Modified formats

“Last year’s show was the show that never finished.”

That was true for Emilie Garringer’s winter guard.

And it was true for Susan Denney’s show choirs.

Both will be back this year, but in a modified format: Arrive. Compete. Leave.

It begins today, with Jay County High School’s winter guard at Anderson. The school’s show choirs — Just Treble and Patriot Edition — will take the stage next weekend at DeKalb.

The winter guard groups will have to be in uniform before heading off to their contest destination. They’ll be allowed into the venues 30 minutes before their warm-up is scheduled to begin. They will warm up. They will perform. And they will leave. Awards will be presented in a virtual format on the Sunday after the competition.

It will be similar for show choirs, which will be brought into a “holding area” when they arrive at their host schools. They will warm up, perform their show and head home. In Jay County’s case, the all-girl Just Treble and co-ed Patriot Edition will always perform back-to-back. Again, awards will be announced virtually.

(Some schools will allow limited spectators while others will not. Most plan to live stream performances.)

It’s not the performing arts experience the students are used to.

That led to Denney asking her choir members if it was worth it. She got the answer for which she had hoped.

“All of my kids said, ‘Mrs. D, it’s better than nothing at all,’” Denney said.

“In the situation we’re in, we need to try to continue this program in an upward motion,” she continued. “We had such a great year last year. And … not participating at all is going to be detrimental to the program.”

Patriot Edition had placed second in its division and fourth overall March 7 at the Bishop Luers Midwest Choir Invitational last year, with Just Treble finishing third in its division. The next week, the season was canceled as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic took hold in Indiana.

On the same day, the JCHS winter guard was second in its round, scoring first in design analysis, and placed 14th overall at the state preliminaries to qualify for the state semifinals. That event never happened, as the winter guard season was cut short as well.

Now both groups are excited to be back doing what they love.

The 12-member JCHS winter guard’s show is set in a park and titled “Tonight,” sharing the name of the electronic dance music song by Garringer’s friends Noah Connolly (NoahConn) and Tyler Eads to which it is set. The Patriot performers play out the scene with rifles and flags as the love song builds and fades, slipping away with umbrellas and crickets at the end.

“As far as putting it all together, it’s something that the kids really looked forward to,” said Garringer, noting not only the early end to the 2020 season but the elimination of summer band as well. “It feels normal, almost, the whole process of putting the show together. Everything else feels weird, but that part of it feels right. It feels like it always has.”

The Just Treble show is all about empowerment, celebrating the choices women have in today’s society. It shows a progression from the 1950s era to today and features songs including “The Man” by Taylor Swift, “Around Here” from the musical “9 to 5” and “Dumb Blonde” by Avril Levigne.

Patriot Edition’s show is all about breaking down the barriers in life that can served to hold us back. (Both themes were developed by choreographer Damon Brown.) Its songs include Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” Amy Grant’s “If These Walls Could Speak” and a mash up of John Mellencamp’s “Crumblin’ Down” and “Nothing Can Stop Us” from Disney’s “Planes” in a swing style.

The JCHS winter guard will perform four times — today at Anderson, Feb. 13 at Westfield, March 6 at Hamilton Southeastern and March 13 at Bishop Dwenger. Rather than a three-round state series, 32 groups will qualify for the March 27 state finals at Greenwood based on their scores during the season.

The choir campaign will run five consecutive weeks — Feb. 13 at DeKalb, Feb. 20 at Homestead, Feb. 27 at Huntington North, March 6 at Northridge and March 13 at Garrett. JCHS is tentatively scheduled to host a contest April 10. Indiana State School Music Association will not hold a state finals this year.

Denney emphasized the value of developing qualities like work ethic, dedication and commitment, even without state and even if circumstances change and more competitions are canceled this year.

“We’re learning a lot about life, like everyone else is in this situation,” she said, noting that she has a sign on her office wall about making lemonade out of lemons. “It doesn’t do us any good to sit and feel sorry for ourselves and feel like we’ve been robbed and things aren’t what they should be. We just have to take the situation we’re in and we have to get past it and move forward and do the very, very best we can.”