Mayura: Just a Half-Time Show?

A summary of the Redwood Marching Band’s halftime show, Mayura.

By: Ella Chan

Picture this!

It’s Redwood’s Football Friday. It’s hot, a little sweaty, a little gross, but the spirits are high as the football team strives to win the game as hundreds watch.

Around the 6-minute mark of the second quarter, a sea of gold and teal walk down the track to warm up and prepare to perform for half-time.

Although the football season has finished, doesn’t mean the same for the band as they still continue to compete against other schools with this show. 

The Redwood Ranger Band and Color Guard put out their show Mayura.

Behind all the waving flags and booming music, there’s a story to be told through the visuals, music, and samples. 

Mayura, translating to peacock in Sanskrit, brings the audience through the story of Juno and the Peacock originating from Aesop’s Fables. 

Aesop was a Greek slave and storyteller, living during the period of ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Aesop was the writer of many classic stories such as The Hare and the Tortoise and The Lion and the Mouse. 

Juno in Greek mythology is also known by the Romans by that name, a Goddess of protection. However she was also known as Hera who was a Goddess associated with all the aspects of women. But in the opening sample, they refer to Juno as the goddess of nature.

The opening sample helps to establish the story;

Long long ago, the peacock was very plain; and it went to Juno, the goddess of nature, and said to her ‘that all the birds have their own beautiful identities.’ The peacock sighed and said, it could not serve Mother Nature in its current state, and it made the peacock sad.

The band then jumps into a groove to begin their show. An Indian vocal style called konnakol, a vocal percussive style of music, accompanies the groove. The vocal style both points to the origin of the story and exemplifies the strife of the peacock.

As explained by the band director, Jordan Ray, “The first movement is set with this idea that we have a little bit of angst, a little bit of rhythmic intensity, as the peacock is basically asking Juno ‘all these birds have these really colorful pallets and they’re really beautiful, but I’m really plain.’”

The initial movement portrays the peacock’s internal conflict with its appearance. Although Juno grants the peacock its wish, she wants the peacock to understand that it got what it asked for and should be grateful for that alone. 

Juno called the peacock forward and put him in a trance, and he was instantly transformed.

The song in this section of the show is based on the song Undisclosed Desires by Muse. 

The music picks up the pace, which can be perceived as the peacock experiencing a rush of delight and pride with its new appearance. However, the realization of the peacock’s voice settles in. 

Similarly, as the Muse song is titled, the peacock only lets Juno know of its complaint about its appearance, nothing about its voice. The peacock’s insecurity regarding its voice and yearning for one that matches its beauty is that of an ‘undisclosed desire.’

Oftentimes, the peacock complained to Juno that its voice did not match its beauty. 

This line brings the band into a slower tempo and flows into the flute (performed by Abigail Ray, ’26) and saxophone (performed by Connor West, ’27) solos. The slower tempo brings a mood shift, contrasting with the prior energetic feel. The movement portrays the peacock’s realization of its voice.

This second movement shows the peacock, “Cool, I look beautiful now! But what about my voice?”

The peacock loves the idea of its appearance but despises its given voice. The peacock wants everything, both beauty and a voice to match.

Somewhat showing the disappointment behind the cost of its appearance. The peacock finds there’s no point in looking amazing if they don’t sound just as great. This concept leads the band into the 3rd movement;

The peacock cried to Juno, ‘What is the point of the silent beauty if I’m defeated by the sound of my own voice?’

This movement highlights Redwood’s percussion. 

The movement portrays the peacock trying to figure out how exactly it’s going to ‘function’ while having an ugly voice. 

The intensity of the movement really shows the peacock’s internal struggle with itself. As described by Ray, the peacock “butts heads with the idea that, ‘I’m beautiful, and I sound terrible.”

After witnessing all this mental battle, the goddess speaks out to the peacock.

Juno remarked, do not strive for something that was not given to you. Instead, be content with your own uniqueness. 

Movement 4 portrays the peacock finally accepting itself, finally being content with both its appearance and its voice. The tempo mellows out from the third movement but carries an energetic feel showing the peacock’s acceptance. 

The peacock finally takes into consideration what Juno has been saying. Juno needed the peacock to understand, “don’t worry about the things that weren’t gifted to you. Just be content in the things that are beautiful and how you are.” 

At the end of the day, the show and folk tale of Juno and the Peacock aims to leave the message with audiences to be content with what they have. Everything they have is a gift that should be valued and appreciated. 

How is the Show Made?

With the work of multiple talented musicians and an idea, the Redwood Marching Band can perform a show. In order to get the show, many other people behind the scenes are needed to begin this creative process.

Earlier this year, Ray found himself reading stories online and stumbled across the fable of Juno and the Peacock. Finding himself fond of this concept, he collaborates with a couple of people to put this story to music.

“The music process is pretty intricate,” Ray says. “We contact John Meehan [writer for the wind music parts] and really set up, ‘Hey, here’s what we would like musically, here’s the music we think we want to use, what’s going to work, what’s not going to work?’”

Ray has been successfully working with John Meehan for the past 8-10 years, “He’s such an expert that he really helps us and guides us to what’s going to work for our kids.” The same process occurs with the percussion, contacting Shawn Glyde to create music for the drumline and front ensemble. 

Through much discussion, they figure out the strengths and weaknesses in each section within the band. Figuring out what musically works best for the overall ensemble allows the message within the show to come across.

For the drill and visual aspect of the performance, a different process is needed. 

“Once we have the musical ideas of the drill it kind of comes into play with the idea of setting up the visual story to the music. So we tell our drill writer, Preston [Howard], ‘this is what we want. Here’s what we want to see, here’s what our kids are good at, here’s the equipment we’re using for color guard, here’s what we have available for stages and props.’ Then we work on designing the actual field stage, in this case, it was peacocks which was pretty easy.”

Thanks to the help of Mr. Ray and his staff, the intricate marching show, Mayura, was able to come to life!

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