After McKinley High School Band’s first competitive marching band season, they started a ensemble with the addition of a Winter Guard group.

Winter Guard is an indoor variation of a marching band color guard—meaning, the guard is the sole focus of the performance, as opposed to in marching band, where the color guard is an important visual for the band. It is a performance art descended from military tradition that involves intricate choreography and the manipulation of flags, rifles and sabers.

For McKinley’s first Winter Guard show, the theme was Barbie, with the songs “Barbie Girl” by Aqua and “Kings & Queens” by Ava Max.

The show opened with the performers in pairs. One wore light blue, representing Ken. The other wore pink, representing Barbie. Daphne Shiu (c/o ‘27), stood at the top of  the stage and performed a dance solo elegantly. She then joined her members afterward in a swing flag solo. The rest of the show’s routine consisted of flag choreography with three rows of performers—the back and front row would turn the flag the same direction, while the middle row would go the opposite.

The flags being waved were purple, gold and white. The performers had cheerful smiles plastered on their faces at each performance.

The show, which focused on cute and feminine themes, representing women empowerment and independence.

They had three performances for their first season—March 29 at the Kamehameha Indoor Exchange at Kamehameha Schools, April 6 at McKinley’s Gym and April 13 at the WISH invitational at Leilehua High School.

“[Performing for the first time] is really nerve-wracking to see a lot of people watching you,” Shiu said. “You’re not just rehearsing.” Shiu, who is the Winter Guard and next
year’s Color Guard section leader, has been in the marching band program since her freshman year. Outside of Winter Guard, she is in the Orchestra and plays the viola. Another performance art she used to do was hula. She is taking up the role to prepare for the upcoming marching season.

Shiu said taking this role has encouraged her to speak up more and be a role model to her members.

Half of the Winter Guard consisted of members who had no prior experience in Color Guard.

“It was a challenge to have them keep in time and be in sync,” Shiu said.

Shiu used her color guard experience in marching band to teach new members fundamentals before they started working on their show. The group started to practice their fundamentals in October and would often rehearse under  T Building or at the W Building courtyard. They started  rehearsing their show in January.

Mia Fiesta (c/o ‘28) played trombone during the marching band season. She joined because she enjoys dressing up and the visual aspect of the Guard.

Fiesta said there were many people in the marching band compared to a few of them in Winter Guard; therefore, she said their performance was much more exposed. In addition, the members rely on their own counts instead of looking at a drum major—the person conducting the band—to stay together.

“I’m thinking about the audience at Kamehameha … I tried my best not to look anyone in the eye,” Fiesta said. She said she panicked during their first performance due to the crowd, but immediately started counting so she would not fall behind.

Fiesta said the hardest part of their first season was gaining confidence. Additionally, she wants to improve her tosses for next season.

An example of a toss in Winter Guard is a single 45. Fiesta said this toss requires a good initiation and commitment to catching the flag. Shiu taught the members how to prep the flag and toss it.

“It’s scary because it’s kind of right over your head,” Fiesta said. “The most important part of it is the initial prep.” The beginner members learned five tosses, while the veterans learned an extra five.

The selection of their show and choreography is created by their director Jasmine Oguma, who also directed the guard’s past two marching band seasons. This is her second year of directing Winter Guards as she directed at Kapolei High School before joining McKinley.

“I felt the show was fun and a great taste for what is to come in the marching season,” Oguma said via email.

The show was a minute and thirty seconds long. Oguma  said this show was an idea she had planned that was fun, yet short, which is accessible for a first-season performance.

“The students went from not knowing what color guard is to being able to do a basic toss,” Oguma said, “along with performing moves as a united group with no one conducting them.”

Her vision for McKinley’s Winter Guard, and regular Guard program is to create a continued tradition that represents McKinley well. She said she hopes student and alumni would be proud of the program.

“Winter Guard focuses on body and flagmenship,” Oguma said. “By learning and practicing during the off season, one can strengthen their basics.” This continued practice also helps the members to be prepared for the upcoming marching band season as they perform for more audiences. This opportunity is open to students who are not in the Band and Orchestra program. They are currently recruiting people in preparation for next year and marching season.

“If you’re interested in dressing up, playing with flags and being pretty, it’s a really fun experience,” Fiesta said.