Dot marching or Form marching

[NR_Ohiobando]

I find it hard to believe that doing both at the same time is not common practice. (both is the correct answer)

[atlvalet]

Back in the day (1992), dot was taught....and then you dressed to form.

So yes, both...

[InspaDave]

Dot is what you do when you arrive at a set.

Form is between sets.

[SCVsopAaron]

BOTH! And BOY this is a tired discussion..................

[beavs]

I find it hard to believe that doing both at the same time is not common practice. (both is the correct answer)

Its very common.

Rarely ever successful...

Marching drill shouldn't be improvisational. Consistancy is what creates the most success. You shouldn't be held responsible for someone else's mistake, and dot marching helps members devote their visual focus to their own performance of the show, and especially the practice and learning of their own show, without wondering if the person next to them is going to overstep or understep their place on the field.

What about all the steps inbetween each dot? Those are just as important as the dot, if not more. If you are trying to stay between two people from one dot to the next you'd be taking a different stepsize, and a different path, almost every time you perform or practice the show. They are trying to stay between two people too...and you're one of them!! ...and you wonder why the corps lacks visual confidence, and your visual program lacks drill moves that "click." From one dot to the next, you probly see a lot of small-big-small stepsize progressions. Small after the step off, big in the middle of the move, then small as they approach the next dot.

Its obvious I am very pro-dot marching... but I do believe you can march curved paths and still use visual references on the field, creating checkpoints and subsets on your way to the next dot on the field.

There is no doubt that if you guide drill and march a clean show you must be a very tallented group. I've marched every type of style, from "The drill you learn at drill camps will be different at the end of the summer. The judges don't know what the pages look like, so get between two people!" to "Look at the people around you.... they are all idiots. Don't follow them." Obviously there is no right or wrong. I prefer dot. Don't get me wrong, I believe every member should be aware of where the other members are on the field at all times. Sometimes durring practice and rehearsal the only way you know if you're changing your stepsize, or taking a weird path in the middle of the move, is seeing yourself completely out of at line or form. Also, if you ever want to teach visual at a corps as a tech in the future (or if you aren't getting any tech attention because you're just that good) its smart to watch the members around you and take note of their tendencies, find solutions to common mistakes, and see what they do to fix it themself. Heck, you might be making the same mistakes!

Be aware of your surroundings, but don't use the people around you as a steadfast reference of where you should be on the field. I cringe when I see people at the point of an angle or diag turn around, hold their horn in the air, and move people into a line.

Edited July 17, 2008 by beavs

[corps fan]

here's the thing: the judges don't know if a member is half a step off the dot, but they can sure tell if a circle doesn't look like a circle. the only way to teach is to teach a dot and of course one should strive for it, but the form has to be the guiding point unless you are a group like the Cavaliers who has the time and patience to teach the spatial awareness necessary for their type of drill (yes, they teach and only march dots)...do not be fooled by high schools who only use dots (like mine). to truly acheive dot shows, you have to be so focused on what a fraction of a step looks like in the context of a field, and most groups are not advanced enough to be able to pull this off. I have often thought of trying to go to a visual rehearsal to watch how they teach this idea. yes, people can think it's not that hard, but you really have to have tons and tons of time to clean the idea before putting it to drill.

[MetalTones2012]

Dot marching to learn the show, form marching to clean it.

[NR_Ohiobando]

If you have an ensemble that can "dot march" 100% accurate 100% of the time, go for it.

I think that nobody is perfect, and unless you're the Cavaliers or another top corps, you probably won't get people who come close to perfect every season...so I tend to think that teaching both would be your best bet for the majority of ensembles.

Edited July 17, 2008 by NR_Ohiobando

[blueorginal]

Well in my little inventive mind, I think its time to put the dots on the backs of the marchers like one on each shoulder and one in the middle of the back and laser guides on the front (like the laster levels) so that way they can dress to the laser line :) just think how much fun that would be.....:)

[beavs]

Well in my little inventive mind, I think its time to put the dots on the backs of the marchers like one on each shoulder and one in the middle of the back and laser guides on the front (like the laster levels) so that way they can dress to the laser line :) just think how much fun that would be.....:)

I once marched with someone that swore by "doppler guiding." He told us he would listen to the sounds around him, and use different volumes to give him a reference of where to stand relative to the sounds around him. I don't know if he was serious... but he definitely wasn't on par, or on the same page as the rest of the corps most the time.