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New Drum Corps Organisation for Europe


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https://www.drumcorpseurope.org/newsitem.php?id=15276&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

 

I realise that this isn't DCI specific, but there was a big thread about this not too long ago. For the uninformed, Drum Corps Europe, the sanctioning body for all drum corps activities in Holland, Germany and the rest of the European Continent (The UK has DCUK and is separate, although British corps do compete in Europe as well), unexpectedly and suddenly ceased operations immediately after the 2017 DCE Championships. This left Europe without a sanctioning body and show organiser, as well as without a Championships. 

It has been announced today that a new organisation has risen from the ashes of DCE in the form of the European Drum Corps Association. Details in the link above. Furthermore, if rumours are to be believed, word on the streets is that Kerkrade has again been secured for the hosting of the EDCA championships and there WILL be a championships THIS year in the end of September.

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The Brexit situation and the demise of DCE may put the Irish drum corps league into a different set of circumstances for any competition off the Emerald Isle.  There are several Irish drum corps and The Wink came from one of them.

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Good luck to them.

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21 hours ago, xandandl said:

The Brexit situation and the demise of DCE may put the Irish drum corps league into a different set of circumstances for any competition off the Emerald Isle.  There are several Irish drum corps and The Wink came from one of them.

Brexit had little to nothing to do with the shutdown of DCE. Remember, the British circuit is alive and well and has it's own sanctioning body, DCUK... which is pretty much unaffected either way by the shutdown of DCE. Sure DCE supplied judges to DCUK, but they (DCUK) already said they would sort things out directly with the DCE judges should nothing be in place to replace DCE. With EDCA, that all becomes a moot point. The Irish corps typically came over to the uK anyways, and by all accounts, there WILL be a European championship.. THIS year... again in Kerkrade... just under the banner of a slightly different sanctioning body.

Meet the new boss... same as the old boss.

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3 hours ago, Cainan said:

Brexit had little to nothing to do with the shutdown of DCE. Remember, the British circuit is alive and well and has it's own sanctioning body, DCUK... which is pretty much unaffected either way by the shutdown of DCE. Sure DCE supplied judges to DCUK, but they (DCUK) already said they would sort things out directly with the DCE judges should nothing be in place to replace DCE. With EDCA, that all becomes a moot point. The Irish corps typically came over to the uK anyways, and by all accounts, there WILL be a European championship.. THIS year... again in Kerkrade... just under the banner of a slightly different sanctioning body.

Meet the new boss... same as the old boss.

 We Yanks well understand that the shutdown of DCE was a separate issue from Brexit. But the cross border movement from the Irish Republic to Ulster and to England or Scotland or Wales will have ramifications for the Irish units.

One of my siblings was extremely  involved in the negotiations at Stormont Castle which led to the signing of the Good Friday Peace  agreement. She has been asked again to be a negotiating resource  between the Irish and the Brits on the matter of an open border if Brexit goes through. Both she and I, separately, (my journey was following the K.C. DCIs in '89) were dragged from our autos and held at gun point against the hood (bonnet) of the car by the British troops and RUCs when driving from Letterkenny, Co. Donegal in the Free State to Dublin as we crisscrossed Ulster for a short while.  Only when the American passports were found in our pockets were we released. No way do I want any one to go back to that violent and tense times.

The naive attitude that drum corps in the EU and Britain will go on as it has recently once Britain leaves the EU has practical ramifications and consequences beyond picking what color flash flag will be used to imitate American drum corps. There is high probability that the Brexit/EU issue will not be fully solved by this time next year, past the date of what you see as DCUK and European championships. Thus some corps will be involved.

I understand that DCP stays clear of politics but this is an issue (relative to passports and visas needed, customs requirements, and equipment inspections and fees) which may run very similarly to what American corps began to experience when travelling to and from Canada and the States, ultimately denying Canada DCI shows in the most recent decades as the difficulties became too cumbersome for the American corps to move North easily. And yes several factors beyond that entered into scheduling and non-scheduling matters.  After fifty years in the activity I have learned that many times people in the marching activity and other arts can be blind or oblivious to the greater struggles in humanity and our world, particularly in politics as we hide on our tours.  It isn't always a unicorn world. Yup, DCI didn't even know whether Bob Barker was alive or dead. This is one such situation where observations may take time.

 

 

Edited by xandandl
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For the record.. I am in fact an American citizen. Born and raised in California, now living in the UK.

And yes, there will be some border restrictions, but this is no longer the 1970's or 1980's. The Troubles are over and have been for some time. Many of the people involved from that time are either dead or elderly. By all accounts, it is believed that there will be relatively free passage of travel after Brexit. As it stands, when the British corps go outside of Britain into the EU, passports and border checks are already carried out with one notable exception... Northern Ireland into the Irish Republic... so really, not much change. Britain has always maintained it's own currency and laws. Britain does not use the metric system.. they drive on the other side of the road... they have ALWAYS maintained border checks even for those travelling in from other EU countries. I maintain that Brexit will have little to no affect whatsoever on the drum corps activity over here.

Furthermore... British and European corps do a hell of a lot more than "imitate" American drum corps. I take great offense at that flippant remark. Perhaps you failed to notice that Kidsgrove and The Company came to America and not only participated, but beat many American corps along the way.

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