On Sunday, Feb. 8, in the DHS gym, the Downey High School color guard and percussion hosted their annual Parent Preview to perform their winter season shows for friends and family.

With friends and family watching in the audience, the nerves of the performers were running high.

Senior and color guard captain, Angelica Martinez, admitted that it is a different experience performing in front of familiar faces.

“I personally was more nervous about performing to the people I know, opposed to complete strangers at competitions,” Martinez said. “You feel more pressure because you know they will be watching you specifically. As you perform and look out into the crowd, you recognize the familiar faces and freak out a little.”

Senior and Winter Percussion performer Emmanuel Larios agrees that there are more nerves when performing to well-known faces.

“I felt really nervous and excited to play in front of the people I know,” Larios said. “It was more nerve-racking than any other performance because their judgment means more to me.”

Both the varsity and junior varsity color guard teams performed for the preview. Varsity’s show is entitled Aphrodite, and JV’s show is entitled Me. Percussion’s winter show is entitled Boy Meets Girl.

Along with the DHS groups, there were performances by other schools including: Bellflower High School, Whittier High School, Los Alamitos High School, and Fountain Valley High School. There was also a special performance from Black Crown Independent, a Los Angeles based Open Class Winterguard.

“All the other groups that performed did really great. We even had time to bond with them throughout the preview, and they were all genuinely nice people,” Martinez said. “We were even fortunate enough to have the independent group Black Crown perform. Some past Downey High School color guard alumni are now performing with that group, so it was nice to see them still doing what they love to do and kick some real butt in such an incredible performance.”

Not only did the event show off all the performer’s immense talent and hard work, but it was also an opportunity to expose the lesser known sports and performing arts on campus.

Senior Katheryne Castillo left the event with a newfound interest in the arts.

“I think a lot more people should know about percussion and color guard because they are really amazing performers,” Castillo said. “If I would have known about it when I was a freshman, I would have totally tried out for both. I honestly now have a new respect for them and what they do.”

Family and friends are the foundation of all the group’s success. At the event, there was so much support and obvious love from the crowd supporting the hard work of every talented individual.

“We have a lot of support from the moms and dads to make this whole preview possible along with the nonstop commitment and devotion of our amazing coaches to make our performance the best that it could be,” Martinez said. “Without the help and support of them, this preview wouldn’t be possible.”

Since it is the beginning of the season, all the groups have upcoming competitions to show off their hard work and dedication.