Competitive impact of extra TOC show material.

[BozzlyB]

So the G-8 corps are reqired to prepare and practice a significant amount of extra material, and every second spent perfecting the extra material is a second not spent perfecting their competitive show. Given the non G-8 corps will not have this requirement and therefore (in theory) have more time to perfect, clean, and alter design to their competitive show, will this translate into higher competitive placements for the non G-8 corps and give us a (fairly) new G-8 scene every year?

Edited December 8, 2010 by BozzlyB

[jplattSCV]

So the G-8 corps are reqired to prepare and practice a significant amount of extra material, every second of which is spent on perfecting is a second not spent perfecting their competitive show. Given the non G-8 corps will not have this requirement and therefore (in theory) have more time to perfect, clean, and alter design to their competitive show, will this translate into higher competitive placements for the non G-8 corps and give us a (fairly) new G-8 scene every year?

I may be in the minority, but I think that having a broader range of things that are in the repertoire for rehearsal will actually make the competitive shows better. Its been 20 years so my memories may be inaccurate but I can recall that rehearsals sometimes became counterproductive when we were focussing too much on one thing. My brain would get fried and it became more difficult to retain info. When this happened, our section would switch gears and practice something unrelated for a while to get our minds right again.

I think adding other material that is to be performed unjudged and more for fun will actually make the remaining rehearsal on the competative show that much more focussed and effective.

And having more things to practice will only make the kids that much better as performers.

In that respect, I think its a good thing. Still not sure I am on board with all of it as it relates to the "have-not's", but for the kids in the "have" corps, I think they will benefit.

[jjeffeory]

So the G-8 corps are reqired to prepare and practice a significant amount of extra material, every second of which is spent on perfecting is a second not spent perfecting their competitive show. Given the non G-8 corps will not have this requirement and therefore (in theory) have more time to perfect, clean, and alter design to their competitive show, will this translate into higher competitive placements for the non G-8 corps and give us a (fairly) new G-8 scene every year?

No, no, no... Sorry... That's just silly if they're simply learning some extra music. If the G-8 is doing more than that, it's still a no. Maybe 8th place could be fighting with 9-11th or something like that, bit otherwise, this would not hurt them.

[corpsband]

I think adding other material that is to be performed unjudged and more for fun will actually make the remaining rehearsal on the competative show that much more focussed and effective.

And having more things to practice will only make the kids that much better as performers.

I agree -- but only if the development of the show during the season allows it. If you get into an "unplanned changes" scenario then I can see this extra material being a burden. Of course it depends on just what that "extra material" entails as well. If it's little more then the encore pieces that corps are already learning then it's really not much of an issue. If it really is new material -- that could be a problem.

In that respect, I think its a good thing. Still not sure I am on board with all of it as it relates to the "have-not's", but for the kids in the "have" corps, I think they will benefit.

As for the have-nots -- in my view this comes right back to the season planning issue. If you could be thrown into a TOC show at short notice -- for instance if the TOC show were all based on current season standings -- then every corps would have to learn all this new material and every corps would have schedules that changes at moments notice, IMHO this is why the TOC-8 is static -- not because of any desire to create a new class of corps. In fact -- from a marketing perspective -- the TOC shows would be more exciting if they always contained the current top 8 and would therefore draw more fans and earn more money. But logistically it would be extremely challenging to have TOC-8 potentially changing at every show.

[audiodb]

So the G-8 corps are reqired to prepare and practice a significant amount of extra material, every second of which is spent on perfecting is a second not spent perfecting their competitive show. Given the non G-8 corps will not have this requirement and therefore (in theory) have more time to perfect, clean, and alter design to their competitive show, will this translate into higher competitive placements for the non G-8 corps and give us a (fairly) new G-8 scene every year?

Don't think so.

The majority of world-class corps learn additional music besides just their field show, for various reasons. Many corps still do the occasional parade, and need a song appropriate for that venue. Then there's the "corps song" tradition. Encores have been emphasized recently as a place for corps to offer different tunes, and as a result, we've seen corps learn as many as four additional songs to provide an encore that is quite different from the competitive program.

So what changes in 2011?

- Time for TOC corps to prepare additional material (but not much, since they already learn additional music anyway)

- Money, as TOC corps will earn more for performing this additional material at TOC shows (but pay will not change for corps 9-xx, even if they learn additional material)

This could either hurt or help the top 8. Perhaps the additional money will outweigh the additional time involved, and further entrench top corps in their positions. Or, if time trumps money, this could give corps 9-xx a little help closing in competitively.

[soccerguy315]

how much more are they going to learn? Any corps in DCI right now can arc it up and put on a 10-15 minute concert. If that's all were talking about for these G8 shows, then there will be nothing these corps don't already do.

[CorpsPro89]

WHAT?! That's crazy?! Those 8 corps KNOW what they're doing and having to learn some extra music (without drill) would be so easy for them! They are the kind of corps that won't sacrifice a show for some extra show tunes!

[Jeff Ream]

they know the competitive show comes first. many corps roll out 4/5 songs for encores, and I don't see anyone going nuts working on crazy drill for this stuff.

[wcmello09]

i was never "G8" but they way we learned extra music was, have it handed out to us and staff saying be prepared to go over this at such and such time. then it was up to us to learn it. battle hymn of the republic is an example from 2010 and the national anthem project in Annapolis is another example in 2009. plus we had a parade tune and 2 more "concert" pieces we played for encores.

[hornandsoccer]

in a word, no.

in many words...eh, y'all know what i'm gonna say anyway, so just no. not gonna happen.