Valley marching bands ready to strut their stuff at Halftime Festival

Amid the cold breeze and morning dew collecting on each blade of grass of their respective football fields, the marching bands and accompanying pageantry of the Imperial Valley toiled away this week at forming the entertaining and artistic aspects of their field shows.

Six high school bands from around the Valley have been preparing for weeks leading up to the 14th annual Halftime Festival, which steps off Tuesday evening on Cal Jones Field at Central Union High School in El Centro.

The festival is held to “provide every Valley high school band an opportunity to perform their halftime show and to watch and see what the other schools are doing for their shows,” according to a press release from the Imperial Valley Music Educators Association.

“All the band directors have different philosophies and we all do it for the kids and music education,” said event coordinator and Central Union High School band director Renee Baker, stressing that the Halftime Festival is an exhibition and not a competition.

Hours upon hours go into the preparation for each band and accompanying drill teams, tall flags and/or color guards and majorettes (baton twirlers), Baker said.

She said the 125-person Great Spartan Band goes through about 10 hours of practice a week including early-morning band practices and after-school sectionals.

Central’s clarinet section leaders Diana Andrade and Oscar Sanchez said each step leading up to the field show — from individuals learning the music to full band rehearsals, sectionals, learning the on-field formations, adding dance moves and “trying not to bump into each other” — takes time.

“We’re here practicing for two hours every morning and (we have) sectionals after school but in the end, to hear the cheers (from the crowd during the field shows), it’s all worth it,” Andrade, a 17-year-old Central senior, said.

“Our first priority is we sound good and then we add the dances and the movement,” Baker said of preparing the Spartans “Best of 2011” field show for Tuesday.

“For the kids it’s not new music but it’s maybe a refresher for things we did back in September,” she said. “It’s really what the kids like to do.”

Baker said the Spartans’ show includes songs picked by her along with the drill and tall flags directors and student majorette to best highlight what each group does on the field.

“Basically we all work as a team,” Sanchez, also a 17-year-old senior at Central, said.

Calexico High School band director Carlos Navarrete agreed with Baker since the preparation takes “a lot of hours,” he said Thursday.

“We were practicing two days a week from 4:30 to 9 (p.m.) plus Saturdays,” Navarrete said. “We spent as much time practicing out here as the football team.”

The Mighty Bulldogs Marching Band’s field show — and that of The Pride of Imperial — differ from Central and other Valley high schools’ band in that Imperial and Calexico’s shows are done in drum corps-style as opposed to traditional style.

Calexico’s “Fantasmic” show includes 30 full-band movements, which is way up from last year’s eight movements during the field show, Navarrete said.

“I think this is the best (field show) that we have done,” 17-year-old Calexico senior and trumpet section leader Luis Hernandez said. “In a way it’s the hardest but I think it’s a really good field show.”

“It’s very different for them but we have to push them to get better,” Navarrete said.

Imperial band director Brooke Kofford said The Pride of Imperial also tries to perform its field show “at the highest level we can do it.”

“Even though we finished our competition season we were still improving our field show,” Kofford said Tuesday.

“We spend so many hours here (in the band room), on the field and all together it becomes like a family,” Clarissa Obeso, 17-year-old Imperial senior and alto saxophone section leader, said.

Yet each band, with camaraderie intact, seemed excited to get on the field Tuesday night.

“What goes through our minds is that we want the best possible show for every band, not just Central,” Andrade said. “We’re not trying to make it a competition; we’re trying to show our hard work.”

“The Halftime Festival is a good way for the whole Valley to see what each (band) does,” 17-year-old Imperial drum major Diego Gamboa said. “There is no ‘who is better.’ We all do different things and we all do our best to make it a good show.”

“We’re really going to blow their minds,” 17-year-old Calexico senior and head drum major Dalila Garcia said.

“I think we’re going to rock their world,” she said.

Staff Writer Roman Flores can be reached at 760-337-3439 or rflores@ivpressonline.com


Can't attend the show? Watch the Halftime Festival this Tuesday evening LIVE from Cal Jones Field at Central Union High School in El Centro here at ivpressonline.com.