Contemporary Color

This vibrant documentary takes the viewer into the world of color guard, a combination of sport and dance performed at American high schools and universities during football games or brass band performances. Related to cheerleading, color guard is less widely known – which is inexcusable, given the spectacular, large-scale synchronized dances by performers wielding flags, rifles and swords. In the summer of 2015, former Talking Heads front man David Byrne organized a concert that paired 10 artists – including Nelly Furtado, Nico Muhly and St. Vincent – with some of the best color guard teams. The result is a series of excellent and gorgeously filmed performances – some of them exuberant and highly expressive, others conservative and restrained. The directing duo of brothers Bill and Turner Ross also reveal the tension and excitement behind the scenes. In the words of Byrne, who is one of the producers, “The teams and the musicians created this glorious, inspiring thing that runs counter to much of what is happening in the world right now.”