Imagine the flags, the tosses, the sabres—these are moves mostly made by the Tiger Eyes, the official Auburn color guard seen at Auburn football yearly. The amount of training and the time commitment, while viable to some, can lead those who were part of a high school or recreational team to reluctantly put down their rifles and flags.
But Kayla Moore, president of Illustrated Fantasy, envisioned a Tiger Eyes without the extensive commitment, a club color guard that allowed former color guard members to continue practicing and improve in a recreational environment.
Moore herself didn’t have time to work with the Auburn University band’s flag line with a busy school schedule, but couldn’t shake her love of color guard.
“I began to feel like there must be others like me,” Moore said, “those who did guard before and are wanting to continue but don’t have the time, or those who are insecure about their abilities not being up to par, or simply those who are just looking for a place to fit in and feel needed. I wanted everyone to experience how I feel about guard, pure love and passion. So I thought I’d create an environment to do so.”
With the help of the other founding members Brandice Kopishke, Andrew Nguyen, Savannah Simpson, Meagan Conway, Hannah Crossfield, Natalie Isom, and Jessica Moore, Moore started Illustrated Fantasy in November 2015. On its website in AUInvolve, its mission statement reads, “An incorporation of dance, theater, and color guard to produce a performance for all ages and provide an environment conducive to teamwork and individuality.” The team is co-ed, but its current membership of 17 is just women.
This year will be their first year of competition. Auditions are on September 17th and 18th. Their season starts officially in mid-November, and competitions start in February. The club’s current plans are to compete in three competitions. To raise funding for their competitions, they are having a yet-undeclared fundraiser.
Most important of all is the routine.
“We plan…[to] put together an entire performance roughly around 4-5 minutes in length,” Moore said, “including all staging, routine work that goes with the storyline/song, and costume, [and] compete with said performance.”
Unlike the AU band flag line, the club plans to individually plan and put together their own show.
“Having a guard where you can be included in things such as choosing a show theme, and helping to write work and deciding upon costuming as a group and being able to express oneself seemed important,” Moore said.
Moore gave more input on the club’s organization, and added that everyone gives input on the routine.
“There’s a secretary, a treasurer, and a vice president,” Moore said. “All members are on the show writing staff; however, the president handles the majority of the administrative [details] behind the scenes work so the rest of the club can feel relaxed and at ease.”
As they are currently not into their season, the time they have now stands as team building and skills practice.
“Right now we train on campus behind Parker Hall outside, only on Mondays from 6:30pm to 8pm,” Moore said. “Because we are not in season this is the perfect time to introduce people to new equipment, introduce new members to older members, and get a feel for our strengths and weaknesses when putting together a show.”
When the season rolls around, this will change to two days a week, Monday and Saturday, enough time to rehearse—according to Moore—without cutting too much into the team’s overall commitment to class or work.
As Illustrated Fantasy begins to gear up for the season, undoubtedly we will see and hear more about their routines. One thing is for sure: it is all motivated by Moore and the members of Illustrated Fantasy’s passion and love for color guard.
“I know I wasn’t ready to give up something I love,” Moore said, “so why should others?”
All further questions about Illustrated Fantasy can be e-mailed to Kayla Moore at kdm0023@auburn.edu