Videos From WinterGuard 2011
Spirits were high at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, Dublin yesterday (6th Mar) as Winterguard made a long awaited return to Ireland. The fantastic facilities of the NBA set the perfect stage for an afternoon of superb Winterguard competition.
The show featured 10 performances across 4 classes (2 in Exhibition, 5 in Junior Class, 2 in A Class, 1 in Open Class). The show was hosted by the IMBA and sanctioned by WGUK. The home crowd were delighted to welcome all the visitors from across the water – 4 WGUK judges along with 3 guards from Anchormen & Mayflower.
The Junior class kicked off the day in a real jazzy style with the “Donegal Divas” from Killybeggs, Co. Donegal performing “All That Jazz” from the musical Chicago. This was a very welcome return to IMBA for all the crew from Killybeggs and their show provided a great opening to the day. The second performance of the day was from the Crusaders Dance Corps from Mullingar, Co.Westmeath. The Crusaders show entitled “A Journey of Colours” expressed every day emotions which were well portrayed through the colours of the rainbow. With a great use of colour and a soundtrack of Over the Rainbow & True Colours, the Crusaders made a great return to the Winterguard activity. The 3rd guard of the day were Inbhear Mór presenting their 2011 programme “Imaginosity” which told the story of a journey into a child’s imagination where toys come to life. With some great costumes and props to compliment the show, the Arklow based unit were very well received by the appreciative crowd. The 4th performance of the day was the first of the Dublin based guards. AURORA from Tallaght, Co.Dublin put on a fantastic performance of their 2011 production which told the story of a girl who is torn between her friends and her lover. There were many emotions very well conveyed throughout the performance from this very passionate Tallaght based guard who were clearly a high contender in the competition. The final act in the Junior Class was Winter Festival. Having won their section at a recent WGUK show, Winter Festival were one to watch and certainly delivered on expectations. A superb performance from the Tallaght based guard with their show “Just a Dream”. The choreography, equipment work, costumes, props accompanied by a great soundtrack, combined to make a great show which was met with rapturous applause by the home crowd. Winter Festival went on to win the Junior Class with Aurora placing second.
After the interval – the Exhibition Class had two performances from the Kilnamanagh Twirlers. The Junior & Senior dance teams both put on excellent performances which were enjoyed by all.
The A Class opened with the first of our UK visitors. A great performance from the Mayflower A Guard performing their 2011 show which is based on “A Book of Love” by Peter Gabriel. A very well controlled performance with very good use of the floor (which changed colour three times during the performance) made for a great performance from the first of Mayflowers guards. The second performance in A Class came from Anchormen from Halifax, UK performing their show “Recording Studio” which told the story of a band making their first album in a recording studio. Some very clever use of props made for a very entertaining show. Anchormen also had great audience presence with their matching Irish tour shirts.
Mayflower took first place in A Class with Anchormen placing 2nd. Both guards in the A Class were very well received by the crowd and there was great level of appreciation shown for these two guards who travelled from the UK to participate.
The final act of the day was welcomed on with great excitement. The only Open Class performance of the day was from Mayflower. Although they were effectively competing with themselves on the day, this did not detract from Mayflower giving it their all for what was a real treat for all the winterguard fans in the arena. Their 2011 programme entitled “Obstacles” demonstrated superb equipment skill and conveyed great passion and emotion from start to finish. The Mayflower show was a real treat to watch and made for the perfect finish to a great day of Winterguard performances.
The IMBA expressed thanks to all Irish guards for their hard work in preparation for the event and expressed sincere gratitude to the two UK units for travelling over to take part. It has been almost 15 years since the last Winterguard show in Ireland and the audience and guards were assured that it will not be another 15 years until we do it again. There was a great atmosphere in the arena yesterday and a great vibe that this was the beginning of a rejuvenation of the Winterguard activity in Ireland that will hopefully continue long into the future.
This show was the result of a refreshed partnership between IMBA & WGUK and the IMBA would like to express thanks again to all at WGUK for their help and support in getting this show up and running.
Congrats again to all involved and we look forward to a bigger and better Winterguard in 2012
