Winterguard places eighth at championships at Edison High for ‘The Shining’ routine

Bella Macleod

Staff Writer

Mira Costa’s Winterguard team placed eighth at its performance at regional championships on April 21 at Edison High School.

Winterguard performs with Marching Band at football games, parades and field tournaments during the fall and practices for its competition season during the spring. A total of nine schools took part in championships, including El Segundo, Chino Hills and Thousand Oaks High Schools.

“I think that the show was really good closure for my career of being a winterguard member,” team captain Julie Wong said. “I’m leaving knowing there’s a good foundation for future members of the team and excited to see what the future holds for them.”

Winterguard performed a routine based off of the Stephen King book and horror film “The Shining.” The music arrangement included dialogue from the film and featured Hector Berlioz’s symphony, “Song D’une Nuit De Sabbat.” The multicolored carpet featured in the set of “The Shining” served as the color scheme for the floor and costumes. The team also used doors, a desk and a typewriter as props.

“Our goal as individual performers and a group is to make the audience visually and emotionally connect with our show,” Winterguard member Sara Solis said. “Our last performance was the best that we have given and to know that we did it as a team is what makes all of the hard work worth it.”

Winterguard performed the same routine at a previous Winterguard show on April 13 at La Serna High School, where the team placed fourth out of 20 schools including Peninsula and Palisades Charter High School.

“I thought that our performance at La Serna went really well,” Wong said. “Our overall score increased by six points and everyone on the team seemed satisfied with their run.”

The Winterguard team began practicing in January for the championship. Members attended three-hour long practices after school twice or three times a week, and daily during sixth period, Wong said. The championship competition was Winterguard’s last of the season.

“We put so many hours into making sure that we can successfully portray a character and immerse the audience, so doing it for the last time is both exhilarating and surreal,” Solis said.