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Broken Arrow's Answer to Ramps - the Arms Race Continues


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My daughter's band, Ronald Reagan High School (from San Antonio) is traveling to Indy this week-- they don't have any go-carts, but they DO have a front stage. :)

It's actually going to be a hectic week for them. They have the first round of state UIL tomorrow, then hopefully Finals the next day, then a flight out to Indy on Thursday. (Lots of planning and packing going on in this household right now...)

This has been an interesting thread for me. I've been out of the marching band scene for a LONG time and have always just assumed that the creative flow was a trickle down from drum corps to the high school level but is that still the case? Or was it ever? Interesting.

I love Ronald Reagan this year, best of luck to your daughter on representing the amazing state of Texas at Grand Nationals this year.

:)

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Here's another example from '83. Garfield has just knocked the crowd over with their incredible performance of Rocky Point Holiday. The crowd is screaming "East! East! East!." The next piece they perform is Bernstein's Mass. So much of it is so subtle that the listener is forced to pay close attention to catch as much as they can. No rifles and flags at the beginning of the piece. They used dance, shawls and Chinese lanterns. It was just so well performed.

https://youtu.be/lCpKlgo7dBo?t=3m8s

This show...oh my, what a vision of the future. Don't get me started... There aren't that many of us dinos left who can say we were there. This is probably the first, full show I completely memorized as a fan. I was so fully blown away by the creative beauty of it, and then to have rubbed shoulders, literally, with Zingali in the stands and watch him react to his creation...it was marvelous. I could go on for paragraphs... And then, we got to sit next to a guard member flying home and she was so buzzed on caffeine that she just wanted to talk the whole flight home. We talked about the lanterns and the dresses and the transitions...so much fun. The hour went by way too fast and I imagine her sleeping for about a week when she got home.

This show, literally, could be my definition of "minimalism". This was also the beginning of the Vanguard props arms race where every year they were dragging something on to the field. Garfield resisted that race and focused on movement and music to tell a tale. No props, no doors, when creativity ran unabated from several corps. The musical sensitivity I get from this show is amazing. Watching the individual performers was particularly fun. Barb Maroney is a legend.

I think Mike and I would agree that it couldn't place well today. How sad.

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Not that I would want all shows to be minimalist. Yesterday I saw a pretty busy show called "Two Turntables and a Marching Band" that was a very busy mix of classical and hip-hop (no live rapping through, but it did make me think about the idea lately proposed here of a corps playing tunes from Hamilton), which was quite entertaining.

I just think that the stripped-down option should be there.

I saw that show! Dizzying!

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My daughter's band, Ronald Reagan High School (from San Antonio) is traveling to Indy this week-- they don't have any go-carts, but they DO have a front stage. :)

It's actually going to be a hectic week for them. They have the first round of state UIL tomorrow, then hopefully Finals the next day, then a flight out to Indy on Thursday. (Lots of planning and packing going on in this household right now...)

This has been an interesting thread for me. I've been out of the marching band scene for a LONG time and have always just assumed that the creative flow was a trickle down from drum corps to the high school level but is that still the case? Or was it ever? Interesting.

Quite a week of logistics, but it sounds like the kids will be in tip-top form in Indy!

I've read several opinions that would suggest the creativity is flowing up to DCI from both HS band and WGI. I'm not sure I see that, but the indoor circuit has the advantage of trying things on a small scale before employing them across 150 kids so it makes sense that it's an activity of hyper-creativity. I think HS are still following drum corps; I hear lots of rip-off charts each fall band season, and 'Coats' ramps will be sold to somebody! Design-wise, band still follows corps, I think.

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Here's another example from '83. Garfield has just knocked the crowd over with their incredible performance of Rocky Point Holiday. The crowd is screaming "East! East! East!." The next piece they perform is Bernstein's Mass. So much of it is so subtle that the listener is forced to pay close attention to catch as much as they can. No rifles and flags at the beginning of the piece. They used dance, shawls and Chinese lanterns. It was just so well performed.

https://youtu.be/lCpKlgo7dBo?t=3m8s

Yes it was. It was an incredible season on and off the field with an amazing group of MMs and faculty, volunteers, and staff.

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I'm a little late to the minimalism discussion, but correct me if I'm wrong. Was the Academy show this past summer not only very minimalistic, but also very effective?

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I'm a little late to the minimalism discussion, but correct me if I'm wrong. Was the Academy show this past summer not only very minimalistic, but also very effective?

It was effective. It was not minimalist. There were large props and chairs on the field. I don't think that is at all minimalist.

That doesn't negate the fact that the show was beautifully done.

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