Alliance_JM

Much of ALLIANCE'S instructional staff is at the airport ready to depart!

Off Topic: For any "weather-nerds", like myself, this is the best hurricane site I've seen. ---> Storm Pulse It looks like Danny will be out past Nova Scotia by the end of the weekend.

Yes, since May.

Awesome review, thanks! ALLAINCE doesn't have many marching members over 30. If my count is accurate, we have a trumpet, a mello, a tenor player, and a drum major; all in their early-to-mid 30's. And there are a couple in the pit over 30. I think this is likely because our show concepts tend to attract younger marchers, and, like this year, when sustained tempos are 168+ for 5 1/2 minutes, endurance becomes the overriding prerequisite. Your review was spot-on, we all have plenty of homework to do before DCAS heads to Rochester! ...Oops, Terry beat me to it

Definitely a possibility! What I stated was just a theory. We shall see what Prelims brings!

Ouch. Slither. From one who won't post their name. Well, I'm going to make an attempt at a rational comment about the northeastern v. southern scoring. Our staff at ALLIANCE was just discussing what could be causing these differentials. One possibility could be that corps like the Kilties, Brigs and Bush are going head-to-head against the powerhouses like MBI, ES, and Cabs. A large part of judging is based on spreads between corps and when judges know someone like MBI is going to bust 90, the corps behind them tend to get "sucked up". The southern corps have historically been in the bottom few finalist spots, and we are all being scored in that range right now. Again, that is just one theory. Take it for what it's worth. We don't really care about these differentials at all because we understand that scoring trends are going to be different in different regions, no matter what. Just like the west coast v. east coast scores in DCI. And we also agree that it would be beneficial to go up north earlier in the year, if possible. But, as it's been said 1000 times before, everything will shake out at Prelims! And "cadetsfan", we are going to "slither" as hard as we can!

Yeah, next year we are going for a more Darwinian approach... See everyone in Antioch!

ALLIANCE ANNOUNCES 2009 DRUM MAJOR AND FIELD CONDUCTOR Benjamin Smart and Dustin Ingram The 2008 Class A Drum Corps Associates world champion ALLIANCE Drum & Bugle Corps is pleased to announce their Drum Major and Field Conductor for the 2009 season! Benjamin Smart will take the helm in his second season as Drum Major for ALLIANCE. Mr. Smart is a fourth year member of the corps, playing baritone in 2006 and mellophone in 2007. He has previously marched with the Magic of Orlando Drum & Bugle Corps, the Baldwin High School Marching Pride, and was a proud five-year member of the hardest working band in show business – Southern Pride – from Georgia Southern University. Mr. Smart is a founding member and Executive Director of the Atlanta Quest Indoor Percussion Ensemble. He is the studio production manager for Artisan PictureWorks, a full service production company in downtown Atlanta. He lives in a high-rise loft in Atlanta with his dog, Oxford. He is an avid hunter and fisherman; and by hunting and fishing, he means watching movies and television on his comfortable couch. He thanks his family and friends for all of the opportunities he has had in his life. Everyone except you, Larry. Dustin Ingram, in his first season with ALLIANCE, will assist the corps in the Field Conductor role. Mr. Ingram is a senior at Eagles Landing High School in McDonough, GA. He is an honor student and very involved in band, wrestling, mock trial, as well as Beta Club, FCA, and the National Honor Society. Mr. Ingram marched trumpet his first two years of high school, and recently finished his second season as drum major at Eagles Landing. He attended the University of South Carolina Drum Major Camp in the summer of 2007 and has received superior ratings at every marching band competition. In the fall of 2008, he and his co-drum major, earned a Highest Overall Drum Major rating at the Greater Atlanta Marching Festival. He is the principal trumpet player in the top band at his school. He is also active in the school’s brass ensemble, brass quintet, and jazz ensemble. In addition to music, Mr. Ingram has an interest in mathematics. In the summer of 2008, he attended the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program, focusing on a major in math and a minor in brass. He also enjoys hanging out with friends, watching movies, playing sports, reading, and keeping up with drum corps. He plans to attend Georgia Tech in the fall of 2009 to pursue an engineering or mathematics degree. In the future, he also hopes to expand upon his music career by earning an additional degree in music performance, music education, or conducting. ALLIANCE had a very successful 2008 season under the field leadership of Mr. Smart, and is adding another great conductor in Mr. Ingram. The ALLIANCE staff is excited to see the corps prosper as a result of this new conducting team! Smart and Ingram will lead ALLIANCE in the corps' powerful and energetic 2009 production, entitled DYNAMO. For more information, please visit www.alliancedrumcorps.org

BOSMarcher, we appreciate your continued support, but again ask that you not state "facts" about ALLIANCE's intentions or plans, since you have no formal relationship with the corps and we don't even know who you are. Thank you.

Rex, I have sent you a private message. And DEFINITELY come to Open House! Most of our members start their careers at ALLIANCE with no previous drum corps experience. The bottom line is that we are looking for hard workers and great attitudes!

The 2008 DCA Class A World Champion ALLIANCE Drum & Bugle Corps will be hosting our 5th annual Open House/Audition Camp for the 2009 season on Sunday, December 7th, 2008 at Sprayberry High School in Marietta , GA. The camp will be held from 1:00pm to 6:00pm. Open House is a great opportunity for prospective members to get acquainted with the staff, meet current members, and have a great time playing, drumming, or spinning! Many important announcements will be made at this first camp, including insight into our 2009 Program entitled "DYNAMO", and a preview of or 2009 tour schedule. Audition requirements and materials are available for download through the ALLIANCE website. We ask that all who plan to attend Open House complete our online interest form, also available on our website. All positions within the corps are open for audition. Stay tuned to alliancedrumcorps.org for more information regarding Open House and our exciting 2009 Season!

Sorry! I totally missed that it was the DCA South patch!

Alliance has some available through our new Webstore. http://alliancedrumcorps.org/webstore/inde...6c706b0c4e26074

Lots of good info in here! We are honored to be a possible option for anyone interested in DCA! Speaking for Alliance, we see ourselves as an alternative to DCI for any young marchers who cannot commit their entire summer or afford the increasing dues payments. We also encourage our of-age members, before our season starts, to participate in DCI if they have the opportunity. There is nothing can fully replace that full-tour experience. One of our current members marched with Alliance in 2005 and 2006, marched with the Boston Crusaders in 2007, filled a trumpet hole with Alliance at the end of 2007, was a drum major for Alliance in 2008, and will age out with Boston this coming summer! And we couldn't be more proud! While we do have many college-aged members, our median age was barely 19 years old, so Mr. Hankins would definitely be marching with many his own age. We are very excited about moving toward 2009. Thanks for the encouraging words, and best of luck to all the DCA corps!

Following up on their 2008 DCA Class A World Championship, ALLIANCE Drum & Bugle Corps will continue their innovative design approach as they prepare for the upcoming season, and is pleased to announce their 2009 production entitled: "DYNAMO" ALLIANCE is returning nearly all design and instructional staff to lead the corps during the 2009 season. The corps is currently accepting applications for the position of Color Guard Caption Head. Please visit the ALLIANCE website at www.AllianceDrumCorps.org for more information regarding our 2009 season!