Jeremy Denzer

When I think of small but mighty corps I immediately think of the Blue Stars during the Div II / III years.....Always in finals and always a contender for the DCI championship in Div II and III until finally returning to Div I / World Class. However if I had to name the best small corps it would be the 1996 Les Etoiles from Quebec......I think they had about 65 members and they came in 15th in Div I / World Class semifinals.

The question is not about the timing (July vs August). It is more about the cost. Why not put off the July tour until August and do the open class shows leading into Championships.

This is meant as no dig to the corps as they were very impressive last year.....just more curious....why go as far north as Minneapolis from Louisiana and not attend championships?

WGI has recently stopped offering the fan network and also stopped selling all DVD's of previous and future championships.....is DCI next?

Copyright issues.......it sounds like the age of championship DVD's is over......no legacy recordings and no future championship recordings

I just noticed that all legacy and current DVD's are no longer for sale on the WGI site.......has anyone heard any formal announcement that they are no longer selling recordings of championships current and from previous years?

I have noticed that open class scores this season appear to be more in line with the world class scores. Are the old open class sheets no longer being used this season? Are open class corps now being judged on the same sheets as world class corps?

Perhaps DCI should take some notes from WGI....continual growth in the number of units competing.....to the point of having to create a fourth competitive colorguard class at championships next year....finals that sell out every single year.....

Haha Izzy! I am not sure they would like me on the review committee. If I was you would see a lot more mid season promotions to SO and SW than you have today! But back to the topic at hand......the only real problem I have with this is the fact that the division takes place at the end of the season based on a flawed ranking system. If we want to go that route why not just have one giant scholastic class during the season and determine World, Open, A and AA prelims based on one big ranking list.

I would be in favor of a fourth class if the class was set up at the beginning of the season and guards could choose the class they belonged in. WGI would need to have a really good review committee in place as well to bump and demote guards throughout the season to ensure proper classification. My issue is that a guard who is 61st out of 120 in the rankings will now get a gold medal and a guard who is 60th out of 120 will not even make semifinals. The rule proposal left out so many things. How many guards from each class make semifinal?. What type of venues will be used to accommodate the additional competitions? Will anyone be interested in attending a finals show made up of 15 guards that in the past would not have even made semifinals? With the differences in regional scores from one area of the country to the next, dividing the class a week before WGI is not an accurate way of determining who should be A vs AA. \ So much uncertainty in this proposal. I would have preferred some more research into the logistics and rules behind this before it was actually approved and put in place.

The marching arts go pretty much year round......check out BOA / USSBA or WGI (Guard, Percussion, and now Winds)!

The new designers for the Bluecoast guard are Greg Lagola (Cadets, SCV Winterguard) and Carol Abohatab (SCV summer and winter). Both are highly respected in the colorguard activity and should bring a fresh look to the Bluecoats.

I am looking for 1 or 2 used 36 inch King sabres. If anyone has a 36 inch King sabre they are looking to sell please let me know. Thanks! Jeremy Denzer Colorguard Director Acton Boxborough Regional HS

It was just announced that the entire design staff from 2013 will be returning to the Blue Stars for 2014. Can't wait to see what they come up with for the corps 50th anniversary season.

If you can afford them go with the King sabre. They are the best quality sabre on the market. If you cannot afford Kings (they are expensive) the Samurai sabre is a nice piece of equipment. We spun them for a few year. They have a nice rotation point and weight that makes a transition to King sabres really easy. The only thing I found is that the hilts break once in awhile and need to be replaced.

From the beginning of this rule change I have only had one argument against it. In the pre 2000 era the progression was that most performers would start with a high school and then move into an Independent guard until they aged out. After aging out they became the next generation of designers and instructors. My biggest fear has always been that we are losing the next big name instuctor because they never age out. The positive effect on the change is that we are seeing the numbers of units in Independent World class flourish on a constistent basis. Remember that in 1999 the year before the change only 17 groups competed in the class......so few that they took everyone in finals. That was definately not a good situation. Also if you really look at the performers in world class today you do not see very many really old folks still marching. For the first few years many older performers came back....but in today's class they are the exception to the rule.

I think every class will be very exciting this year.....no clear winner in any class....can't wait to see how the competition plays out over the three day weekend!

I'll take a stab..... IW 1-Pride 2-Onyx 3-Blessed Sacrament SW 1-Carmel 2-Arcadia 3-Flanagan IO 1-Field of View 2-Interplay 3-University of Alabama Alta Marea SO 1-Claudia Taylor Johnson 2-Mechanicsburg 3-Cypress Bay IA 1-Artistry in Blue 2-Zydeco A 3-Salem Blue SA 1-Bellbrook 2-Minooka Community 3-Jamestown

Just noticed on the WGI website....Cape Fear and Cooper City were both promoted to Scholastic Open.

From what I have been told they were not a dance company.....just a colorguard that was given really good dance instruction. The designer behind all of their shows was Thom Vindiola. He also designed shows for Diamond Bar and Arcadia in Scholastic World and works with Avon HS.

The ensemble judge scores the design of the program......not necessarily unison ensemble statements.

In the 90's and early 2000's WGI used to list show concepts for guards in the winter focus magazine.

Why is it that winterguards keep their show music so hush hush and top secret.....we already know what the majority of drum corps are playing next summer.....so far I have only seen one show announcement from a WGI guard and the season starts in just a few weeks.

I know that more new corps is always a good thing.....however, does it make sense for Cascades to start another corps when they have been struggling to field enough members for even a medium sized open class corps in the last few years? Why not recruit those members as members of the Cascades?

Just noticed on Alter Ego's website that they are moving to Connecticut and performing with an all female cast this season! Can't wait to see what the design team has in store for the season. Sounds exciting.