By Niya Miller
Over the years, the Marching Sabers Pride has had some pretty cool shows. This year, the band has put time and effort into a new show. This year’s show, “EmpowHER: telling HERstory”, directed by Josh Greubel, includes 5 songs: Surface Pressure from the movie Encanto, Bloody Mary by Lady Gaga, Flowers by Miley Cyrus, Rise Up by Andra Day, and Stronger by Kelly Clarkson. Mr. Greubel’s inspiration for this year’s show comes from one specific song. “I started with the tune Rise Up. It almost made it into the show the year before, and so since it didn’t make it into that one, I thought it would be a great tune to
showcase some kids and a good tune to be able to play. So I started thinking ‘what kind of show does this inspire?’ and this is what came from it," says Greubel, pictured right. It takes him months to put together this kind of show. “I mean picking the music is just one thing, but then it's working with the drill writer, establishing the number of instruments, visuals, flag routines, flag design, costume design, backdrops take a few months as well; so it’s a pretty intense process. Most schools have a team, you guys have me,” he says.
The show this year includes 2 soloists, Senior Jenny Claussen in Flowers and Junior Anna
Prosise in Rise Up, both on trumpet. “I really like the songs we picked, like I’m glad we had
an upbeat, empowering song. A lot of other shows this year for other schools were super boring, and not high-energy. Our show was really high-energy and it reflected the empowerment theme. Especially in songs like Stronger.” Brass section leader Jenny (left) says.
“People should pay attention to the dab at the end of the solos. They are the coolest parts, and the most female empowerment parts.” Anna says, talking about what you should look for when you watch the show. “Music is for everyone, and band is fun, but you can also do other things. Like just because you are in band doesn’t mean you can’t be an athlete or you can’t be involved in everything else. It's literally just a class, but it's way more fun than all the other classes,” she says. Anna is pictured to the right.
The band is conducted by Drum Major Brady Herington. Brady says his favorite part of the season is the final performance because “we were at our best, and then the band played Rise Up. They played it really well then.” The band’s final performance of the whole show was in Clinton on October 19th. There, the band participated in the Music on
the Mississippi Marching Band Festival and earned a Division I and a 3rd place ranking. One of the coolest parts of the show is the Color Guard. Section Leader Leah Marvin, pictured right, talks about the process of learning the dance moves by saying: “It’s a lot of repetition, which is how it is for the music. You do it over and over and over again until you get it good.” The flags are coached and choreographed by Kelci Yearous. This season was her 10th year doing flags, and she reflects on this time. “My favorite part is watching my color guard grow throughout the season. Watching the show come together and my routines come to life, and just watching everyone have fun with the routines.”
Kelci comes up with the routines herself. “I like to start by listening to the music and
envisioning what I want the show to look like with each song. When there are high points in the song I know something big needs to happen to pull attention around that and I build my routines up to that,” she says. The only thing she has help with is
the drill, which comes from our drill writers, and the costumes, which she and Mr. Greubel came up with. To reflect the theme of female empowerment, the flag costumes this year are supposed to look like Rosie the Riveter. (Left- Sophie House)
The band puts many hours over the summer and fall into learning the show. They start
with learning their parade song in the early summer, which was Stronger this year. They have a few evening rehearsals before the Fourth of July parade (left), then don’t meet again until right before school starts.
Once school starts, the band begins to learn their drill. Drill is the placement on the field and how they move from one spot to another. They have 4 out of school drill rehearsals and go outside almost every class to practice. Once the band has learned all their music, drill, and visuals, they are ready to perform. Performances are at all home football games and marching competitions. (Left- Woodwind section leader Matthew Boeding)
The big thing the band is preparing for is the competitions. There are 3 competitions the Marching Sabers Pride competes at: Muskie Marching Invitational in Muscatine, State Marching Competition which is also held in Muscatine, and Music on the Mississippi in Clinton. The band received a Division II rating at both Muskie and State, and a Division I at Music on the Mississippi.
“My favorite part is the marching band competitions because I love watching the other bands play. I love spending time with my friends and you get to march, too, which is fun. It’s just fun to see everyone else’s shows. Everyone’s so hype, so happy,” said trumpet section leader Anna Prosise.
“I think that people should still take a chance on it, even if it’s just for a year because a lot of people… like there's a stigma that band is for the weird kids, the nerds, but honestly anyone can do it. There's a variety of people, and it’s not just a thing for the nerds to do. Just try it out!” says Color Guard section leader Leah Marvin, “I think it’s important to appreciate the effort that’s put into it. We want to be seen and appreciated for the effort we put in.” (Right- Alex Brown)
“I think people should pay attention to how much fun we’re having. It’s so cool. There’s just so many little things that I geek out on; like drumline adds their own choreography to the moves, which I thought was fun. And just having fun in general,” says drumline section leader Natalie Cagle, “I don’t think people realize when you join band how you can bond with so many different people that you normally would never talk to.”
“Band is cool! We literally have football players. Band has this thing where people think it’s all weird kids, but that's not true. Coming out of middle school, everyone quits band because they don’t think it’s cool, and I think that's pretty sad,” says Abe Vickers, left.
“My favorite part of the show is Flowers when me and Carissa do our partner toss. It took us a really long time to get it, but I remember we got it at State and it felt really good,” says another Color Guard member, Suzie Cox.
The kids have a lot of fun within their sections. “I’d say every moment with drumline is my favorite. I just love being in the drumline, with all the guys and stuff. It’s so much fun,” says Natalie. “For me, it was bonding with my section. Because last year, we were really spread out in the drill and I wasn’t near any other trumpets, so we got to all bond more,” says Jenny.
“We’re a pretty dysfunctional family of kids that make music together. It's the most normal and weird grouping of kids that normally wouldn’t come together, but when we do, it makes some pretty amazing sounds,” says Director Mr. Greubel, reflecting on the band as a whole.
A common theme between interviews was the different kinds of kids who do band. You have almost every kind of person out on the field: Football players, cross-country runners, cheerleaders, singers, and everything in between. “We aren’t just a marching band. We’re more than that. We build relationships here,” says Drum Major Brady Herington (Left).
Below is a link to see the band’s performance at Muskie, where they earned a Division II rating.
Once marching band season has finished, the band transitions to concert band until summer comes again. Our concert band performs at the Veteran’s Day assembly and has its first big concert on December 15th.
EmpowHER: Muskie Marching Invitational
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