Winterguard

Winter Guard is an indoor color guard sport derived from Military ceremonies or veterans organizations ceremonies. Unlike traditional color guard, Winter Guard is performed indoors, usually in a gymnasium or an indoor arena. Performances make use of recorded music rather than a live band or orchestra. Winter guard was invented in the United States, where to date is still by far the most predominant scene for the sport.

Winter Guard ensembles commonly perform at judged competitions officiated by local and regional associations using criteria developed by Winter Guard International.

A Winter Guard generally consists of performing members under the direction of an instructional staff. The staff of a winter guard team ("the guard") are drawn from many different specialties, which sometimes overlap: there are equipment instructors (sometimes one for the unit, sometimes broken out into the individual sections), dance instructors, and drill instructors. The equipment instructors create the choreography performed with equipment and teach it to the guard. The dance instructors create and teach the movement choreography in the show. The drill instructors focus on the position of the guard members relative to one another and to the boundaries of the performance area, in addition to where each member goes at which specific time during the performance. In some cases, all of these roles are fulfilled by one sole director.

A winter guard team usually has a captain, who is one of the performing members who leads and represents the guard. The captain may assume minor administrative duties and lead the team when instructors are not available. The captain is also the representative of the guard during awards ceremonies or retreat.

The number of members on a winter guard team varies widely from five to about 45.

The duration of winter guard shows depends on the class in which the guard is performing. In competition settings, each winter guard team is allotted a set amount of time to set up staging (including a vinyl floor if the guard is using one, and any props associated with the performance), place all equipment, perform the show, and remove staging, props, and equipment. Setup and tear-down typically run two minutes each, and performances run around five minutes. Judges impose penalties on teams that run past the allotted time.

Unlike traditional Color guard (flag spinning) teams, which perform outdoors on a football field or parade route accompanied by a marching band or drum corps, winter guard teams perform indoors to recorded music.

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