Movement

[PrfctTimeOfDay]

will we ever begin to see other styles of dance incorporated into the activity?

why don't we see greater variety of choreography?

does the judging community understand how to evaluate and credit different types of movement?

are todays leaders in the art of choreography experimenting with untried methods?

what styles of dance would be interesting and unique in todays programming?

Will we? probably not. . . I think on the whole WGI needs to address this, but chances are we are a long way off from any type of branching out in the movement caption.

I think this is really where seasoned World Class guards need to step up. At World Class level, they have proven that they have the skill and talent to be successful, so those groups need to keep evolving and re-defining for the betterment of the activity. That's why I am so critical of the world class guards, and in doing so I get a lot of hateful responses, but it truly is something I won't back down from because I see the better good that can come out of it.

What truly floors me is that I see A guards being more innovative than world guards. . .one would think it should be the other way around

PS....I think the activity (on the whole) hasn't even begun to tap into all the nuances that one can find in contemporary movement.

When will it happen? I'm not sure. . .but once it happens you'll know, because like all things new and different it will be met with resistance and uncomfortableness. :-)

Edited February 28, 2008 by PrfctTimeOfDay

[thx3838]

I tend to find that within the activity the only form of dance that gets full recognition and credit is lyrical / pseudo ballet.

Case in point would be The Victoriaville Pheonix (92-93-94). They had some of the most cutting edge contemporary dance skills and movement program ever and never fully got the movement scores they deserved. Progressive stuff doesn't seem to get the respect it should.

They were definately one of my favorite (they even did a whole show in dresses and army boots!)

Later,

Mike

i think i politely disagree, just look at avon last year, the first thing they did movement wise ...blew everyone away..and it was no ballet thats for sure. modern dance for modern times people! groups that are approaching movement from a modern standpoint can do just as well if not better. thats where the innovation in dance will come from i think, not in ballet terms as ballet is ballet, all with terms and definition. I think for our activity, that is based primarily around non classicly trained dancers. who generally shouldnt be trying to do ballet (allthough training in ballet is still great) should be using more modern things as a base and that is where we will be seeing different things and those things should get credited. If youve seen avon and centergrove this year you will see what i mean. they both really stand out from the rest as movement is a huge part of both programs, in very different ways, yet both amazing! And both setting standards. without a ballet vocabulary to speak of in most of the choreography.

[quegrawks]

i think i politely disagree, just look at avon last year, the first thing they did movement wise ...blew everyone away..and it was no ballet thats for sure. modern dance for modern times people! groups that are approaching movement from a modern standpoint can do just as well if not better. thats where the innovation in dance will come from i think, not in ballet terms as ballet is ballet, all with terms and definition. I think for our activity, that is based primarily around non classicly trained dancers. who generally shouldnt be trying to do ballet (allthough training in ballet is still great) should be using more modern things as a base and that is where we will be seeing different things and those things should get credited. If youve seen avon and centergrove this year you will see what i mean. they both really stand out from the rest as movement is a huge part of both programs, in very different ways, yet both amazing! And both setting standards. without a ballet vocabulary to speak of in most of the choreography.

Maybe I saw a different show. As Avon didn't necessarily "blow everyone away" with their movement. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away, and I do seem to remember some ballet-esque movement in their show.

As for "Modern" Look back to.. was it Pride? The "Freakshow" I think they were pushing it then, and I believe they did not receive as much credit as they deserved for their movement that year...although, again, it did incorporate ballet-esque movement at times.

[MiniSopGuy]

This goes back a ways, 1991 - 1995, so many of you may have never seen them, but I think one of the best moving guards of all time was "San Marino Academy of Dramatic Colorguard". It was single discipline of ballet only, but was very impressive.

Also, in contrast to Fantasia this year, they only used flag and only one flag for the entire show. But what they did with that flag was amazing.

Edited February 28, 2008 by MiniSopGuy

[Musical_Spinner]

Classical Modern is making it on the scene finally this year. Check out fantasia, they are doing some great modern-y things.

[GuardGirl94]

I love the movment in ar nova open. theres just enough of it to make it lyrical but not to much for it to seem hurried to rushed. plus it works so nicely with the music. our show doesnt have much movement, but only cause we're middle school...

[quegrawks]

This goes back a ways, 1991 - 1995, so many of you may have never seen them, but I think one of the best moving guards of all time was "San Marino Academy of Dramatic Colorguard". It was single discipline of ballet only, but was very impressive.

Also, in contrast to Fantasia this year, they only used flag and only one flag for the entire show. But what they did with that flag was amazing.

Yes! Man, could they dance! Design was... eh, but spinning was pretty good too.

[Guardguy89]

Maybe I saw a different show. As Avon didn't necessarily "blow everyone away" with their movement. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away, and I do seem to remember some ballet-esque movement in their show.

As for "Modern" Look back to.. was it Pride? The "Freakshow" I think they were pushing it then, and I believe they did not receive as much credit as they deserved for their movement that year...although, again, it did incorporate ballet-esque movement at times.

I agree with your comments on Avon. Was the opening dance sequence something new and contemporary - totally. Was the show theme and music contemporary - yep. But the overall movement in the show was not. It was very good and I loved every minute of that show - but the movement program was all about "the norm" (which is what I'd expect of a World class high school guard)

As for Pride - the show was freaky - but the movement was anything but. Once again really, really cool show, but not contemporary movement or cutting edge.

I was even disappointed when Fantasia did their Loud Music for Loud People show - as I thought the movement would be a bit more a reflection of the theme instead of temps levées, temps levées, attitude, jetée.

Later,

Mike

[byline]

I'm probably the world's worst person to talk about movement, as it's not something that comes naturally to me. Some people have a natural aptitude for dance, others don't. I don't. As a result, I always found dance hard to learn . . . and teach.

Even though dance is not my thing, one of the things I knew I had to do, in order to be able to add body work to the eqipment work I was teaching, was to learn ballet, because ballet is the foundation for all Western dance disciplines. If you can master ballet, then everything else pretty much falls into to place (though I had a real hard time with tap because of its speed). So I took an adult beginners' ballet class, as well as another dance class in which we learned the basics of other styles of dance like tap. If you have a really good teacher, as I did (and what a patient soul she was), then even someone who is as ill-suited for dance as I am can learn how to do it reasonably well. But for me to be comfortable doing it, I had to know what I was supposed to be doing at all points. That takes a lot more work than just standing in front of someone and having them mimic you.

It also really, really helped to have mirrors on the walls so that I could actually see what I was doing, see what my posture was, my body positions, etc. I always wished that my color guards could practice in mirrored rooms with high ceilings, because it would help so much in cleaning not only dance, but equipment work as well. Having someone see how they're out of alignment, as opposed to trying to explain it to them, is so much easier, and really it's more beneficial if a guard member can correct him- or herself. That's a much better way to learn, IMO.

I think that for dance to look good, it has to look like a natural, fluid motion. And, of course, that's very hard to do if you don't have a natural inclination to dance. Do I enjoy dancing? No. I wish I did. But for me, making that kind of movement look natural was always very difficult, and so I became way too self-conscious, thus making me awkward. It was like my brain didn't know how to direct my body to behave, while for other girls it seemed perfectly natural. Sway my hips? Huh? How? That's why I actually preferred the more rigid movements associated with the older style of color guard, whereas for other girls that was more difficult to nail down.

Though I have to say that a few weeks ago, I went to a belly dancing class. Maybe it's maturity; I don't know. But belly dancing (folkloric, as opposed to the "cabaret" style often seen in movies and TV) and other forms of Middle Eastern dance seem to be a very natural style of dancing . . . at least for a woman. Once you're able to just relax and let the body work through the movement, which flows forth quite naturally from the pelvis, then it just happens. I saw a beginner, who initially was quite afraid to do it, just sort of fall in with the rest of the women and do everything they did. It was really neat to watch.

Which reminds me: It would be good to see a lot more Middle Eastern dance incorporated into guard work. The main styles of dance I'm seeing, and have been seeing for years, seem to be based primarily on Western styles.

The guard that best illustrates my feelings about movement is 1991 Sonnor (they opened with Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work"). Everything they did seemed to flow organically from within, rather than looking like what so many other guards do, a kind of mimicry of something someone else had created (well, duh, that's what it is!). That tells me Sonnor's guard members had superb training on dance technique and fundamentals. My husband and I saw Sonnor at the 1999 Northeast Regionals (hard to believe that was nine years ago), and it was the same thing. It appeared to both of us (and this was my husband's first-ever winter guard show, which he loved) that, especially in dance, they were the best-trained guard out there because they made it look so easy and natural. Their extensions were near-perfect, creating beautiful lines with their bodies. Their show (done to "St. Matthew's Passion" . . . complete with artwork) was mesmerizing because it had the kind of flow that most of us aspire to.

The best guards make it look easy . . . yet making it look easy is one of the hardest things to achieve.

Oh, and to go somewhat off-topic, I've always admired Torvill and Dean (the British ice dancers) for the innovation and beauty they brought to that activity. Dean did most of the groundbreaking choreography; Torvill provided the technical expertise necessary to pull it off in a competitive environment. Together they singlehandedly moved ice dancing beyond the rather narrow constraints of that time into something people loved to watch.

Edited February 29, 2008 by byline

[thx3838]

I agree with your comments on Avon. Was the opening dance sequence something new and contemporary - totally. Was the show theme and music contemporary - yep. But the overall movement in the show was not. It was very good and I loved every minute of that show - but the movement program was all about "the norm" (which is what I'd expect of a World class high school guard)

As for Pride - the show was freaky - but the movement was anything but. Once again really, really cool show, but not contemporary movement or cutting edge.

I was even disappointed when Fantasia did their Loud Music for Loud People show - as I thought the movement would be a bit more a reflection of the theme instead of temps levées, temps levées, attitude, jetée.

Later,

Mike

wow, you must be hard to imprees, avon winning movement last year was all about the "norm"????

do tell what movement program does impress you?