bloominmom

Absolutely fantastic news!

I can tell you that his time spent in drum corps for the past 10 yrs. has been completely voluntary. Not a penny has he taken from Crown or the Blue Stars. It has been his privilege to be able to give back to an activity that has given him such great opportunities and friendships.

Exactly why some of us Crown parents and supporters jumped off of the DCP bandwagon to communicate in a more friendly forum! Just about everything said on DCP is misread and misinterpreted in some way. We are just proud and happy, the way any parents would be, given Crown's history and the corps' continuing success. Our comments from last night were not meant to bash the Cadets, they have great kids and they are a great corps. If they end up winning in their 75th year, good for them. But we can be proud and happy of our accomplishments as well. The "stupid" comment was in regards to DCP posters in general who were being so unbelievably negative and disrespectful of our program and our kids. Enough said, done with this negativity, go Crown!

Actually...WRONG! Clean sweep for Crown!

Just heard it as well from a very reliable source :)

Gonna be much closer before long, I believe. It will be fun to watch everyone improve. Should be a great summer!

Interesting...Crown's DM is staying at his former elementary school, with rehearsals and age-out banquet at his former HS. In drum corps also since age 14 and aging out this yr as well.

Crown will be housed at Binford Elementary with morning and early afternoon rehearsals there as of Wednesday. Mid to late afternoon ensemble rehearsals will be at Bloomington High School South (BHSS) and rehearsal all day Saturday will be at South as well. BHSS is located on South Walnut Street. No rehearsal Wed. PM as they will be holding their yearly banquet and age-out celebration.

Bravo! very eloquently stated, and I agree 100%!

From a pure demand standpoint, no one else can compare to Crown. From an ensemble standpoint, they are utilized very well and enhance the musical and visual product much better than BD or Cavies. BD's guard is very infrequently integrated into the rest of the corps visually. From a technical standpoint, this is the dirtiest Cavies guard seen in a few yrs., and when BD picks up their flags and weapons, it's not good much of the time. They are very good dancers, granted. That's about it.

Email Donnie VanDoren who is the assoc. producer and casting director for Blast! at dcvandoren@aol.com.

Actually, it wasn't just kids...and this thread's really not about that....so forgive me for getting off the topic...

Does anyone factor into this age-old jealousy about the $$$ that this organization gave local midwestern kids (who would have never been able to afford to march corps) an opportunity to be in a very well-run youth activity for a meager $200 (if that) It was an organization which developed their home-grown talent from within their own ranks. Talk about loyalty...no ring chasers in Star...all were a very loyal group who continue to give back to the activity (on numerous corps staffs and as volunteers) unselfishly to this very day. This "bitterness" really speaks poorly to the character of those who felt that way.

Yeah, thought I hit the PM button...oops!

Thank you Barry. Your comment was very much appreciated. I couldn't agree more, but I'm probably not the most objective opinion on that!

I guess Crown wasn't at that particular show that your brother attended. They are one of the few who seem to factor in the audience as they program their show. Maybe DCI would get more people back in the stands if they tried to encourage corps to be a bit more accessible in their programming. Crown has demonstrated (as have a few others) that it truly is possible to be artistic and entertaining simultaneously.

Guess you didn't hear the ballad this year.

I enjoy watching the musicality exhibited by Crown's DM.

Excellent...that's the whole point of the show.

funny that you would think Claire de lune is cute...has no depth...no resonance....not musical....huh? (scratchin' my head on this one).

I could not have said that any more eloquently...bravo!

The opinion was more a reflection on the poster...not on Crown kids...enough said and not worthy of more comment than that. The more amazing thing about Crown members is that the kids are mostly "home grown", for example most of their lead trumpet section are vets. Crown doesn't get the "ring chasers" and so the fact that they can compete at a pretty high level speaks to not only the kids, but to the staff and administration. They get these kids to come back for the right reasons. These kids are very loyal to the corps and to each other. It is a pretty special group. If they can't seem to get through to the judging community, at least they get through to the majority of the fans. That seems to be enough of a reward for them most of the time.

You completely missed my point...sure they do, but probably not in the same way as some other groups. Would you rather please a few guys in green shirts, or have 30,000 plus people on their feet long before the final note? If you can blend being competitive with also being entertaining, isn't that the best scenario? I saw some sleeper shows at Rockford that will probably kick our butts all summer, they got a polite applause at best. No thanks, I'll be gettin' a hot dog at that point.

oops..here was my part of the post: This is a very different activity than that of the 70's and 80's where there were more local, home grown members. Now many kids are ring chasers and way more mobile than in years past. If you drove a few hours to be in a corps back in the early 80's it was a lot. The judging system does perpetuate the top 3 mentality. It's gotten way too subjective. Now with 5 judges it's even worse but I get why DCI needed to do that. Sure, it's a competition and I'm not suggesting I don't get mad reading the recap, but I hope we have taught our kids to compete against themselves, and to entertain the folks who have paid for their ticket. Crown seems to have figured that out, based on the sweep of the Hot Chops awards and the Spirit of Disney Award last yr. If we can continue to focus our kids on those values, it's a way more fun and rewarding activity. My son's in his eighth yr of this activity, and he's not going to bring home a ring in his age out yr., but there is no ring that can match the value of his experiences as a performer and member of an organization like Crown.