Blue streaks marching band prepares their show “The Main Event”

Adrian Kavazovic

The Marching Blue Streaks Band warms up for their halftime performance.

The Main Event. A spectacle containing circus tricks, acts, and three parts of music, performed by the Marching Blue Streaks Band. 

Senior Kimberly Portillo, a tenor saxophone player and section leader loves the creativity that the show portrays.

“There’s a lot of flexibility to be ourselves, [and to] be goofy on the field. We [have] these little [traditions] whenever we’re at the beginning of the show, Emi’s on stilts, we’re all yelling “Ark Ark, Ark,” just [in] our little section,” Portillo said. “If you’re just yourself and have [high energy] during the show it’s gonna seem like you’re actually in a circus and that’s what we want to be able to deliver to the people [and] the judges.” 

The circus show theme spermed from the band members themselves. Over the summer, band teachers Daniel Upton and Claire Leeper had the students in the band submit theme ideas and choose the most popular idea.

“It was really the band [that] came up with this and then Upton and Leeper put the music together. [We were] able to work with a company, make the show [and figure out] what our movements [should] look like. The entire band came into this one show, [we] all had a say in music selections and stuff we would like,” Portillo said.

Sophomore Cindy Liu, who plays oboe in the symphonic band and marches with the piccolo, loves that the show contains music from three different pieces.

“This year [the songs are] mostly circus themed. We have Entry of the Gladiators as our opener, a familiar tune [that] most people have heard [of], Mozart’s Fugue in our slower ballad section, and The Greatest Show in the finale,” Liu said. 

“

Everyone’s working really, really hard [and] being so kind to each other. [If] anyone needs help, no one [is going to] judge anyone, everyone steps in to help.

— Kim Portillo

With the music in place, the choreography and elements are what the band is working on to further install the circus theme in the show.

“[In our last performance] we had Emi [Muniz] on stilts [and] we had some of our clarinet players do this cool yo-yo thing. Hopefully before [our] first competition, we’ll have our set [complete]. [We are planning on having a] balance beam somewhere in the show [and] a German wheel that one of our members is [going to] get to use,” Portillo said. 

With around 160 members in the band, Liu feels the community presence is a big part of what makes the band great.

“I love the community. It feels great to be a part of something huge that takes a long time to put together. Seeing us get better and better at it is so rewarding. It’s always really nice to see that our hard work pays off,” Liu said.

Portillo also feels that the support and work ethic of the band this year is extremely noticeable.

“Even after a year and a half of nobody marching [and] nobody playing marching band music, we all came in with the same goal, that we want to be the best as possible. Everyone’s working really, really hard [and] being so kind to each other. [If] anyone needs help, no one [is going to] judge anyone, everyone steps in to help,” Portillo said.

Though the band has made great progress with the show, Liu feels that the band still has room for improvement.

“[Our last performance] was pretty good, [but] of course we could be better. There were some areas that I thought we did really well on. I’m glad we knew where we were going, and no one seemed confused or lost,” Liu said. “[For our upcoming performance] we added some new elements, so we can present a more completed work this week.”

Portillo feels that she played and hit all her counts correctly, but hopes to improve her energy and march for the next performance.

“There’s something you [have] to work on for every show. For next week I need to play exactly like I did last week, but with more energy [and] get[ting] my feet in time. Hopefully [the] energy that I use on my instrument will radiate across the entire section,” Portillo said.

The Blue Streak Marching Band will perform their circus spectacular every other Friday during football season.