Blue Devils plie question

[Whiskey]

Don't tell me we want to start penalizing this! One of the main reasons no corps plays straight up jazz anymore is because the judging has moved now to award lines that are technical and clean. Jazz is about the soul, not sounding like a wind ensemble. But that's what they want nowadays. The day we start penalizing for the lean back is the day we start taking the fun out of drum corps.

[Scout]

I back-bending is just body English and getting into the moment (unless it IS programed....there WAS one spot on BD last year just before they turned backfield to form the front near the end of the first half of the opener)....and when I marched it was not restricted to vets....

Example:

La Fiesta....final park & bark...I'm the little sop 5th from right, front row....and I'm leaning WAY back....I was also one of the rookiest rook-outs that year.

Oh My God you guys were awesome. I love BD 1984.

[84BDsop]

Oh My God you guys were awesome. I love BD 1984.

Thanks! It was a pleasure to close out the concert era with La Fiesta...and I wouldn't trade that year for anything.

[Feathers Up]

So that picture looks lame to you? Then you are obviously a "hater" and maybe a little slow.

Look at that picture. You can clearly tell (even without sound) that the ensemble is pumping and flowing with energy and intensity. When you are standing straight up and down, the audience looses some of the intensity from the ensemble. Maybe not because they are playing any softer but simply because they arent going with the natural motion.

That means that the audience will feel more energy and intensity when you lean back...which will equal more GE. Thanks, come again.

It's all about BD's style..They are laid back and let loose out there. And they usually play music which suites their style. It has nothing to do with making someone play louder or adding GE to get the crowd into it..The main reason the crowd is getting into it is because BD is peeling the paint of the walls while usually playing a hot jazz chart. But I've seen plently of shows of corps standing straight up during a hault and then ripping my face off while the crowd is going crazy. No intensity lost at all in my opinion.. But some corps don't play the same type music BD does, and it would look kind of dumb to see a corps like Phantom getting down while playing a classical piece..Madison does the same thing, because of the Latin/Jazz style shows they usually do. Old school Spirit of Atlanta also would throw down when they played southern jazz. Just a different point of view.

[NeutralNovice]

Piles are hemorrhoids.

Plies are knee bends.

Sorry, I mispelled

[funkrocker049]

Everyone knows that the lower you go, the louder you play.

Edited July 9, 2008 by funkrocker049

[ssgt94]

As someone who has been required to perform various plies, foot movements, hip movements, leans, undulations, etc., etc., I would only interject that these moves are designed specifically to generate visual GE. Further, they have often been incorporated to demonstrate a level of proficiency with which the hornline (and particularly the drumline these days) is fully capable of performing despite "awkward" physical situations. None of us ever had any illusions that they were being incorporated into the various shows for any other reason. In fact, I'll go out on a limb (and my fellow Corps members may feel free to flame me if they so desire) and say that I hated that kind of stuff. I was a purest, but I have come to recognize that the activity was beginning to require (and now demands) such a level of flexibility and performance. Therefore, we were fully dependent on the visual staff to incorporate those things that they felt - in their very experienced and proven opinions - offered the greatest possibility of increasing the dynamic nature of the visual presentation. And as I have observed, both during my years and those following, sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't. Ultimately, it's up to the judges and the fans to interpret and discern the nature and reason for the movements.

As for bending back while wailing, anyone who has ever witnessed a BD performance from 1975 through 2007 should be able to easily remember the impact, both visually and musically, that such performances are capable of generating. Such movements were never limited to veterans, it's part of the professional performance culture engrained into us by Wayne Downey, Dave Carico, Jack Meehan, John Meehan, and Gino Cipriani. I will say that this particular movement was never meant to be performed merely for dramatic pause, it was only ever intended to to coincide with the highly charged enthusiasm and adrenaline rush that comes when you play your heart out while drenched by the overwelming sound of the Blue Devil hornline all around you.

Just my opinion...