Parkway North Marching Band Adds Unique Visuals

During this fall semester, the Parkway North High Marching Band has made changes to “The Devine Comedy” show, now incorporating color guard techniques for members of the band to perform.

In a typical band performance, the band plays while marching in formation and the color guard dances with flags and rifles among the band members. However, the Parkway North marching band is thinking outside the box.

“We’ve added in a lot of cool visuals to our show that are more on the theatrical side,” said color guard member senior Cassidy Munie, who helped teach the new skills to band members.

The additions include color guard techniques performed with poles, singing, and more theatrics. These all aid the band and guard in better telling the story of the show’s three movements: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, which tell the story of Dante’s epic trilogy.

“As the band has grown over the last couple of years, [it has gained] the opportunity to take on more difficult music and routines, and to match the routines to that music,” said color guard sponsor Laura Glenn.

Members of the band are now mastering not only their own instrument, but also the flag poles used by the color guard. While some of the techniques were difficult for band members to execute at first, with practice everyone picked up on them.

“The guard found it very amusing at first because the band was finally able to appreciate all the hard work we put into our job. The band appreciates it because it adds a really nice element to our overall show,” said Munie.

These added elements help the band to stand out in comparison to other schools in their competitions. At Missouri State University’s Marching Band Invitational Oct. 12 this past weekend the band officially debuted the new routine and it was well received. Parkway North’s marching band made it to the competition’s finals.

“Not many bands have incorporated the act of spinning and pole work into their shows,” said Munie. “It’s very different and makes us stand out.”

 By: Chaney Cooper  Sports Editor