The Bridgewater-Raritan High School Winter Guard performed in an exhibition performance at West Milford High School, their first performance of the 2024 season, on January 13.
At this exhibition performance, the Winter Guard put on their first out-of-school performance of “Ghost Light,” the Winter Guard show for 2024. The Winter Guard implemented the culmination of their work for the past nearly three months in rehearsals.
In such competitions where judges are present but do not rank schools by their scores, teams are provided with commentary on their performance to assist them in their next rank-based competitions, but in this case, the performance was just an exhibition.
“Ghost Light” is based on the idea of ghost lights in theatres that are always left illuminated even when all other lights are off. This continuous luminosity from this one point in often humongous theatres creates a sense of continual motivation, which is the idea behind the Winter Guard’s show for this season.
Performing alongside many other schools, similar to this West Milford experience, provides a mental sense of preparation of putting on their refined show with such an audience with other teams present.
The BRHS Winter Guard, in conjunction with the Color Guard in the BRHS Marching Band, rehearses every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday to practice their detailed 2024 show. Their musical selection for this show includes “Coldplay” by Midnight.
Under the direction of Nick Mossa, the Band Director at BRHS and advisor of several after school groups for the band program, the Color and Winter Guards are open to any student at BRHS who may or may not be enrolled in a band class at the high school. The season lasts from 1-2 weeks after the Marching Band season ends, which is at the end of October, until late April.
The Winter Guard season has just begun, and this exhibition performance sets off their competitive season, with many Saturday competitive performances to bring their best.
The team’s first performance is Saturday, February 3, at Hillsborough High School. They also have a performance the following Saturday, February 10, at Council Rock High School.
