haunting portrayal, the Juxtaposition cast member playing Miss Havisham arrives at the show site already dressed in the full wedding dress and maintains character throughout the day.

Speaking with the staff, Juxaposition's designers will not be revealing who the cast member is at any point during the season -- or quite possibly ever.

But the dress is not the real story of 2017 Juxtaposition. It's that they are currently sitting in the top 10 of the WGI standings in their first year of Independent World Class -- a very difficult task.

Look for them to continue their momentum all the way to World Championships and possibly to finals.

Of course, the most controversial group was also the winner of the Independent World class.

Onyx presented their show entitled "Bizarre, Bizarre" to a packed house inside the Norwin gymnasium. Beyond the fact that they posted the highest score of the season with a 86.900 and are now sitting second in the projected rankings, Onyx is doing what they do best.

And that is exactly whatever they want.

Following prelims, a staff member said Onyx's designers are always looking at which directions the trends of WGI are headed. In response, the Dayton color guard then does an 180-degree turn and heads in the opposite direction.

Onyx's show is filled with outlandish moments, openly suggestive dance, and walks right up to the line of inappropriateness. Some would even say crossing it.

Onyx created a distinct dividing line in the audience's feelings about the show. Either you were in utter shock and couldn't stand to watch the show. Or, you thought it was brilliant. While some spectators laughed at the men wearing red stilettos and waved back at the Onyx member eating popcorn while watching the crowd, others were visibly shaken and refused to watch.

Nevertheless, the judges were impressed and rewarded Onyx for it. Will that continue as the season progresses? We shall see.

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