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njthundrrd

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Posts posted by njthundrrd

    Staff Merry-go-round

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by njthundrrd

    I'm just sitting here thinking, what if the NFL didn't let teams announce their free agent signings until 2 weeks after the free agent period ended?  You know who left what team, but you don't know where they've signed yet!

    I love this time of year in drum corps. Tuesday will be an interesting day.

    • Like 2

    CORPS APPEARANCE FEES.

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    8 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

    logistics that weekend. the fair is happening, so the town is crazy...hotel space low, and schools are back, which creates issues with rehearsals. i mean even for DCI East, probably half the corps rehearse over an hour away. while East weekend MusicFest is also in town, thats more over Bethlehem way, whereas the Fair is up over the hill from the stadium. 

    Makes sense. I should have known known this. :::hanging head in shame:::::

    Staff Merry-go-round

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by njthundrrd

    I think you guys really don't take into account the money it takes to be a Top 5 and even Top 3 drum corps. It is not only about the show design and the staff. It is the tour and how well your tour and feed the kids, time sleeping on the floor, the money for food, travel, staff, props and everything else. Design and staff are a very important part of that equation, yes, but the current top 5 are what they are because of the money that they have compared to 6-10 and 11-15 etc (speaking very generally).

    • And corps like Cavies have done a lot on very little money compared to the Top 5.
    • And there are a few lower placing and even out of finals corps that have money (bingo especially) that don't place higher because they are not making the right design team, staff, tour financial decisions.

    Just my "two cents" based on helping run a few decent corps. = )

    • Like 6
    • Thanks 1

    Is this the BEST front ensemble and book EVER?

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:

    One of the best percussion sections overall ever in many peoples opinion (although I think they came in 3rd that year.) One of the best Rennick books ever for sure. I can't think of who wrote the front ensemble book but considering the content for the overall book of "On Air," it was some really wonderful supportive arranging. 

    Sandi Rennick wrote the FE book when she and Paul were at Regiment.

    • Thanks 1

    Staff Merry-go-round

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by njthundrrd

    7 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

    Thanks Eric. He's the reason I became a professional dancer and I've told him as much. I didn't know you could go to school for dance until I learned from him. 😉

    I feel the same way about locked knee marching and locked knee jazz runs. Just so much of what is being taught is done for the sake of everybody looking the same and not proper technique. I teach around pulling (stretching) away from the ground and lengthening the legs and torso. My bones ache watching the fundamentals that are being taught.

    You should be a WGI movement judge. Your grasp of this is far better than a lot of people I judge local circuits with.

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

    Staff Merry-go-round

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

    I'm sorry for wall-of-text. Dance is kinda my thing.

    Given the amount of time choreographers and movement trainers should be getting with these groups, I don't think it's a huge ask. It's up to the quality and training of instructors and whether they're given enough time to teach.

    I'm going to start with guards and expand to include the whole corps here so bear with me.

    We had mature choreo BITD because our choreographer had left drum corps to study dance in college. It made world of a difference, not only aesthetically, but for safety as well. I will continue to argue that if the gold standard trajectory for members and staff in horns/drums is to pursue music degrees, should that not be the same for colorguard members and choreographers to pursue dance/kinesiology degrees as well? I don't mean that people who took other routes shouldn't be welcomed, but that the instructors, designers and high-achievers should have dedicated time to studying dance outside of drum corps and colorguard. It's not just about looking better, it's about dancing safer and gaining exposure to non-Western forms.

    Case in point: when I returned to my final season, I had more focused training in movement than my colorguard staff. I left mid season from injuries that I'd never had before and have been recovering from ever since. The choreo hurt me.

    Corps choreographers that only train in studio-style or colorguard dance produce conventional and often repetitive choreo that can lead more easily to injury. Choreographers that have trained in movement invention, somatics, college, non-Western, or stage dance are likely to have more varied, rich, and safe choreo. Michael James (mentioned above) is an excellent example of this.

    When I look at the movement maturity (achievement) and vocabularies (content) across all corps, I see lots of room for growth. Yes a few guards and corps move well fairly consistently across the groups...but there was really only the Bloo guard that stood out to me. Look at 'em. Their choreo regularly employs lots of level changes; their heads and eyes are not rigidly fixed forward and up; I see no stiffness in them at all, so each movement just flows effortlessly to the next. Contrast that with say, another great moving guard at BD, whose achievement of conventional choreo is through the roof. Plenty of stuff I could never do and (for my own safety wouldn't want to.) The achievement in the latter is highly dependent on quality of talent and is what most other guards are trying to reproduce because their movement staffs probably never left colorguard. A well-rounded choreographer can train anyone to look great, especially the voracious generation in corps today.

    I dream of guards who demonstrate their unique movement vocabularies so clearly and effortlessly, that even without equipment or costumes, you can tell who they are. This is totally possible. BD and Bloo both have the strongest makings of this by virtue of legacy and innovation.

    Most corps appear to be floundering to define their unique movement signatures. SCV is so close on this and I give them mad credit for incorporating as much choreo for the hornline as they did. They lost points for it! But aside from a few gestural motifs, I didn't see much in the way of an established, recognizable movement signature besides their achievement at bent leg (which I also give credit for.) And strangely, I was more intrigued by the hornline choreo than I was by the guards'; that was a new feeling for me. Further, SCV was in tricky water though because they chose a show theme grounded in a very specific group of cultures. Choreographers are often put in a bind in these situations. They either have to ignore the movement motifs from the culture-or-origin OR try to incorporate them, both of which are cultural-appropriation mine fields. There are choreographers out there who know how to navigate such mine fields. But you can't really learn that if you've only trained in colorguard or studio dance.

    Establishing a corps movement signature doesn't have to mean training the corps or colorguard like ballerinas. Think bent-leg v straight leg or horn snaps or traditional v matched grip: there are ways that corps move that define their identities. I'm saying that if corps spent more time codifying and training ALL of their movement vocabulary, they could really soar. My biggest question is whether the judging community can learn to credit this... or said another way, is the trade off worth it?

    I think the MMs are more than ready for this challenge in the context of drum corps. I certainly was when I marched. And ALL the corps proved it this season with more-extensive movement vocabs than I've ever seen in this industry.

    It's the staffs that have to meet that challenge. If the staffs haven't studied dance outside of colorguard or studio-style dance, then they're going to continue to produce conventional, cookie-cutter choreo and injuries. With conventional uniforms going the way of the dodo, a defined movement signature may become the new, recognizable identity of corps.

    I dream of drum corps and colorguards as destinations for movement training. I became a dancer because of Michael James. Corps just need more staff like him AND to give them the time to train.

    I always enjoy your guard/brass choreography related posts. Always spot on!
    And yes, Michael James is an inspiration to many!

    • Thanks 1

    Staff Merry-go-round

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Cadevilina Crown said:

    Sounds like the exact same problem that plagued Madison in the last few years before they went co-ed.

    Just a thought...

    Years back, the only two drum corps that had all-boy guards were the Cavaliers and Madison.
    Now, almost every drum corps has a significant numbers of young men in them.
    Even with indoor guard and marching band having young men in them, is there enough talented male guard members to go around to every drum corps and perform on a high level?
    I dunno. Possibly? It is certainly not a cultural thing at the Cavaliers. They are one of the most fraternal corps left.
     

    • Like 2

    THE CADETS 2022 SHOW

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Orwellian Wiress said:

    Hey guys. I know I kind of have a reputation of not being the biggest Cadets fan especially with a couple "choice years", but I went to Big Loud and Live today and all I can say is...

    :drool: THIS. WAS. AMAZING! Maybe I'm biased because besides drum corps, swing is my favorite genre of music and I love vintage aesthetics. This had a lot of my type of stuff: interesting narration, storytelling, different genres/types of music, being based in pop culture.

    I was blown away by this show and I really hope the Cadets can move forward in this direction in the future!

    amen

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