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JTT

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  1. Depth of vocabulary in the World Class? Let's avoid the handbook definition people. Equipment and body fused together to the point where one cannot be seperated from the other. World class books may be stylistically familiar but feel completely unique to the show you are watching. Every toss should be different and meaningful to the program. Body phrasing should be non repetitive offering new skills constantly for the viewer. World Class teams should be offering programs which have never been seen before both visually and through their soundtrack. If that soundtrack is not completely new, they should be taking the show to completely new and unexpected levels so that they are redefining what the sound track means to the guard viewer. I want to watch a world class show and remember it for all that it offers and because it is a unique experience. There are great world performances that did not make finals that I will always remember because they had all these factors. Sometimes these shows were executed so well that I could not understand why they were not finalists and sometimes not. But they were special and fit the class while other teams who attempted little excelled scorewise. Then there are teams that compete in World and offer none of the above to the viewer. A team who does the same toss over and over paired with the same jump skills over and over should not be in world. A world team that offers nothing new to the viewer that they could not see in any other class does not belong in the class. Of course you need to execute whatever you do to get full credit. If a team throws great 7's , it should be rewarded appropriately which should be different from the team that just throws 5's or 4's. The teams that go out there equipment wise should get appropriate credit for the attempt though which in my book is just as high as a group that executes mediocre skills well. I have watched almost everyone on the WGI network now and I know my picks for the Top 15 based on this criteria. I wonder what will happen in Dayton.
  2. I would argue that the standard has gone down. Better yet, it is selectively applied. World class teams should be performing world class quality shows. Repeated ideas, repetitive and thin movement vocabularies paired with mediocre equipment writing does not add up to world class by definition.
  3. Actually I think Corona is great BUT they do not execute like the other groups I mentioned. Its great that the attempt the work they do and they should be pushing the boudaries of what your performers can do in the World class, but you should have to execute to get points. My problem is with the teams in world class that are doing less than most of the Open class teams and yet they still get the scores.
  4. Looking at the IW teams this year, it seems you can break it down like this 1 - World teams that are fighting for the gold who are truly World class groups. Doing amazing things, amazingly well and are amazingly creative. Sac, NEI and SCV are some of these groups. 2 - World teams who fit all the above but are just a hair below those first groups. Onyx, Zydeco, Crown guards are some examples. then the next two groups get messy 3 - World teams who are like the above groups but who are just not executing at the same level yet but who are doing truly world class programming with world class performers. Alter Ego, Diamante definitely come to mind here. Both these groups (having seen Alter Ego live and Diamante on WGI) seem to have grown tremendously and although doing well, not advancing that much over some lesser groups scorewise. 4 - Finally there are the guards that are classified as IW and have the age in their teams but the design is seriously lacking world class quality. Honestly, these guards are probably more Open class than anything but with older members. They may be executing their programs well but they are offering nothing like a world class program. I am not knocking the performers. The problem I have is with simply lame and unoriginal programming. What bothers me is that some of these guards seem to get credit for doing less work, with a lesser design. You can understand that at the beginning of the season, but the judging community seems to allow these groups to maintain a level of success over teams that actually show progression and development over the season. True World class teams should be pushing the boundary of the activity in both design and performance, I am not sure why the judging community does not pay as much attention to getting it right in the 9-18 ranks as they do for the top groups.
  5. I will put a couple thoughts out there about my favorites at Trumbull Blessed Sacrament : Show keeps getting better and since the Salem Regional. From the second they take the floor they controlled the audience through a unique and thoroughly modern performance. The movement they present is simply fabulous on top of an agressive yet incredibly musical equipment book. There was no comparison in the class with them. The fact that they were not at least 8 points up on everyone was a surprise to everyone in the room. Alter Ego : Definitely a World Class book. Most people around me had them in second considering what they were competing against. Huge variety of equipment and movement skills are displayed through the entire program. Could use some scrubbing near the end but they should find themselves moving ahead of some of their competition at the next regional. Cheshire and Trumbull : How can anyone deny the equipment abilities of either of these colorguards. The weapon lines were just wonderful and the flag tosses were executed beautifully. Greater Johnstown : Fun music, fun show and some outstanding performers. Looked forward to seeing this group again and they were improved from Salem by a big leap. Just wish the staff would clear up their presentation. Sonnor : It was great to see a group execute equipment and body skills unlike almost any other team at the regional. They definitely have some cleaning to do and they need to be consistent but it was fun to watch this group perform. Spectrum : Entertaining show with a fun floor which progressively changed color throughout the performance. This group spun well and performed well. I thought they could have fought it out with Patriots in the Open Class. Les Esclipses : One of the more creative ways of starting a show at this regional with members rolling from the front to the back. Another floor that kept opening and folding. Solid rifle section in the middle was a highlight Some requests from a longtime fan of the activity 1) appropriately uniform your performers. not only does it look bad, but it made NO sense visually with what you were attempting to do on the floor. 2) i do not need your indoor colorguard performance to teach me life lessons. spin well, spin to good music and entertain us, that is what the audience wants to see 3) please WGI, have your judges truly judge their class and put people where they belong there were some odd judging decisions at finals 4) please stop using the boring, overdone tunes
  6. I guess the greater question is why that banal skill is being put into an alleged world class program in the first place? I thought the world class was created to let designers and performers push themselves as far as possible. The result has been a bunch of guards out there who refuse to push themselves creatively because they would risk scoring success. It has become more apparent that they will not get the recognition for pushing themselve that they would for doing an open class level vocabulary to some overdone and basically non-creative show. This is really the fault of the judging community and evidently it ain't changing anytime soon looking at the score thus far. Maybe someone will start taking a stand now that we are getting deeper into the season.
  7. Watch some YouTube and the WGI replay! Send In the Clowns? nameless pieces involving the word "ahh" being chanted for 4 minutes? I challenge you to find some true highpoints in these pieces. The wisdom of these designers is to create their own highpoints in these shows with absolutely no audio or emotional reasoning. That is World Class? that is just lame and uninspired. When will the judges find it in their wisdom to stop rewarding uninspired design. There are great performers out there doing lame shows. My friends, that is definitely a waste of talent.
  8. Some highlights about the Salem regional : Not packed like it used to be but a good crowd. Some performance slip ups between prelims and finals. Then again, some improvements Sac was emotional and amazing all at the same time. Suprised that they were not a couple points higher but the rumor at the regional was that they have been rewriting and the program was getting stronger by huge leaps every week. Show felt like Sac used to be. Artistic, powerful, thoughful and unique - truly World Class. Look for them to be in the hunt to take it all this season. Alter Ego has an interesting program. Some great talent in that guard and they are definitely doing some work with this being their first year in World. Sacred Heart is doing a fun soundtrack. Again, some solid performers who helped to sell the Tina Turner show. Trumbull had some performance glitches at finals but their rifle line is spot on. Shen had the floor disaster in the afternoon but adjusted for finals. MUCH better performance and the crowd started buying the new aggressive approach. South Brunswick has a lovely floor and look. Very South Brunswick Greater Johnstown had the most enjoyable program in the class. The first half of their finals performance was just great but got shaky towards the end. Must be close to having a full guard they did some River Dance type music with lost of poles and such on the floor. Nice to see a large group of guys in a high school group. Salem Blue has a great program. Smaller and in A class but they were definitely a highlight of the evening and afternoon.
  9. 2009 = MORE monotonous soundtracks ... i miss the music part of colorguard !
  10. Caught them at the show this past weekend at Hillsborough. Really entertaining show that would be great in IA and they should consider doing something about the amount of skin showing. It was actually distracting and inappropriate.
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