CadenceDBC

Cadence will be at Lycoming College in downtown Williamsport on Thursday and Friday. All are welcome.

Ah Recruitment!! Try being in the UK where there is ZERO formal music education programmes in schools unless the parents par for the kids to do it or if the kids take it as an exam subject then its all on synth and guitar. We have a massive problem in the UK but in the opposite direction, by this I mean we struggle to get young kids into the activity but the pool of talented, experienced members shrinks every year as smaller Corps inevitably loose kids to top Corps (that is the way of things, no slight to any other UK corps) or they just leave to do other activities before it gets "in their blood". Many of the UK drum corps do not have a feeder Corps programme either and have been honest in that they simply do not have the resources to run two or three programmes at once. Those Corps who day find it very hard to keep a feeder Corps running once the first crop of kids has migrated to the Senior Corps. My own Corps (Cadence) are lucky in that we have a Senior Corps, Junior Corps and Cadet Corps but that is down to a small but dedicated group staff/parents but our road has been a tough climb from being inactive in 2005 to the present day when we hit the USA in August. Even our friends Kidsgrove Scouts have benefited form a Junior Corps. There was a time when they had a hugely successful Junior unit who almost all progressed into the main corps a few years ago. They have now restarted that Junior Corps once more and I am sure they will reap the benefits in a few years. As for oldies not coping today well Cadence have kids aged 12 and other kids marching at 55/60 years old. So far it works and everyone lives through each weekend....just! Its a shame to see we are all suffering from a lack of interested kids/adults in many different ways when I remember being 10 years old and crying because I was not allowed to join the Corps until I was 12. But on a positive note, DCA has two very strong classes this year so bring on August the 20th...See you all on the circuit.

Hi Cadence are planning to bring merchandise with us when we spend two weeks in the USA this August. We are at the Big Sounds In Motion DCA Show (Reading, PA) and the DCA Championships (Williamsport, PA). We are looking for a volunteer to help with the merchandise tent at these two shows so that our parents can always enjoy the shows as some have never seen Drum Corps outside of the UK live before. Even if its just a few hours each show day it would be much appreciated, contact me if you can help out? Paul - Corps Manger info@cadenceperformingarts.org.uk

Hi - I am the Corps Manager for Cadence Drum & Bugle Corps from the UK. We are in early discussions with DCA about attending the 2018 Championships in Williamsport, PA. Our initial plan is to compete in the A Class competition so its great to see that this class is growing year on year within DCA. Like many of the current A Class units we are the result of a rebuilding process, here is a brief history of the Corps: Cadence were formed in 1991 from a merger of the Caversham Boys Brigade Band and a local Drum Corps called Starisers. They achieved moderate success and were crowned DCUK A class champions in 1996. In 1997 a further merger with the Raiders from Surrey took place (my original Corps) and Cadence then entered the Open Class competition in 1997 achieving 5th place in finals. Our style has always been based around classical and symphonic music and in 1999 Cadence were DCUK Open Class Champions playing Festive Overture and Symphony No5 by Shostakovich with assistance from Jeff Wrobleski from the USA. The Corps continued to compete at the top level of DCUK over the next six years playing mostly classical music coming 2nd another five times. Sadly by 2005 the constant pursuit of another Championship led to a drop in members numbers and "burn out" amongst several staff. The Corps became inactive that Spring. We were very lucky to have a healthy B Corps which immediately became the main corps and we started from scratch entering the cadet class competition in 2009. Over the past 7 years we have slowly climbed the rankings and have been placed 3rd at the past two DCUK Finals and 9th at the past two Drum Corps Europe Competition Finals in Holland. Many of our members have been with Cadence since they were 10 years old which has given us a great nucleus of vets in the Corps. As weekend only Corps we are very much aligned with the all age Corps in the USA and taking a tour to the states was the next logical step which we have now announced and the planning has started to make this dream happen for our kids and adults who march with us. Although we are not a t the standard of our good friends Kidsgrove Scouts who are coming over for the 4th time this Summer, we still hope we can bring our little Corps to the USA and give you guys another taste of the UK Drum Corps activity. We will post updates on our plans and progress via our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Cadencedrumcorps/ Hopefully the A Class will be just as healthy come 2018. Regards Paul