Xmen79

Mykail Costner To Lead Crossmen Colorguard Caption and Guard Design in 2011 Crossmen Executive Director/ Corps Director, Fred Morrison is pleased to report that Crossmen Program Coordinator, Jaime Alvarez-Calderon and Crossmen Visual Coordinator, Ed Devlin have chosen Mykail Costner as the Crossmen Color Guard Designer and Captionhead for 2011. Mykail Costner has been an instructor, designer, performer, and choreographer for 5-time WGI Independent World Class Champion Fantasia. He has instructed the Santa Clara Vanguard, the Crossmen, and the Glassman, as well as Logan High School (CA), Mt. Carmel High School (CA), Valencia High School (CA), and James Bowie High School (TX). He has worked with the Riverside Community College Marching Tigers, 2007 BOA Grand National Champion LD Bell High School (Hurst, TX), and 2006 BOA Grand National Champion Broken Arrow High School (OK). Mykail and has been on staff at Connally High School in Austin, TX. He is now on staff at Winston Churchill High School in San Antonio. Mykail is often called upon as a design consultant and clinician for bands and guards across the United States. In 2010 Mykail designed the work for and taught the Crossmen guard. Crossmen welcome Mykail's return and know that the Crossmen colorguard will flourish under his leadership and creativity.

That's "imperative" by the way - and it's imperative that DCI maintain an interested and entertained cu$$tomer base! You can talk about fans, friends, and fools, but it is money that keeps the activity "moving forward"... for that matter consider the gas pricing, moving at all! 80/90s shows - corps maintained a 125 compliment - required fewer busses and operational staff - G-bugles vs. B-flat marching band instrumentation/sound - NO electronics - and, YES, they were still able to create ad innovate. Some seem to mistake "nostalgia" for being a purist... the activity is called DRUM and BUGLE - not marching band brass instruments and electronic synthesizers. If you REALLY want to evolve the activity, I say add pyrotechnics, strobe lighting, battery-powered LEDs in the uniforms, and steel girders to create platforms and catwalks -- borrowing a WGI expression, to add greater dimensionality.

Interesting topic and discussion; HOWEVER, this comment is STILL just YOUR opinion! Your assertions of "I think," and "in my opinion," are precisely that - yours and yours alone. "Talent" is such a nebulous term and equally subjective, so this entire discussion is wide open to personal opinions, assertions, and predispositions, and moods. And I find your last statement I included - "what the public wants..." to be highly conjectured. That is, unless I missed the announcement where you have become the anointed spokesperson for "the public." DCI was built on corps performing, what you call, the "least popular music genre. Wind ensemble, classical, jazz, show tunes... please go back and review what the DCI champion from each previous year won performing. I know Gail Royer (God be with him) is rolling over in his grave from such an assertion. So, what then would qualify as "entertaining" music? I guess we move to Hip-Hop and Dance: some Usher, then Lady Gaga, and close with Green Day's "American Idiot."

Received in e-mail from Crossmen this date: Fred Morrison, Executive Director / Corps Director, and Jaime Alvarez-Calderon, Program Coordinator of the Crossmen are pleased to announce Ed Devlin as Visual Coordinator and Drill Designer. Ed Devlin is currently the owner of Devlin Visual Design which provides services for the Marching Arts, and he serves as the President of the Winter Guard International Board of Directors. In this capacity, Ed is responsible for leading the organization’s future growth and development as well as overseeing the activities of the board of directors. He is also past president of the Eastern Massachusetts Color Guard Circuit. Ed has been the Director of the Blessed Sacrament Color Guard since 1995 and has been with Blessed Sacrament for 28 years. Blessed Sacrament celebrated their 30th year as a WGI World Class Finalist in 2009. Ed also serves on the design staff of the Blessed Sacrament Color Guard. Ed previously designed for Jersey Surf, Citations Drum and Bugle Corps, Academie Musicale, The Boston Crusasders, the Crossmen, and the 1998 & 2005 DCI Div. II Champion East Coast Jazz. Ed designs for many bands from all corners of the marching activity, most notably King Philip Regional High School, for which he has designed for the past 24 years. King Philip is acknowledged as one of the premier Marching Band’s in the Northeast, having won Gold Medals and State and Regional Championships at every level during Ed’s tenure. Ed’s design experience and knowledge will be a huge asset to the organization and the Crossmen welcome his return. Ed has already began assembling staff for the 2011 season. Please visit www.crossmen.org frequently for more announcements to come.

From the WGI website: WGI Board of Directors President - Ed Devlin, and yes he has been Sacs director for many years Now, if we could just coax Mark Thurston back to restore the drumline.

You get a pretty good sense of it whenever the Atlanta Corpsvets or Atlanta Alliance senior corps perform. In fact, Corpsvets use to use "Georgia" as a warm-up. I think their lead trumpet was a Spirit soloist.

From the Crossmen website - no weblink active at this time - "Ed Devlin Rejoins Crossmen as Visual Coordinator and Drill Writer September 23, 2010"

Because Bones pushing the envelope of the new has done them so well in Texas thus far! Last placement check, they've fallen successively with pretty much the same core [intentional usage] staff. As for bringing back the old... gee, HMM - it really didn't seem to HURT Madison this year!!!

WELL - perhaps not the New York Philharmonic,, but Christopher Martin (Spirit of Atlanta alum) sits as PRINCIPAL TRUMPET at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra... so maybe the "educational value" is to be found in the NON-G7 corps - and you get prop management, dance, and staging effects with the G7 corps. Further, just how would this G& team be decided? Because a historical analysis of any length could show several "ins" and "outs" within the Top 7 placement. PLUS, if the current judging slate goes with the G7, I could call that a VERY good thing! IMHO