DAvery Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Hey Don,Yeah, that's right. Now I remember that there was another circuit out there. I really don't know what the differences were between the two circuits (different rules maybe?). Guess who came from twirly corps to the Cavaliers in the late 60s early 70s? Don McWhorter, Ron Hermann, Skip Swoverland, me, Steve Schmid, Joe Balzer, Chris Lindley, Paul Leo, Bill Morgan, Bill Sweeney, Bill Dunne, Paul Redmond, Frank Esposito, just to name a few . . . Nothing like a long bus ride with a slew of teenage baton twirlers!!! I think the difference was Fred could or did not win in NBTA. Miller's Blackhawks originated out of the Cassano's Cavaliers (sponsored by a local pizza guy) in the late 50's. We had a couple of guys march in drum corps. A snare player in the 75 Kilties, and another Cavie in 78-80. His name was Billy Weber, but they called him Frumpy. Mostly there was alot of talking/watching drum corps, but little actual desire to march. The Blackhawk's had about 30-40 brass players, along with the drums, twirlers, rifles, and flags. The gym floor got a little cramped. We very rarely, if ever, had anyone else instruct other than Fred. In addition to teach the twirlers, he taught the brass and drums. He had a degree in music and even taught HS band for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cop Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 (edited) Blue Devils and Aimachi have been very successful in recent years utilizing baton lines i.e.: 20 or more on the WGI court. As a matter of fact Aimachi even placed 3rd in world class 2007. There are indeed instructors (with baton backgrounds) out there like Tom Vindiola who are successful color guard choreographers and equipment writers. Tom and others have taken a baton background and used the same type of work. Tom has written for Star of Indiana and Santa Clara Vanguard's guards. He also wrote for Avon H.S. these past few years (FYI they are GOOD!) So as far as pick up some "moves," it's out there and even more today then ever. I will reiterate the same point you are making. I too think that in order for today's guards to push the TRIAD to new heights, it is a great idea to draw upon other "twirling" that has been innovative. Not unlike the way Ballroom dance has a direct impact on competitive figure skating. Today's guard instructors need to have wide variety in their background in order to stay ahead of the curve with demand, movement and equipment being what it is. Check out the WGI web site and click on videos to get a look at Avon and Amiachi 2007 and how batons twirling has impacted some of today's successful guards. (And I was wrong, Vanguard did not have twirling, but did have the background. I heard, Sparks board wanted to compete with BD so they created Vanguard. right?) Edited February 3, 2008 by Cop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cop Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 (edited) Edited February 3, 2008 by Cop 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarimbasaurusRex Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 (edited) There were also the NYPENN and Great Lakes circuit associations. I started off in a baton corps called the Hi-Steppers. We competed against the Dal Demons and others. Gary Matzak was a Demon and he will probably be along shortly with more complete info on the parade circuits back then (yoo-hoo, Gary!). I also taught a corps out of Scarborough Ont. called Mirage that won NBTA a few times in the 70's-80's. It was a great place to get started and, with girls outnumbering the guys by about 10 to 1, the only thing better than the scenery was most excellent bus rides coming home at night. Edited February 3, 2008 by MarimbasaurusRex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 (edited) There were also the NYPENN and Great Lakes circuit associations. I started off in a baton corps called the Hi-Steppers. We competed against the Dal Demons and others. Gary Matzak was a Demon and he will probably be along shortly with more complete info on the parade circuits back then (yoo-hoo, Gary!). I also taught a corps out of Scarborough Ont. called Mirage that won NBTA a few times in the 70's-80's. It was a great place to get started and, with girls outnumbering the guys by about 10 to 1, the only thing better than the scenery was most excellent bus rides coming home at night. Right on man,...................bus trips were awesome,.................. There were some great corps from our area, and some national contenders,................Marionettes, Pittsburgh Golden Triangles, Angels Twirling Stars, just to name a few....................................my dad wrote and taught for several groups, and we made it out to Notre Dame regularly...............groups like the Apple Core, Mirage, really took this stuff seriously with expanded/mobile pits prior to their advent in DCI and DCA..............I remember groups rolling around timpani, marimbas, vibes, even steel drums, and this was in the mid 70's.......................................while I had a set of Jenco vibes hung around my neck............................really! Edited February 3, 2008 by Gary Matczak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkh Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 I marched in a NBTA corps in the early 70's named the Mustangs from Lancaster, Ohio. In 1970 we won the Junior Show Corps Division at Nationals in Notre Dame. We won the Senior Show Corps Division in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977 all at Notre Dame too. We competed in 1973 in Hawaii and won a World title. We traveled to France in 1977 and performed at a NBTA event there. Great times! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corps8294 Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 There were two baton and drum corps from La Crosse, WI. The Warriors and The Cavalettes. The Warriors had a Native American Indian theme and the Cavalettes looked like The Troopers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Lancer Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 2 minutes ago, corps8294 said: There were two baton and drum corps from La Crosse, WI. The Warriors and The Cavalettes. The Warriors had a Native American Indian theme and the Cavalettes looked like The Troopers. Let’s see ... a Native American corps and a Troopers type corps were cross town rivals ... what could possibly go wrong? 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevedci Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 Miller's Blackhawks were a USTA corps, and as pointed out, competed against, Conquistadores (Black Hawks and Conquistadores were both from Dayton Oh). Humington Thunders from Long Island and i vaguely recollect a music/baton corps from Carrolton Oh. The Black Hawks were a semi-feeder corps for the Marion Cadets in the late 1960s and early 1970s. And there were folks who started in the Miller Blackhawks, went to Marion Cadets then went on to other corps, including the Trooper, Kilties, Des Plaines Vanguard and a few others. The blue devils began as a twirling corps in 1956, found by the Odello family. Blue Devil #1 was Annete Odello - a twirler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corps8294 Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 On 4/24/2021 at 7:53 PM, Jurassic Lancer said: Let’s see ... a Native American corps and a Troopers type corps were cross town rivals ... what could possibly go wrong? The director of the Warriors (the corps with the Native American theme) always had a deep rooted hatred for the Blue Stars. I know that much to be true. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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