Boss Anova

' Just a little snippet of the 2026 BAC battery in a warm up from last Friday when the line first got together.... https://www.instagram.com/p/DXnKnuqEk6z/?hl=en

Recently announced that there is an African American Legacy Corps that has been building momentum for a couple of years and that momentum in membership and skill has allowed DCI to agree for them to perform in 2027 at the DCI Championships at the Semi Finals in exhibition. I think this is wonderful news. So many African American kids came thru the ranks of Drum Corps, and just like many of us it help mold us into good adults and provided us with such great memories of marching with others in our Drum Corps. https://www.dci.org/news/african-american-legacy-corps-sets-sights-on-2027-world-championship-appearance/?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email

I believe how the question is posed will provide the rank , ironlips . Chinese Mandarin is the most Native language spoken in the world . But it’s mostly spoken within China . For a few hundred years , China was fiercely isolationist from much of the world , and highly protective of its traditions and culture .( The Great Wall 0f China symbolic of this ) . English benefitted from the expansionism of England to all parts of the globe with its once expansive Brittish Empire . As a result , while not the most native language spoken , if the question is posed as “ what is the most spoken language in the world? “ , then the answer would be English . Hope that helps . Good topic , civil discussion with it .

I believe the majority of DCI audiences would prefer that the theme and messaging in today's Drum Corps shows be cogent and clear to most in the audience.... or at least be open to different interpretations. I don't believe the majority of audiences would choose to be confused or have no idea what your show was about. I wish DCI would do some polling on this to confirm my take on this. Yes, most of us by now have been accustomed to FEEL the show's wonderfulness...in brass playing, in percussion playing, in dance, in movement, in Guard performance.... and for some thats been perfectly fine, But by no means to all. I'm pretty certain we all have talked with people that have said to us they loved the show's performance, but " I have no idea what the heck the show I just watched was about ". For some historical perspective here, prior to the introductions of themes, attempts at messagings, yearly change of attires, etc all we fans had were the " feelings " for the shows. We looked at the performances and had " feelings "" on what corps executed in performance the best, and " feelings " about how much we liked or disliked the music played, and so forth. We were never asked as fans in the stands to " think " about the show's theme and its meaning, as there was no " thinking " required of us. With the introduction however of themes, various attire to fit the themes, and the show's messaging, we were expected to " think " about the show's themes and its messaging in performance. At least that was MY expectation anyway Otherwise, why have themes, messaging, new attire every year, etc to begin with ? Has the introduction of themes, messagings, new attire every season, been a success in enlightening us with the themes & messaging ? Think about that. You decide . Finally, we've all heard that traditional uniforms do not fit the themes and its messaging well if we retained the traditional uniforms, That keeping the traditional uniforms would be i "incongruous ". Ok, I get that. But if your shows theme and messaging is lost to the majority of fans ( and I suspect, more than a judge or two ) does it really matter if in the end of performance the show itself was " incongruous " to most ? In that case, if confusion of the show's theme was the aftermath, did it really matter then what the corps wore ? Just food for " thought ", along with our feelings on todays Drum Corps shows and their themes, messaging, attire. Are some shows more understandable than confusing ? Sure, I think so. Is it better to understand a show, than not understand most, if not all of it ? I thought the answer to this might be an easy answer. But its not, now is it.

For accuracy sake, would seem like a good reason to me. I did not post the rankings of the top 3 or 4 " most spoken languages in the world ". I merely responded to the rankings that perc2100 posted. Is a big deal ? No, of course not. Is inaccurate info ok to remain as is ? I don't believe so. English is the " most spoken language in the world ". So there it is. For accuracy sake... no more, no less

Actually, thats incorrect., perc2100. Spanish is #2 with Native Language, with English the #1 " language spoken world wide " The rankings are as follows : 1 ) English....... 1.5 billion 2) Mandarin....1.1 billion 3)Hindi............600 million 4)Spanish.......558 million 5) Arabic........335 million ( Sources... International Center for Language Studies, Britannica, 3 or 4 others. ) Top 10 Most Spoken Languages in the World in 2025

That TMZ poll is up to 400,000, TMZ skews toward mostly younger respondents. These are not your grandma or grandpas. ( I think I know how they might have voted if they participated in the TMZ poll.). They also skew toward english speaking US respondents. At 400,000 post half time shows, the Turning Point USA halftime show is still preferred at 2-1 margins at 64% to 36%. I actually don't find the US results for preference as that surprising. Its true that a " Puerto Rican performer singing in Spanish " is at a distinct disadvantage in any US based poll where the 400,000 or so respondents likely mirror the US English speaking population ( 85% English speaking, 15% Spanish speaking ). So naturally, the US audience when asked would naturally tend to have such overwhelming preference. The NFL is not so much interested in the US market for their football, as they have that market pretty much nailed down. They are very interested in expanding American football globally. We see this in the ever increasing NFL teams going and playing their NFL games in Mexico (Mexico City ), Spain (Madrid ), United Kingdom ( London ) Germany ( Berlin _) ,etc recently. Its US expansionism with its multi billion dollars out there globally for the taking by US brand football, via the NFL. So their selection of Bad Bunny in in keeping with this global reach via non English speaking performers. Economically it fits their future expansion interest plans very well, imo.

Fair point, I just mentioned it in passing. Polls conducted by corporate media, and university affiliations have dubious value, and I get that too. One cant get a degree in " polling " in any college that I'm aware of. I did look to see how US audiences in general liked the performance, and could only find this one.

I appreciate all viewpoints, yours included. I thought the all female dancing was a bit risque, but not " with pornographic " overtones. Its par for 2025 , but can be a bit much for many of the the grandpa's and grandma's generation watching. From an execution performance perspective, they were fabulous I thought. The language of dance is universal, so there was no need for verbal with that segment. The choreo was disappointing, and the props ( somewhat like DCI in this respect ) obscured the performers at times. There was mediocre camera angles too, imo. They could have had overhead shots, but if they did, I did not see it. As for the main performer ( Bad Bunny ), I really enjoyed the music, instrumentation utilized with it, and the Latin beat is to my liking, so this aspect was a thumbs up for me, As for the lyrics and theme messaging, like Drum Corps in this respect with some Drum Corps in performance,, I became lost with this aspect. With the Drum Corps analogy, I do understand others perspective that they can fully appreciate a Drum Corps in performance without have much understanding, if at all, of what the show was about. But I'm not in that camp to be honest. Drum Corps used tom perform without " themes ". For decades. When it was decided that " themes " and costuming appropriate for these " themes ". The Corps would communicate to audiences in performance thru music, dance, choreo, attire, etc these" themes ", with its messaging. So far, so good I thought, when themes, messaging. However, it did not entirely work out as I had hoped. Too often the sizzle became the steak, ie, the spectacle of it all became grand, but the steak, despite more expensive left me disappointed. I'm of the opinion that its not really ok to have Drum Corps performances that are grand in sight, sound, color, choreo, props, dance, b ut at the end of the performance large portions of the audience are either confused with what the theme and messaging is, or have no idea what the show was was about. Art and Music with Dance is about mostly communicating to an audience in a non verbal fashion. It is meant not to confuse, but to enlighten us . Many of these performers in current Drum Corps will go on to teach. I hope they teach marching band in a manner that communicates to audiences in a clear and cogent manner what the show is about. Now, as to the SB half time performance of Bad Bunny. I found similarities to modern day Drum Corps. The " spectacle " of it all, ie sight, sound, attire, choreo, music, instrumentation, etc to be on the surface ( for me ) wonderful.... but in the end, on the whole regrettably, disappointing. For similar reasons in Drum Corps. I had no idea what the lyrics were, nor theme, or messaging. I guessed that it was an uplifting and optimistic theme and messaging, as they smiled, and the music was portrayed with happy beats, no dissonance, or sour, unhappy angst and what not. The SB is broadcast world wide, including its halftime. Spanish was the language utilized by the main performer, Bad Bunny in performance. Its not their problem that this is his main language. Its my problem. But I am not alone... in the United States anyway. While the numbers of Spanish speaking in the US is rising, it is still only spoken and understood by approx 16%- 18% of the US public. As a result more than 80% of the US that watched the performance really did not understand the lyrics of the songs or its theme or its messaging. Like me, millions were left guessing. So for many in the US it was a wonderful spectacle. The " spectacle " for the non spanish speaking in the US was more than sufficient, with some some DCP posters here in that camp. But it was disappointing for many in the US it appears. TMZ poll ( of mostly young people ) came out yesterday. The poll had 260,000 respondents, a rather large sample. Of presumably US TV/ cell phone watchers. The question asked was whether they preferred the Bad Bunny performance or the Turning Point USA half time performance. The poll results were 2-1 for the Turning Point USA half time performances. 67% to 33%. I happened to watch both. I had one on my TV, the other on my cell phone. I found I liked them about equally. The SB one for its dancing, grandness, optimistic tones and vibes, and the Turning Point USA one for its english speaking lyrics that I understood, and its optimistic tones and vibes as well. But there was no dancing, and the choreo non existent, so that brought that half time show down for me with that aspect. All in all, I found aspects of both entertaining, but neither were in my top 5 of half time performances. I'd have Prince, U2, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez/ Shakira, Bruno Mars. Im sure others have their top 5. Music and dance is a personal thing. When it comes to such then, there are no right nor wrong answers. So anyway, these are my thoughts on this. Chime in if others want to give their take. I'd be interested in what others assessed. Thanks Fred, for your input... 'appreciated.

Historically, Corps that medal typically get great turnouts at camps both in numbers and in talent that following off season. For decades, BD would usually have the largest turnover of marchers after Championships,, but would not miss a beat in filling their ranks with the necessary talent to make another title run that off season with what they'll need in marcher talent. The same is true in many college sports, where teams like Ohio State, Alabama in football, Duke, Uconn in Basketball, Iowa in wrestling, BC/ BU, Michigan in Ice Hockey, etc can be expected to get what they need after losing vets to make title runs year in and year out. Yes, Boston had over 200 in brass at their Jan call back Camp ( reportedly their largest numbers ever for a Jan Camp for them), including 30+ tubas. I expect Boston will find what they'll need to continue to excel in 2026. They had auditioneers from every top 12 Corps from last season too. I also expect all the other top tier Corps to likewise find what they'll need in marcher talent in all sections to effectively compete at a high level in 2026. BAC at Jan camp......

Unsure if this is true or not, but even if it is, so are the New England Patriots. .... and they're going to the Super Bowl ☺️

The 1960's were... not the 1970's

NB likely will think of btw 6 and a dozen things he has done to advance DCI on a number of fronts so far in his leadership tenure I'll get back on here to post what they are when I think of 1 of 'em.

My guess, Corps will ultimately at some future point produce some level of video/ audio of each season's shows.. or maybe just audio studio recordings. A couple of corps have done so already in the recent past on this front. Something I'm sure will be done in time to preserve each season's shows to fill the void created by DCI's disengagement now on this front. Its simply inconceivable that some legitimate means wont be developed... and sooner rather than later, imo... to address what is still a demand out there for Drum Corps show's yearly preservations . Otherwise, as you posted , to fill this void......