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Long time president of DCA, Mr. Gil Silva will be retiring from his post at the December 2015 meeting of DCA directors. Please join us in wishing him a healthy and happy retirement. He have given us many great years and wonderful memories. Gil still expects to act as Chief Judge/timing and penalties at several shows in the 2016 season. See the full story here. http://dcacorps.org/?p=4489 Lois Tierno DCA Public Relations/Marketing Manager loiswt@comcast.net

I saw an Instagram post earlier this fall that contained the Millard West High School Band (state, anyone?). They used one of the Bluecoats' atom props from this past summer, and they painted it orange.

You have a point... even Firebird isn't Immortal.

Sleep?

I'd rather crash and burn like Firebird did. Wait...

Here's a list of amazing shows, not a gold medal in the bunch. '88 VK - funny as hell and a surprisingly good hornline '88 Suncoast - 20 years ahead of it's time '90 Star - brass brass brass '91 Blue Devils - amazing contemporary jazz charts '92 Crossmen - grooooovy percussion '93 Blue Devils - another amazing jazz chart '95 Cadets - very fun Americana show '95 Bluecoats - very emotional Americana show '00 Boston - old-school show with modern level of execution '04 Blue Devils - Summer Train Blues Mix '08 Crown - great take on the "best-of" classical repertoire. Not quite as squeaky clean as their shows since but just a lot of fun '10 Cavaliers - Mad World, dark, disturbing and beautifully realized concept '10 Bluecoats - start of their very successful foray into electronics '11 Carolina Crown - under-appreciated very fun show with a stellar brass line (well, duh)

And So It Goes...

Angry? Stop playing junior shrink. You are not good at it. Depth of concept is on the sheet. The judge may disregard original meaning of piece if the corps presents another concept with it. Having been part of a committee which formed the sheets, I know that literalism is not one of the tools used by the DCI judging community who well appreciates nuances.

The brass trophy.

They were 2nd place in 2014. That is relatively strong for that year.

Crown passed Cadets principally as a result of a adult created, staff made, Visual closer that was stunning as well as new. Cadets, by contrast, had their staff go back to the past and bring out the old and tried Z pull as their visual closer. Once we saw both corps adult changes the last 2 weeks of the season it was evident to most that Crown was going to pass Cadets, as both corps could be expected to perform their visual closers relatively the same........... Also, as mentioned before, if you are going to have a caption that is your weakest, make it your Brass or your Percussion. You can win a DCI Title with a 6th place in ( for example ) Percussion. But 4th, 5th in Guard will take you right out of contention for the Title on the Design ( GE ) captions alone. It wasn't so much( imo ) that Cadets show looked like it would peak when we saw it earlier in the season, as much as it was the fact that it was evident that the Cadets had an uncharacteristically ( for them ) subpar Guard. Also worth noting was the strength of Crown's Guard last year. Guards, more than any other Corps section, is what drives home the themes of these Corps. For years, as we all know, Crown would have one of the best Brass sections in all of Drum Corps. Big deal. It never won them a Title. It wasn't until Crown improved their Guard that it allowed them to catch up to BD, that has had stellar Guards for over a decade now. Finally, to demonstrate how even Percussion is not as important to winning DCI Titles as is Guard, Cadets and SCV have had an outstanding Percussion sections the last couple of seasons. But what has, for example, SCV's strong Percussion sections each of the last few seasons really gotten them however ? Has it allowed them to win ? Or to even medal ? When we contemplate the answers to this, what do we learn then is the most important ( even though the smallest by MM numbers ) section of a Corps ? Tell us when we think we will ever see a Corps win a modern day DCI title in the future with a 6th place ( or 4th, 5th in Guard ? ( as Crown did with a 6th in Percussion in 2013 ) If any of us here think it just might be right around the corner,.. think again.

No. I was at finals and Cadets did not lose steam, judges who had the very difficult task in 2015 of ranks 4 extremely strong groups 1-4,made their choices.

I guess every company in the country hires the right people. Unless you know exactly what is going on in the organization, it's not wise to sit in the shadows making assumptions.

This bus was what ferried MikeD from performance to performance bitd; bidding details soon to be announced, so get your shrine space ready:

LOL Jeff... how many of ImpDream versions are there...... I was thinking of the jazz style of the main tune each concert. If one didn't know better they'd say WSM always played jazz. Think someone asked me once if I played that and had to say the dreaded words "no after my time" (where's the smilie with the long white beard)

The common interpretation of Shostakovich's 10th symphony as being about Stalin and the Stalin years in the Soviet Union has one, ONE!, source. A book called Testimony by Russian musicologist Solomon Volkov. Testimony makes many claims about the secretly anti-Soviet stance of Shostakovich himself as well as the hidden and concrete coded-meanings in many of his works, such as the 10th symphony. Volkov claims that Testimony is based on the memoirs of Shostakovich himself, however, there is no evidence that this is actually true! It might be worth noting that Shostakovich actually served as a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (a supreme government institution) from 1947 until his death. In 1960, Shostakovich actually joined the Communist Party and took the Soviet Government position of General Secretary of the Composer's Union. Shostakovich was denounced twice for his music in the Soviet Union. The first was in 1936 after a performance of Lady MacBeth of Mtsenk attended by Stalin and the Politburo. Anonymous articles attacked Shostakovich's work in the state propaganda paper, Pravda. In 1937, Shostakovich composed his famous 5th symphony which regained his standing with the Soviet government. An article which was purportedly written by Shostakovich and appeared in a state paper days before the works premier stated the symphony was, "a Soviet artist's response to just criticism." Many have claimed, in a post Testimony world, that this was simply pandering to the powers that be and the work is very clearly anti-Soviet in it's intention. However, it is not explicitly clear what Shostakovich's intention truly was with the work. If we are to not immediately except the words of Testimony as being true, one could easily still make the claim that the work is a memorial piece for those that had been lost during Stalin's regime, especially with the allusions and quotations of the Russian orthodox requiem mass in the Largo movement. While we today might not catch those references, it is likely that a great portion of the Russian audience would have at the time of the premier of the work. However, the question of the jubilant finale to the work has a frightening duality to it when examining the work from both a pro-Testimony and anti-Testimony perspective. In the former, the jubilation is ironic, very much in the, "the beatings will continue until morale improves," mold. In the latter, Shostakovich is showing genuine hope for a brighter future, possibly for himself after learning the errors of his ways and the truth of the vision of Social Realism, and possibly for the Soviet Union at large after the end (hopefully) of the purges. Possibly even optimistic for the future explicitly provided by the purges, praise for the now stronger and more unified Soviet Union. The point is, without excepting Testimony as being truth, there is simply no way to know without hopping in your Delorean and gunning it to 88. The second time that Shostakovich was denounced was more official in nature. As part of the Zhadnov Decree of 1948, Shostakovich (as well as Prokofiev, Khachaturian, and many others) were officially accused of writing inappropriate and formalistic music. This was all part of a government plan to reduce the influence of Western culture on all the arts in the Soviet Union. The eventual goal being a more universally audience friendly (sound familiar?) and Russian-centric direction in concert music as well as the other arts of the time. As a result of the decree, Shostakovich lost his position at the Leningrad Conservatory. Over the next five years he wrote film music to pay the bills, works assigned by the government as rehabilitation, and serious works he called, "for the desk drawer," which were not meant to be performed in that cultural climate. In 1953, Stalin dies. New leadership of the Communist Party and Soviet government took a different approach to the arts and lifted restrictions and prohibitions against composers such as Shostakovich. Shortly after that, Shostakovich begins work on his 10th symphony. Some have claimed that the 10th was actually written earlier, a work, "for the desk drawer," but there is no hard evidence of that. We know that the 10th was a deeply personal work for Shostakovich because of the DSCH (D, E flat, C, B) signature motive found throughout the third and fourth movements. In addition, the personal nature of the work is foreshadowed in the first movement, as Shostakovich quotes his own earlier work, "What Is My Name?", the second of the Four Pushkin Monologues. However, the claims that the work are specifically about Stalin and the brutal nature of his regime come from only one source. That's right. You guessed it. Testimony. Considering the heavy use of the Elmira motive (E La[A] Mi[E] Re[D] A) which represents a former student of Shostakovich whom he had an intimate relationship with while still married to his first wife, one could easily (ignoring Testimony) create an interpretation of the work which represents a much more personal struggle inside Shostakovich revolving around his personal struggles while contemplating the nature of his love triangle. Or one could interpret the composer's intention as begin about his personal struggles dealing with the oppression of his music under Stalin, without speaking to the larger brutality of the age. The point is, we just don't know Shostakovich's original intention of the work. Why would so many conductors choose to embrace the Testimony view of the 5th, the 10th, and so many other works from Shostakovich? Simply, that historical narrative is more interesting and is pro-Western. Endorsing this unconfirmed view of his life and works makes Shostakovich a more sympathetic character in the West, and gives his music a historical gravitas that it lacks without it. A major conductor's job (aside from conducting) is putting butts in the seats. This version of Shostakovich is purported to put more butts in seats. Hence, Dudamel and others use this version as if it is the only version when discussing the work, even though he knows very well that it may not be true at all. Is it a problem that we cannot know Shostakovich's intention? Absolutely not! A composer's intention is in many ways irrelevant! A work of music cannot inherently communicate meaning. This is a false premise. What a composer does is organize sound and time into an intentional experience for the listener. The only way a composer can "communicate" is by including in a piece of music "signifiers." A signifier is a symbol which can represent an abstract or concrete thought, but it has no communicative power aside from the audiences' ability to decode its meaning. Simply stated, if the audience cannot decode a signifier, than the audience cannot infer its meaning. The second movement of Shostakovich's 10th symphony carries a great number of signifiers. It is dark, violent, unrelenting, menacing, ominous, one could say evil. It moves very fast and shifts gears on a dime, implying an unpredictable nature. It does not finish, as there is no proper cadence at the end, which leaves you feeling like the terror you've just experienced is ongoing, never-ending. One can see the appeal of the "portrait of Stalin" that Volkov asserts. However, I could think of any number of stories in which this set of signifiers in the right context would be completely appropriate. If you also know that the snare drum is sometimes used in the symphonic repertoire and specifically Shostakovich's music to represent the military, that could add an additional signifier that you could decode that would add to the meaning of this work to you. But, if you didn't know that, your interpretation of the work would be no less valid. Once the work is written and performed, the composer gives up all rights to its meaning. Each individual audience member is personally responsible for decoding signifiers, and every interpretation of the work has as much validity as it is heartfelt by the person who made it. Should we not enjoy Money when it comes on the radio, because Pink Floyd intended you to listen to Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety? Should we be mad at Carolina Crown for using Beethoven's 9th symphony to represent an ascent from Dante's Christian hell to Dante's Christian heaven, even though many interpret the Schiller poem that Beethoven used for the text of the fourth movement to be about all of humanity coming together as brothers and celebrating the joy of all creeds and faiths being equal? Absolutely not! Because if Dante as a Christian would read that poem, he would decode those signifiers as a Christian and take it as praise for a loving God, even though a secular humanist would decode it completely differently. In my opinion, The Cadets show was amazing and deeply flawed. They should have dropped the counting and abandoned that attempt at a theme. It seemed ridiculous and tagged on way after the fact to me. But, I have no problem with them doing a show which uses Shostakovich 10th symphony without making it about Stalin and the terrors of the Soviet Union, because you could make a very strong case that that isn't what the piece was supposed to be about at all in the first place. But much more importantly, you can make a much stronger case that it doesn't matter what the piece was supposed to be about in the first place. And trying to tell people that the way you decode a work's signifiers is inherently superior to the way that they decode a work's signifiers is fascist. You aren't better than someone because you heard a piece a different way, but you are worse than them when you tell them that they were wrong about it.

It's time to teach drum corps fans and designers basic lessons in production decision-making. Let's start with the very most basic lessons of show coordination-- Music and Theme Selection - Avoiding Disaster. MUSIC AND THEME SELECTION - AVOIDING DISASTER QUESTION ONE: Which of these musical selections would most likely be inappropriate for a drum corps show? a) William Tell Overture b) Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag c) Nirvana's "Moist ######", lyrics by Kurt Cobain ANSWER: Clearly it's C. No matter how it's reinterpreted, cleaned up, re-contextualized, it will never, ever be anything other than a pornographic-titled grunge song by Kurt Cobain. The title alone simply makes this tune impossible to play for a 4013c youth activity, regardless of how stark and brilliant the song is. It's just common sense. QUESTION TWO: Which of these visual interpretations would be inappropriate for the musical selection? a) Mozart's Piano Concerto 6 portrayed as a Hollywood farce. b) Hot Butter's "Popcorn" portrayed as a modern DNC convention. c) Music of the Holocaust Era portrayed as a couture runway. ANSWER: Use your head. One of these has an inescapably heavy historical context. The context of its original tragedy is unavoidable. Any interpretation other than its original context would simply be regarded as offensive. QUESTION THREE: Which of these themes is unsuitable for drum corps style production? a) Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's Ten Stages of Death and Dying b) WatchMojo.com's Top Ten Songs to Strip To, featuring Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar on Me c) 10,000 Audio sound effects library d) TV Jingles for 1950's Diaper Services e) I Don't Like Mondays - music and lyrics by the Boomtown Rats Of course, all of these are awful a) Too heavy, although likely to be performed at some point by the Blue Knights b) inappropriate adult theme c) non-musical d) frivolous e) way way way too heavy a topic. Use your common sense. QUESTION FOUR: Which of these uniform and flag color palettes would be an inappropriate pair for the show listed: a) Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs - Polkadots and glitter. b) Beethoven's 9th - Grays and bruise/puss colors. c) Shostakovich's 10th - Neon. d) Bruce Springsteen Retrospective - Pink leather chaps and rainbow colored confetti bombs. You're learning. These are all just egregious. Color should spring naturally from the original piece. If your interpretation strays too far from the original intent, especially if the original intent was politically charged, age inappropriate, or tragedy-related, you're in a danger zone. Fundamentals and common sense. Now that we’ve explored how to avoid disaster in selecting themes and music, let’s assume you’ve chosen music or a theme that won’t cause a media firestorm because of its inappropriateness. Great. You’re ready to move to the next level in selecting music and a theme. SELECT THEMES THAT MARCHING MEMBERS WANT TO PERFORM REPEATEDLY FOR SIX MONTHS QUESTION FIVE: Which of these drum corps show themes might depress your marching members if they played it for six months? a) Your Last Breath – exploring the images of life that pass before your eyes in your final moments before death. b) Gamma Rays – how Gamma rays affect the natural properties of various elements on the periodic table. Encore: Principles of accounting audits. c) Alone – Depression on College Campuses That’s right. All of these themes are burdensome a) way too on the nose b) too sterile a subject or c) maudlin. Unfortunately, these themes are not too far away from themes that have been chosen by corps and WGI units in the past. Ug. Instead, select themes that audiences want to see and that kids under 22 want to perform over and over again. Avoid depressing topics, avoid scientific micro-theory and other inanimate objects that can’t be dramatized, and avoid downer subjects that are lugubrious, joyless and one-dimensional. After all this is a pageant art. MATCH YOUR THEME TO THE MUSIC, THE MUSIC TO THE THEME QUESTION SIX: Which of these themes and music combinations fit together? a) The Old Man and The Sea – La Mer by Claude Debussy b) The Composer’s Subconscious Mind – The Music of The Books c) The Sting – Music of Scott Joplin d) Suffragettes – Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe” Clearly Jimi Hendrix’s misogynistic story is inappropriate for the subject matter of women’s suffrage, including the lyrics: “Uh, hey Joe, I heard you shot you old lady down, you shot her down to the ground. Yeah!” If you try the route “I don’t know that most people would notice” then you’re fooling yourself. The judges will notice, and your score will show it. Carefully select your music to fit the theme. Carefully adjust your theme to fit the music. BALANCE YOUR PRODUCTION A drum corps production works best if it displays a range of tempos, emotions and moods. Unlike in a symphonic concert setting, if you select a piece of music that has a single tempo and voicing for a twelve minute period, the audience and marching members may tire of it. Also, a single-mood piece may not display your skill at handling a range of material. Twelve minutes is just long enough to require a range of emotion. QUESTION SEVEN: Which of these musical selections would most likely require an extra attention paid to adding variety and a range of moods? a) Koyannesquatsi b) Monotone-Silence Symphony by Yves Klein c) Poema Sinfonico by Gyorgy Ligeti, a work for 100 metronomes Ug to all of these. If you select these pieces, make an extra effort to instill variety of mood and tempo, somehow. You’ve only got about twelve minutes. Best to avoid pieces that lack variety, brilliant as they are in a different setting. Next, we’ll explore staging with, Building an Understructure into Your Show (A Dramatic Action). Now that you have avoided the amateurish pitfalls of selecting inappropriate music and themes, you’re ready to select substantial music, build an understructure into your show, grow your theme, and support it with socko set pieces. BUILDING AN UNDERSTRUCTURE INTO YOUR SHOW (A DRAMATIC ACTION) Once you have selected a theme based on your music, or selected music based on a theme, you must develop that theme using the music’s flow, drill sets, movement, and characters to create patterns (and even full-blown stories) that satisfy the audience’s need for drama. The pattern of events in your show comprises your dramatic action. The dramatic action grows and transforms during the show, providing a stirring, heightened, universal and unique visual musical production with a solid, satisfying ending. To create the understructure of your show use all the elements available to you in the theme-maker’s toolbox. THE THEME-BUILDER’S TOOLBOX Drum corps shows have grown from jukebox-like collections of random pop tunes, military marches, anthems and show tunes, to carefully crafted themed productions. Shows are more sophisticated now. A show’s theme conveys meaning that lies under the surface of the performance. The theme symbolically alludes to underlying social issues, philosophies, and other areas of universal human interest. Even if the show has no narrative elements, the music and drill motion provides patterns of action and emotion that grow and build in a meaningful way to satisfy the audience’s need for emotion and drama. Whether they do it consciously or not, audiences look for a through-line when the drum corps show begins. It’s like watching a TV show or a film. As soon as a performance begins, audiences automatically ask themselves the following thematic questions: • “What are they playing?” • “What style of music is this?” • “What’s this about?” • “What does the title mean?” • “Is the show a strict interpretation of a musical piece?” • “What is the point of focus on the field?” • “Is the show is narrative or non-narrative?” • “Does the drill tell a story?” • “Does the show have a central character?” • “Does the show follow a story timeline in a linear or nonlinear way?” • “How do the selected musical pieces fit together to form a theme?” • “What do the uniforms or costumes convey?” • “What does the flag design symbolize?” • “What patterns is the corps developing overall?” • “What is the thematic argument, overall?” • “How does this theme apply to my own life and to the lives of others here?” • “What’s the universal, unique message that’s being conveyed that comments on some aspect of the human experience, triumphs, trials and the way we live?” • “What’s changed or grown by the end?” Audiences can’t help but ask “why” about the production. It’s a natural instinct. Whether they realize it or not, the audience subconsciously absorbs these elements. Show coordinators use these elements to form the show’s theme, all carefully planned and orchestrated. Viewers who claim they don’t try to “figure out” a show are lying. It’s a natural and sometimes even subconscious process. QUESTION EIGHT True or False? a) Whether you consciously recognize it or not, the color scheme of guard uniforms is typically tied into the theme of the show. T or F b) Flag design is typically tied into the theme of the show. T or F c) The theme of the show is tied to the music. T or F d) The music in the show is tied to the theme. T or F e) Drill sets are typically tied into the theme or music. T or F f) Characters that appear in drum corps shows are typically tied into the story, or are typically tied into the theme behind the music. T or F g) All design choices are typically tied into the selected theme or the chosen music. T or F Of course these are all true, and incredibly basic questions. Don’t be embarrassed if you never realized it-- every single drill set, every color, every choreographed move, every character, every musical selection ties into the selected theme in some way, or vice versa. But don’t claim that it’s not true—show coordinators carefully construct and design themed drum corps shows around that theme. (At least the good ones do.) HEIGHTENING THE PATTERN/PROGRESSION As the show progresses, the audience looks for the arc or “game”. The audience wants to know what the pattern is. How are these various elements of the show growing and changing by the end? Does the show have a logical understructure where we see patterns building, heightening and resolving to a satisfying end? For example the Velvet Knight’s 1992 show lampooned cultural and entertainment memes, first presenting pop icons from American culture, then mixing and matching the characters, and finally at the very end the frivolous pop icons literally ate each other. This is a perfect example of a heightened theme with a social commentary, and a satisfying, hilarious ending. In other shows, the music provides the simple but profound understructure for the production, and the drill movement simply interprets the underlying piece of music which grows and builds for dramatic effect. Heightening the dramatic action is important. A twelve minute show is long enough for the audience to want a transformation by the end of the show. The audience wants to see the emotion change. They want to see characters (if any) develop and grow. They want to see the circumstance or setting or activity change. They want the pattern to evolve. They want the story to progress to a conclusion. They want to experience the music heightening to a logical conclusion. They want to see a payoff. Sometimes productions can avoid a theme that builds throughout the show, and instead simply conjure a last-minute set piece and resolve the show in a satisfying way. Even though there might not be a theme to the entire production, at least the ending provides some satisfaction based on visual trickery, a gymnastic move, repeating a previous device, or a high impact GE drill movement, even though it doesn’t necessarily tie into any other part of the show. QUESTION NINE Which of these shows had no thematic understructure, but relied on a last-minute show-stopping set piece to satisfy the audience’s need for a heightened resolution? 1) Cavaliers – Softly as I Leave You 2) Santa Clara Vanguard – Bottle Dance 3) 27th Lancers – Danny Boy Company Front 4) Bluecoats – Tilt - Pitch Bend/Jumping off the Platform Of course, all these theme-free shows relied on a final set piece that made up for a lack of thematic through-line. (The Bluecoats show did feature various elements that tilted to one side, it can’t be considered a fully developed theme because the concept of tilting was a simple visual attribute unrelated to underlying meaning of any kind.) QUESTION TEN Which one of these shows had a strong theme that escalated and heightened for dramatic effect, and whose high impact ending indeed tied into the theme and satisfied the audience? 1) Carolina Crown – Triple Crown - Horse race photo finish 2) Madison Scouts – Band of Brothers – Eulogy/You’ll Never Walk Alone 3) Phantom Regiment – Spartacus - Overthrow 4) Blue Devils – Felliniesque – Presentation of director’s chair 5) Carolina Crown – Inferno – Beatrice climbs out of hell All of these shows had strong, thematically aligned final set pieces. USING SET PIECES TO SPICE UP YOUR THROUGH-LINE When designers create a show, they heighten the dramatic action with “set pieces” which are strong, memorable visual and audio images with a high-impact action that ties into the theme. In the Blue Devil’s Felliniesque, the design team created a series of character images from Fellini’s films, and strung them together in a lyrical, flowing way, and then at the end, wrapped up with a tableau of the characters presenting a director’s chair paying homage to Fellini’s life in art. The visual set pieces were character-based, separate, non-linear, but matched to the music, loosely strung together, and gathered at the end in tableau. Often screenwriters create a series of set pieces on a single theme and string them together to form a story or through-line for a film. Drum corps shows can be created the same way, providing a loose understructure for any show. The set pieces form a pattern in the viewer’s mind. The set pieces link together based on the theme to strengthen the underlying dramatic action. The audience wants to know what comes next, based on what’s come before. These set pieces help set the audience’s expectations about how the show’s dramatic action progresses, heightens and resolves. QUESTION ELEVEN Which of these shows used clear “set pieces” which spiced up the dramtic action? 1) Blue Devils – Ink - 2015– Characters pop out of lifesize storybooks, various tales are retold with modern spins, and a young girl beckons us and encourages us to listen to our stories again. 2) Carolina Crown – Inferno - 2015 - Dante encounters the sign “abandon all hope”, wrapped in a river of blood Dante tries to escape and free Beatrice, Beatrice triumphantly escapes to heaven. 3) Phantom Regiment – Spartacus- 2009 – Slaves are beaten, rebellion, coup de tat. 4) Phantom Regiment – Juliette – 2011 – Juliette woos Romeo, grieves at his passing, defiantly takes her own life rather than live without him. Of course, all of these shows used effective “set pieces” to grow and build their show’s dramatic action. Note that each show included a final transformation which provided a satisfying ending. But not all shows need narrative story elements in order to convey a dramatic action. In many effective drum corps shows, the dramatic action springs from the music. QUESTION TWELVE Which of these non-narrative shows built a strong through-line using the music and marching formations alone? 1) Cadets – Appalachian Spring 2) Cavaliers – The Planets 3) Santa Clara – Fog City Sketches Of course, all of these shows successfully built a through-line using the progression that’s built into the music. The shows simply relied on style of movement and repetition in order to create a pattern to satisfy audiences’ need for a thematic through-line. Now that you’ve selected music, a theme, and developed that theme with set pieces, it’s time to step back and examine the universality of your theme and thematic argument. The more universal your theme, the more it will move the audience, and the higher your score will be. The next section addresses your show’s universal and unique message. THEMATIC ARGUMENT - BUILDING RESONANCE AROUND YOUR UNIVERSAL AND UNIQUE MESSAGE The key to a winning depth of concept score is to follow these guidelines: 1) The show theme impacts the performers themselves, and changes the way they live their lives in some small way. 2) The show theme springs from these performer's point of view, it represents the performers themselves, and it's a good fit. 3) The show theme perfectly captures the essence of something universally human in all of us. 4) The show theme is told in a way that is unique and never done before. 5) The show theme fits in this medium-- drum and bugle corps competition in large scale venues, rather than, say, a wall hanging, or a ballet, or radiator cover design. First, the show must impact the performers and change them. When the Blue Stars performed the circus theme this year, guard members portrayed conjoined twins, literally sharing the same body and forging a new path, a new way of being. The performers worked closely with one another all season and became one, like circus performers do. In a weird but real way, these performers captured the essence of drum corps camaraderie, and had a profound insight into the outsider's mind, performance artists' point of view, and their issues of social and personal acceptance. Second, the show should spring from these performer's point of view. For example, the Velvet Knights were well known for shenanigans both on and off the field. Their 1992 show lampooned cultural icons and satirized drum corps memes. The theme of their show seemed to spring from the corps members' comedic personality themselves-- their own voice. At the end when the shark ate the Valkyrie, the fat lady sang, literally, something magical happened. The entire corps elevated itself to the strata of great performers in time who perform for kings and lampoon cultural icons-- that Cique du Soleil feeling of unmistakable human joy, satirizing the way we live and embracing the absurdity and comedic beauty of the human experience. These traveling performers transported us into their ridiculous world, and it turns out, they know more about us than we do about ourselves. Third, the show theme should capture the essence of some aspect our humanity, in a big or small way. Some beauty or incongruity of life on earth that comments on the duality of our experiences. The pain and joy, the beauty and horror of our lives, the triumph over the elements, the joy of victory, the agony of defeat. Fourth, the more unique a corps production is, the more memorable. VFW shows in the 1960's and 70's became so redundant, so almost indecipherable from each other that the art form risked extinction. During these years only small, almost imperceptible risks differentiated productions, and corps shows were restrained and dominated by onerous rules of military bearing and marching and maneuvering. These rules provided both a joy in precision, and a high-pressure emotional containment, but also strangled the corps' range of expression. By the time military-style units were playing the theme from The Exorcist using military bearing and formal M&M maneuvers, the activity appeared to be almost absurd and comedic, splitting its own pants, and ready for change. Fifth, the best shows fit into an outdoor, large scale music performance medium. Molecular science might not be the most fitting theme for a large scale venue. QUESTION THIRTEEN: Which of these shows resonated with audiences for their universal themes? Madison Scouts - Band of Brothers - The horrors of war, and the triumph of loyalty. Phantom Regiment - Spartacus - Slavery, and the fight for freedom. Cadets - Appalachian Spring - Spring awakens. Santa Clara - Les Mis - The classic novel of revolution and redemption. Answer: All of them. CREATING THE BEHIND THE SCENES STORY - DEVELOPING THE UNIVERSALITY OF YOUR SHOW Many shows in drum corps history were missing the final component-- universality (the human component.) Everything else was in place-- the great set pieces, music of substance, even a topical theme, but they simply lacked meaning on the level of the human spirit. Audiences said "So what?" or "That's curious. I wonder what's on their minds?" Often show designers think that a historical theme, or a novel reference, a visual gimmick, or a music genre is enough to vault them to the level of profundity. In rare cases it is. But to add true depth of concept, the show designers need to simply add an element of story linking the content to the performers, either behind the scenes or in the show itself, which adds universal depth and richness. The depth of concept increases when the members own the material and become one with its philosophy. Could Santa Clara's Scheherazade have benefitted from a behind the scenes activities of corps members with Muslim backgrounds, especially young women, exploring the theme of powerful Middle Eastern women in history? Could SCV have invited Malala for discussions behind the scenes? Could BlueCoats' Tilt have benefitted from some behind the scenes research about how these composers want to tilt the landscape of modern composition? Could BlueCoats have promoted discussions with these composers about their trials and triumphs, their struggles for industry acceptance and quest for legitimacy? Public forums on artistic innovation, risk and reward, building some substance to the shallow idea of "Tilt"? Could the Bluecoats have invited Bob Dylan to talk to them about the 60's, Leonard Cohen, and how America's image changed from within, relating to their show To Look for America? Could the Madison Scouts have changed their repertoire the year they helped local flood victims in Wisconsin? Could they have created a production around volunteerism during devastation? Could the Cadets have benefitted from a discussion with any local conductor regarding their interpretation of Shostakovich's Tenth? Or maybe talk to the Russian lady down the street who fled her homeland during the 50's and what the music means to her? Could the Bluecoats have benefitted from incorporating images from various Mr. Maps vidoes, or at least a public forum with The Books on avant garde music, sharing ideas about the nature of music, rule-breaking and innovation? The greater the universal message, and the more it directly relates to the performers themselves, and the more uniquely it is conveyed, the more the show transcends its medium-- an absurd, ridiculous performance art form where young brass and percussion musicians and color guards gather in abandoned football stadiums to perform music of substance.

Having spoken to a friend/fraternity brother who has been on BD staff for a few years now, I can contribute this to the conversation. When designing the show, the BD staff loves to leave things open for interpretation. Yes, they do have a set storyline that they emphasize, but their main point in designing the show is to make the viewer want more. To see more, to hear more, to understand more. Thus their complicated themes and their wide field placement while doing many different visuals at a time. They want people to feel inclined to watch their performance again, whether it be at a future show or on video. It's similar to how some of the best movies have to be watched multiple times in order to catch everything. The main theme of the show is presented for the audience to enjoy and the judges to... well, judge. However, they add so many layers to it as a kind of reward for repeated viewings. There is a huge amount of artistic development that goes into the shows, and part of it is to make you want more. After all, the shows you remember the most are the ones you view most often. That's how BD, Crown, Cadets, Bluecoats, Madison, Cavaliers, Phantom, etc. have all remained near the top for all of these years. One part of watching/listening to a show from the past is enjoying the music or visuals; another equally important part is watching/listening for something you didn't quite catch before that adds to the excitement. Just my two cents.

I predict Crown will be the crowd favorite (again), the brass staff will return to an amazing hornline, the percussion staff will continue to develop a possibly elite drumline (I always thought The People's Front Ensemble was smokin' hot) and of course the color guard will assert their dominance over the field. As for the show? I have not a clue. They swept me off my feet with Inferno and fielded my favorite piece of music ever, Symphony No. 9. Maybe next year they can field my favorite band piece, Lincolnshire Posy. If anyone should do it, it is them. Scores be ######, this corps is the true People's Champ.

Clearly themes and show concepts are not "In the eye of the beholder." That's absolute nonsense. The show coordinator and designers have a clear, specific vision about the show concept they're conveying. Or the good ones do, anyway. They do their best to convey it as clearly to the audience as possible, even if its abstract or imagery meant to work on a subconscious level. Their objective is for the audience to grasp the concept and be carried away with the emotion in it. It's a high-impact performance art meant for big, collective audience reaction, plain and simple. The enormous number of drum corps enthusiasts who say they don't care about themes or show concepts is really disturbing. They're watching a performance art designed with specific intentions and specific reactions in mind. Audiences become confused when the concept isn't relayed clearly, and they become tired of trying to figure a concept out when it's not clear enough. Then after a few unclear show concepts, some give up on the idea of concept altogether. Show designers are active in their thematic intentions, but sometimes muddled and can't convey it. So viewers need to be active in seeking out what designers are saying, and if the concept isn't clear, raise hell with them.

Poorly written drill, decent music (except Un Bel Di), many inexperienced members, and a revolving door of caption heads and executive directors since the early 90's. There ya go.