At Super Bowl LI, Lady Gaga delivered a flashy halftime show. She wore a silver,  bedazzled leotard as she performed stunts and sung her most acclaimed music. She opened by singing “God Bless America” and “This Land is Your Land” on top of the stadium while LED drones made iconic, American symbols behind her in red, white, and blue. She then jumped off of the stadium, leaving the audience in anticipation as the harness attached to the leotard landed her safely on top of a pillar on stage. The rest of her show used just-as-flashy of equipment, from dancers to color guards.

During Gaga’s song “Just Dance”, the Blue Knights and the Cypress Independent Guard spun air blades on stage behind her. The Blue Knights are a Denver-based drum corps, and are a member of Drum Corps International. The Cypress Independent Guard is Houston-based, and it was created so performers could pursue color guard in a professional environment.

The air blades that they spun are a type of color guard rifle; only they are not made of wood, and instead are made of high impact ABS plastic. The air blades have “windows” in their design, instead of being solid throughout. The solid rifles are more traditional and are commonly found in color guard and winter guards. The Cherry Creek Winter Guard uses rifles and flags in their shows, their most recent being “Sunshine.” Sophomore Captain, Aubriana Hudiburgh, said that “[The most recent show on February 4] was at Mesa Ridge High School, and we got second,” in the 5A division.

Similar to the guard that performed at the halftime show, the Cherry Creek Winter Guard throws high tosses to make the performance flashier. According to Hudiburgh, the Junior Captain, Jenna Link, throws a five, a toss with five rotations, during their show. The rest of the rifle line, including Hudiburgh, throw quads, tosses with four rotations. The commitment and dedication the captains and the guard put into their shows are just as much as the Blue Knights and Cypress Independent Guard put into the halftime show.