Vanguard Blog

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International Women’s Day Spotlight: An Interview with Vanguard’s First Female Corps Director

Mar 8, 2022 | Blog Post, Santa Clara Vanguard

For Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, we are shining a spotlight on Vanguard’s FIRST female corps director, Rebecca Compton-Allen, best known as RCA! VMAPA is proud to be a vehicle for RCA, and all of the women who presently work at Vanguard, to...

Celebrating Black History Month With SCVWG’s Story of John Henry

Feb 10, 2022 | Blog Post

For Black History Month, we are celebrating by revisiting the story of John Henry with Vanguard performance coach and storyteller, Wayne Harris. A freedman during the Reconstruction Era, post Civil War, John Henry was a railroad steel driver and, as legend has it,...

History of The Bottle Dance, In Honor of Pat Pierson

Sep 5, 2021 | Alumni, Blog Post, Santa Clara Vanguard

Imagine a long row of dancers, hands interlocked and arms held at an unshakeable ninety-degree angle. As the unmistakable strains of the “Wedding Dance” from Fiddler on the Roof swell, the line moves forward as one. Step. Drag. Step. With the lock of each passing...

In Memoriam

Aug 28, 2021 | Blog Post, Santa Clara Vanguard

This past year, we lost two important pillars of the Vanguard organization and its history. Don and Ginny Koester passed peacefully on June 27th and February 1st of 2021 respectively. Together they served the Vanguard organization from 1970-1999 and briefly from...

Vanguard Voices: Episode 8

Jun 27, 2021 | Alumni, Blog Post, Santa Clara Vanguard

Celebrate Pride Month with our latest episode of Vanguard Voices! Three of our alumni, each of whom proudly represent SCV and the LGBTQ+ community, openly share how the activity played a part in their coming out experience, the progress they've witnessed in each of...

Vanguard Voices: Episode 7

May 10, 2021 | Alumni, Blog Post, Santa Clara Vanguard

Featuring: Peter Ohno, Kim Wong and Ken Nakamoto To honor Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we talked to three of our proud AAPI SCV Alumni about their family support growing up, why Vanguard was their dream corps and what their favorite traditions were...