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History
The year of 2007 will have officially mark Code Black Independent as its inaugural year in existence. Although this may seem as Code Black's first year out, its roots dig deep to an independent A team that was formed back in 2001. This team was called Emblem281. It was put together in the intent to give young students in the North Houston area an outlet after high school to further pursue their passion for the activity. Emblem in that year had a recruitment of ten young adults that eventually paved the way for the group to grow from a budding organization to a powerhouse colorguard that swept away the audience with their rendition of “Crazy Maze” by Des’ree. Their hard work and perseverance ultimately paid off in the end with a First Place finish at TCGC State Championships. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, Emblem281 was not able to attend WGI this year, but was in full gear for the next year ahead. 2003 and 2004 marked the year for many ups and downs. Emblem281 in 2003 did a show entitled “Tuning of the A String” which was easily a crowd favorite. Unfortunately the judges did not share the same enthusiasm that the audience had felt. Emblem, in the first year at WGI, missed it out of finals by one spot. In the following year, the same group brought out another crowd pleasing show about the famous Broadway musical “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” The show stirred a mix of emotions from the adjucation panel, but the then 30 member team still let down a performance that had the audience on their feet. Unfortunately, the year repeated again in another near miss out of finals. Despite the years of disappointment, the members of Emblem281 deep down inside knew that they were there because of their passion and their love to perform. The year of 2005 finally rose in favor of the already four-year old program. With the show entitled “A New Song”, Emblem281 used it as a vehicle to deliver themselves from a group created solely for entertainment to one that started to play by the rules. In the first WGI Regional of 2005, Emblem had acquired their first block score ever and the first block score of their class in that year. As the season quickly progressed towards success, the group began to feel everything that they have worked hard for begin to pay off. As WGI Nationals started to creep around the corner, a major crisis hit the group unexpectedly as they found out that they have lost their director. This epidemic brought the group closer than ever before to push through all obstacles and proceed to WGI without a director. Emblem281 had an undefeated season until WGI Finals where they ended up in a 5th place finish. Without the founding director, the group known as Emblem281 saw its future as non-existent. With an instructional staff that revamped their positions and some fresh new faces, the organization reformed itself as Fortitude Independent. With a highly skilled group of members, one might have thought that immediate success was attainable no matter the design, but as the season progressed…the score did not. After a multitude of unfortunate events and disappointments, the group then did the unexpected and changed the entire show from floor design, costumes, music, and choreography knowing well enough that WGI Prelims was well around the corner. After two weeks, the group debuted their New show at state competition with positive feedback and cleared up rumors that speculated around the state about a totally changed show. The rumors for once are indeed right. Fortitude then had their second performance of their new show at WGI Prelims with little hope of making it into finals. The judging panel disagreed with the group’s preconceived notions of failure with a score that placed the group safely into a finalist position and beating out all odds. This season proved the group’s passion and perseverance to never let down and things will turn out better in the end. After a turbulent year, the staff of Fortitude Independent decided to discontinue the existence of the color guard and fold. As the 2007 audition season rolled around, words of a new independent guard swirled the city and the members of the color guard formerly known as Fortitude/Emblem jumped onto that chance to audition. In another ill-timed event, the director made an impromptu decision and quit unexpectedly. With the extremely sudden news, the members felt bewildered and lost, but their passion to perform was So strong that they did not let down. So they decided to take matters into their own hands. A meeting was then held (in a living room mind you) by the members themselves to determine the possibilities of making it through on their own without a director and without a set staff. What was decided was a nomination of a few fellow individuals as choreographers, a game plan, and a selection of songs. The members then sought out Joe Cataneo to assist them in the process of making it all happen, as well as his extensive experience in writing drill. With a strong tight-knit foundation of veterans, and some fresh new faces, and a passion to perform…comes the birth of CODE BLACK. |