Cavaliers Marching Technique

[alto92]

I find your choice of fruits quite accurate tasty.

I'm hungry now...

Fixed.

Edited July 30, 2009 by alto92

[ContraFart]

I just find this hilarious in the fact that people want to debate the merit and quality of what they "perceive" to be the Cavalier marching technique, yet I'm not seeing any of these people say that they have actually marched with us and thus truly know what that technique really is. So, basically you can argue about something that you're not at all that knowledgeable about, but just what you can see from video angles shot from a good distance back or even worse yet... up high in the stands, and then critique what's good or not? That's funny.

I mean don't get me wrong, I'm always greatful to see our name popping constantly popping up in forums all over the net for various things we do or don't do... but to paraphrase and add on to what Jayzer said... a spade can really only be defined as a spade with substantial evidence and information to back it up... otherwise you end up looking like you're talking out of your... ***

I think at the end of the day, not only has the initial question of this thread has still not been answered (and unfortunately even though I've marched it, I still don't quite feel qualified to detail it to the level it deserves to be) but now people want to compare apples (cavaliers) to oranges (cadets) and to raspberries (scv) and to blueberries (BD).. and so on and so forth and say who's style works better over another's. In all honesty I'm glad that most corps do their own thing and something different than everyone else, what fun would it be if we all did it the same way? Ultimately as long as everyone in the corps is uniform then that's all that really matters for that caption's concern.

I started the thread because I personally like the way the technique looks, and I know it is different from traditional strait leg technique.

As far as upper body, it may be inconsistent up close, but from afar it is hidden by the large gauntlets. The one thing I do notice is that the horns are held closer to the body than most other corps do.

and from your fruit analogies, I am now Hungry, and am craving a fruit salad.

[uscorpsfan]

Long-time lurker here and I have a couple of ideas to get across regarding marching technique, not necessarily with The Cavaliers. I'm curious to hear responses from the crowd if you have one.

I've been in quite a few visual performance critiques for the top corps and listened to many a tape. My first impression right off the bat, that still sticks with me to this day, is that visual performance is not as much about technique as you would think. There are a small number of comments regarding technique uniformity, a moderate amount of comments on color guard, and a HEAVY amount of comments on form control. The majority of judges these days, right or wrong, spend a high percentage of their time calling out ticks in the form. I wish there was more to the technique aspect, but that's just not the case with many judges anymore. Point is, the visual performance caption is not nearly as much about technique as most people think it is.

I read earlier on about a band who uses Cavaliers technique going forward and straight-leg going backward. I work closely with a band that does this and they are very successful (enough to win visual performance and ensemble captions at major BOA events). The technique they use works well for them and it does look "good" on those standards because of the uniformity (for a high school group). Here's reasons why they choose to do what they do.

Forward march: Why The Cavaliers technique?

EASY to teach and EASY to clean. A little bit of time at the beginning goes a LONG way in the end.

When a marcher regresses in technique the tendency is to go more towards this technique. You'll never see someone get straighter legs as they get tired.

Lack of uniformity doesn't stick out as much as straight leg.

Smoother and easier to play, especially for HS.

Backward march: Why Straight-Leg?

Easier to keep smooth going backwards than forwards with this technique.

Looks better (in some opinions of course).

As long as the leg stays extended and the entire leg is in time, it's relatively easy to keep clean.

It's not a true straight-leg. As the step size gets bigger the knees give more. Basically, keep the heels as low as possible and move the knee back as fast or faster than the foot.

Backward march: Why not The Cavaliers technique?

The variables in foot angle both up and down as well as left to right make it look dirty even if it's "clean" (in some opinions).

Both techniques (straight and not) are not quite natural. The students get on the same page better with straight leg.

Straight leg looks better, especially going backwards (in some opinions).

Yes, The Cavaliers technique is more like walking. Straight leg is more like running backwards, the sport version.

The band used to march pure Cavaliers technique for a couple years. When the switch was made the forward march was a huge success and the backward march needed major adjustments. This is why the techniques got switched. There was a need for a new backward technique and none for the forward technique. It's usually best to not switch the whole thing up over the years, but rather space it out over time.

I know the second part is about marching band, but I figured it was relative enough to interest some people on here. I feel like there is no need to flame for talking about band here on DCP, it was really meant for those who were taking interest in that particular post. Thanks for listening. It's a pleasure to hear people's opinions and continue to learn about what we're doing. Again, if you have opinions on this, please post. I'm curious to hear thoughts about it.

[Medeabrass]

FAIL

Cavaliers Visual Performance Scores at DCI World Championship Finals:

2008: 19.8 (1st)

2007: 19.4 (1st)

2006: 19.9 (1st)

2005: 19.3 (3rd)

2004: 19.9 (1st)

2003: 19.4 (3rd)

2002: 19.8 (1st)

2001: 19.6 (2nd)

2000: 19.6 (1st)

Visual judges don't even care if you're in step anymore as long as the form looks good. Quoting scores isn't saying anything and it's nothing new. Look at Cadets '93...outta step and dudes bouncing all over the place. They still took second in field vis and first in ensemble.

[Cardman]

The Cavies do a lot of things well, but looking good while marching aint one of em.

/I'm just sayin

I disagree. (About them not looking good while marching, just to be clear)

Edited July 31, 2009 by Cardman

[JayM]

Visual judges don't even care if you're in step anymore as long as the form looks good. Quoting scores isn't saying anything and it's nothing new. Look at Cadets '93...outta step and dudes bouncing all over the place. They still took second in field vis and first in ensemble.

Then why score?

[corpsband]

Watched Cavies tonight with this thread in mind. They do a very nice job in the lower body with consistent technique performer to performer. It does NOT translate into a everyone looking the same because of different knee heights. Backward marching does blend nicely with the forward marching.

They don't do such a wonderful job with shoulder alignment (at least not tonight). I was kind of shocked to see slides (laterals) with a clear angle in the shoulders in the direction of the slides. And not just once but repeatedly. It really pops because the extended shoulder in the uniform.

Edited July 31, 2009 by corpsband

[xstevex]

The thing I enjoy most about this technique is that it actually engages more parts of the leg and allows more muscles to control what the body is doing. Instead of locking all of the muscles of the leg and forcing the hip to pull the leg forward, the calves (pushing off the ground) and thighs (pulling at the hips) greatly aid in movement.

With that said, this technique has its strengths and weaknesses:

Small steps are tremendously difficult to perform with so much leg movement. I found it harder to march smaller than an 8-5 step and easier doing 8-5 and larger. This also made playing more difficult during small moves. However, the point is to not notice the difference between a person marching 16-5 next a person marching 6-5, and in that it succeeds.

I personally think this technique makes half time marching look better than any other corps. The extra movement fills in the greater time period and creates, IMO, a very nice effect. I also prescribe to the extra movement being much nicer to the knees and joints.

The other thing to note is that though the knee moves quite a bit, there is still a point both forward and back that the legs do become straight (which is why this technique is hard to convince, and hence the "exaggeration" necessity). The feet always stay close to the ground, and if one were to start lifting then the style would actually start to look like the bicycle everyone likes to tag to it.

Obviously, I prefer using this technique personally, but no I will not teach this to my band verbatim or at all. Yes I believe there should be a greater emphasis on upper body (especially shoulders) excellence. But this style works with the entire philosophy, including finishing every drill phrase and not telegraphing direction changes with a different last step segueing into the new direction. Every part of the technique is designed to produce a smooth upper body, which makes the drill style read correctly.