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DCA, The Savior of Drum and Bugle Corps


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This was brought up in the Historical area, so I brought it over. As DCI dies this slow death and DCA grows, I believe that we will look to the Senior circuit to keep the activity growing.

What do you all think?

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As more and more changes in the junior circuit, two things can happen:

1) DCA will follow DCI, "piecemeal"...bit by bit. You could argue that with Bb's and some other changes, this has already happened.

Does that mean amps will be in DCA soon? Well, you do see a lot of the same faces design wise in seniors that you do juniors. I would hope that there would be a modicum of restraint, and that amping the pit would be as far as it would go. But, with so much crossover in the DCI/DCA worlds, we may see it.

-or-

2) DCA can establish a brand identity for itself for the "legacy fan reliving his youth" ($1 to Dan Acheson), and use the discontent that is present with some in the junior world as a selling point.

Now, I know people will say "DCI and DCA are working together, common good, etc..."...but, with amplification, and possibly electronics and the like as a real possibility for DCI, the divide will be noticable in the product soon.

It's not a "crossroads" per se as of yet...but the more rules that change, and the farther DCI goes towards becoming more styled towards the marching band enthusiast, the closer on the horizon the moment comes when choices will have to be made.

Just my 2 bits. :)

Edited by bawker
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This was brought up in the Historical area, so I brought it over.  As DCI dies this slow death and DCA grows, I believe that we will look to the Senior circuit to keep the activity growing.

What do you all think?

........I really appreciate the title........SENIOR........in your topic as opposed to that

all age crap somebody started. I joined the Meadville Thunderbirds in 1958 (moot point......and kinda off topic) but the TBIRDS were...........and have always been...........a SENIOR CORPS'.........thank you for that...... :rock:

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I don't usually chime in on threads like this, but I want to say that I am a fan of both DCI and DCA. You can see from my signature that I never marched junior, but it wasn't because of distaste with the organization, only because of my own restrictions.

I went to all three shows in my area this year, FirstBEAT, NightBEAT, and the Winston Salem Preview of Champions, and enjoyed each equally, getting to see division 2 corps, division 1 corps, class A corps, and DCA open class corps.

I know some people enjoy the more "classic" shows and performance of most DCA corps, and others enjoy the newer stuff being done in DCI. I don't think this gives either group a reason to say the other is not drum corps. Junior junkies say that not having two months of tour and whatnot disqualifies the DCA groups, but senior corps outdates junior, I believe. The other side is arguing that Bb, A&E, and whatever else makes junior corps into something else. While I agree that it is not the same sound or concept as older shows or some modern senior shows, it is still drum corps.

Every sport or activity evolves over the years. Baseball has the infield fly rule, designated hitters, inter-league play, and steroid investigations, but everybody still calls it baseball.

Look at the way golf is played by professionals compared to thirty years ago - longer hitters means different clubs in the bag, a different array of shots, and vastly different strategy. Throw in the long putter and the belly putter, oversized titanium "woods," and balls with various materials inlaid in the cores, and two champions from different decades would be playing a vastly different game. At the same time, the goal is the same - hit a little ball in a little hole. This is the same as corps, at least in my mind - everyone seeks to perform their show to the best of their ability, giving as much of their talent as possible for the fans and the judges.

I don't mean to upset anyone, I just think that both sides need to be open to learning about and trying to understand the other group. As a music major who is young enough for junior corps, but marching all-age, I have had to deal with educating (or trying to) other folks my age about this side of the activity.

One last very small note, I like the term all-age, just because senior, in almost any other usage, means older than junior, while DCA corps welcome performers that are too old for junior as well as those who could possibly still march in DCI. It is more inclusive and not as confusing to those who don't know what "senior" corps is. I would never have believed how many people thought you had to be an age-out to march in DCA.

Edited by BMBob
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........I really appreciate the title........SENIOR........in your topic as opposed to that

all age crap somebody started. I joined the Meadville Thunderbirds in 1958 (moot point......and kinda off topic) but the TBIRDS were...........and have always been...........a SENIOR CORPS'.........thank you for that...... :rock:

Can you explain what that means? Do you have to have marched in a jr. corps to march in your corps? Be over a certain age? What differentiates you from an all age corps?

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This was brought up in the Historical area, so I brought it over.  As DCI dies this slow death and DCA grows, I believe that we will look to the Senior circuit to keep the activity growing.

What do you all think?

I hope that this ENTIRE activity will continue to flourish for centuries to come, I don't think DCI is dying, or at least I hope not.

I had a fabulous time this weekend at Finals watching all those kids perform, laugh, cry and in some cases slap each other silly (GO SCV snare line!) and I would seriously hope that these young men and women take something from all this.

And I think they will -- you don't march this activity if you don't appreciate life, and friendships and family and responsibility and what's reallty special in this lifetime we get.

Having been brought back into the mixing bowl this season, I hope that there are many more years to come for all circuits to thrive and have new people feel and experience what we all do.

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DCI is not dying. It is changing, there are less corps that can sustain the DCI lifestyle, and the average kid from a small town has less chance of joining these corps than ever before, but the money coming in is astronomical, the fan-base is ginormous, and the number of competitions is mind blowing. DCI is far from dying.

DCA is not traditional drum corps. It changes as much as DCI does, but a little less radically. The tradition of senior corps lies in the American Flag Squad only. If you don't believe me, watch a tape from DCA from twenty years ago, then tell me DCA is traditional. Drum corps in all form is always changing.

The future of DCI and DCA will be different. The DCI corps are going to a more all-star drum corps situation with members migrating from around the globe to march in corps in all three divisions. DCA will still be a weekend warrior club that has the advantage of tons of experience throughout its participants. Both are beautiful organizations promoting their own versions of the drum corps evolution tree. Both are doing what there organizations need to, respectively.

I, personally, love drum corps and would appreciate those who don't love it or have stopped loving the evolution of drum corps to take their lame prognostications and stupid biased observations to take a flying leap.

Viva la drum corps!

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Can you explain what that means?  Do you have to have marched in a jr. corps to march in your corps?  Be over a certain age? What differentiates you from an all age corps?

Lisa........just spent about 10 minutes addressing your questions and my answers are somewhere out there in Cyberland and I didn't save it. I'll try to condense it and I'm those more knowledgeable will jump in. Senior corps' I believe, as well as Drum Corps' as a whole is an evolution created primarily by the returning veterans of WW II. In order to participate in contests, which were primarily a function of either the American Legion and/or the VFW a certain percentage of corps' members had to be a member of one of those groups. Chances of a veteran being under the age of 21 were slim and none. This is how I have come to understand it. I could be wrong but I think I'm pretty close.

Stay tuned...........I'm sure a better explanation is on the way.

Having said that...........when I joined.........I wasn't aware that anything like a junior corps' existed. (at least in my area). Oh yea..........I was 15.......

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