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Nuance Winterguard finds success on the international stage

JMU students rarely meet the international stage, but one campus group kicked off their season with a goal of not only impacting their immediate community, but carrying their spirit and talents to a whole new level.

Nuance Winterguard is a group of ambitious colorguard-athletes who began their season just after the fall marching-band season came to a close. Auditions were held in November, and December marked the start of camp, followed by practice three times  weekly  in January. Soon after, February kicked-off the beginning of local circuit competition with the Atlantic Indoor Association (AIA) consisting of colorguard teams from across Virginia and North Carolina.

The Nuance team includes two divisions: Purple and Gold, named after the official university colors. The purple team includes mostly college-level students, and the gold team is made up of local high schoolers from the Harrisonburg and surrounding areas. Each team motivates the other, and acts in a supportive role, encouraging the other to give their all in competitions.

Towards the end of February, Nuance Purple travelled to Pittsburgh, Pa., where they competed with 14 of the best teams from New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Ohio, dominating with a 2nd place title in their Independent A class.

In March, the team leveraged its spring break to compete in Virginia Beach, where southern groups from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia fought for a qualifying score to be eligible to compete at the World Guard International (WGI) World Championships. Nuance placed 3rd out of 16 groups--unlocking their spot at worlds. 

Each colorguard team is ranked for the WGI World Championship based on points earned throughout the season. Five judges from each competition award scores based on movement, equipment, design, analysis, and general effect. The intricacy and detail of how each colorguard movement is choreographed and performed plays an integral part in the “sport” of colorguard.

Qualifying in the international competition is not the only way Nuance is helping to spread the word and the spirit behind the sport of colorguard. While the group is performing throughout the year, high school groups are often in the audience watching. “We’re so lucky to have JMU alumni come along for the practices and give us feedback for our show,” says Carly Philp, Director for Nuance.  “It’s all about the process and what the students are learning along the way. Not only are we reaching to do well in our local and international competition, we’re also seeking to experience and to learn ‘What is colorguard? What are the things that are critical to learn? What adds up to a great performance?’”

“The goal is to teach them to be the best performers that they can be, achieve at a higher level than they ever have before, and show the high school students how great their groups can be, how great their performers can be, but also how great the program is at JMU,” remarks Jerry Philp, husband and right-hand-man to his wife, Carly. “Our students act as ambassadors of the university because we’re demonstrating the strength of our program to over 50 different high schools, 10 different weekends of the year.”

Part of the goal of Nuance is to reach out to high school groups in the AIA to show support of their programs; Carly volunteers as board member of the association, and Jerry works as a judge in local competitions. But they both agree that improving the overall experience to students across the state through their own program is paramount to the advancement of the Nuance Winterguard program at JMU.

"That’s the ultimate goal: to train and build confidence within our own team so they go on to become great coaches in the community."“The bigger impact is what we hope that Nuance students do outside of the university. We’re trying to allow them to take what they’ve learned on our team back to other schools and other places. That’s the ultimate goal: to train and build confidence within our own team so they go on to become great coaches in the community.”

“They were focused, and they weren’t doing it for themselves. This was their moment to show the world what they could do, and we’re unbelievably proud of them for coming together to realize that success is a process. Learning, sharing, and performing, is what this sport is about, and we’re glad to be apart of it,” explained Carly. “I’m proud that they were willing to work up until the last second to improve themselves.”The new role as ambassadors for JMU and the sport of colorguard led Nuance to boast their best season to date, and showcase their love for the sport at the WGI World Championship. After a long road trip, the team was finally ready to take center stage at the competition in Dayton, Ohio. For the 8th season in a row, Nuance was proud of their ability to inspire people from all over the world to become better performers and to build momentum and for the sport to endure for years to come.

Senior Captain, Jessica Macintosh, performing during the 2014-15 winter season

After their prelims performance, the group advanced to semi-finals--a huge honor considering that out of over 80 groups, they were one of 36 who advanced. Though the group did not score high enough for the final round, the success achieved this year is already motivating the team’s drive to compete next year. 

“This season we really became a family. To have that moment on the floor with them made me extremely proud,” remarked senior health sciences major, and Captain of Nuance, Jessica Macintosh. “I find a lot girls practicing daily at memorial, and we’ve already had two technique rehearsals since the season ended. I also find myself talking about improvements that can be made for next season with a lot of the girls. They're all set on making finals for next year. It's all they can talk about.”

By Chase Maszle ('17), JMU Athletic Bands
Published May 11, 2015


Final stats from the season

Photo: Brian Nemiroff, Photographic Utopita


 

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Published: Monday, May 11, 2015

Last Updated: Friday, February 9, 2024

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