wolfgang Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 What are the factors that have led to the demise of drum corps in Canada? Since I started following the activity in the '80s, we have seen quality groups like Ventures, Canadian Knighs, Les Eclipse, Les Etoiles, Dutch Boy (at least as a World Class group), L'Insolite, Academie Musicale, and probably another few corps I'm forgetting come and go. And, back in the 70s there were other Canadian corps that were finalist caliber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCImonkey Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Hockey.....and that ##### Ann Murray too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 What are the factors that have led to the demise of drum corps in Canada?Since I started following the activity in the '80s, we have seen quality groups like Ventures, Canadian Knighs, Les Eclipse, Les Etoiles, Dutch Boy (at least as a World Class group), L'Insolite, Academie Musicale, and probably another few corps I'm forgetting come and go. And, back in the 70s there were other Canadian corps that were finalist caliber. I would guess money and recruiting being the biggest factors. In Canada there is no high school band program, so finding local talent was VERY difficult. Also, travel had to have been ROUGH for a lot of those corps. While it was only a three of four hour drive for some of the more centrally located Ontario corps to the major shows in the mid-west and east, it would've been difficult for some of the Montreal corps; for example, it's 6 1/2 hours from Montreal to Buffalo, and 16 hours from Montreal to Madison, Wisconsin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman1084 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 What are the factors that have led to the demise of drum corps in Canada?Since I started following the activity in the '80s, we have seen quality groups like Ventures, Canadian Knighs, Les Eclipse, Les Etoiles, Dutch Boy (at least as a World Class group), L'Insolite, Academie Musicale, and probably another few corps I'm forgetting come and go. And, back in the 70s there were other Canadian corps that were finalist caliber. Thank you for starting this thread. I always wondered this myself, and would love for someone to step in and provide a detailed answer. I had just posted something related to this in the Open Class forum. Take a look at all the names I was able to come up with just off the top of my head: What about all those Canadian corps from the 80s and 90s? Kiwanis, Academie Musicale, Les Etoiles, Allegiance Elite, Dutch Boy, Les Stentors, Les Senateurs, HYPE, Blue Saints, Bandettes, Ventures, St. John's, Cardinals, Contemporary Youth Ensemble, 3rd Regiment, Emerald Knights, Conquerer, Ridge Raiders, Pride of the Lions and many others were alive and well, and now we're left with how many? Three? Dutch Boy, Blue Saints and Les Stentors (all at about 30-40 members, and all have seen much more competitive years...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rd_Star_Brigade Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Lumberjacks. They sleep all night and work all day, and thats no way to operate a ####### drum corps!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Other Mike Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 What are the factors that have led to the demise of drum corps in Canada?Since I started following the activity in the '80s, we have seen quality groups like Ventures, Canadian Knighs, Les Eclipse, Les Etoiles, Dutch Boy (at least as a World Class group), L'Insolite, Academie Musicale, and probably another few corps I'm forgetting come and go. And, back in the 70s there were other Canadian corps that were finalist caliber. The healthcare system ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyushujet Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Lest we forget, Connexion Quebec. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluublood Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Socialism Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck DCGroupie Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 (edited) Being Canadian and a musician here is a run down of what I know from at least Ontario. Over the past 30 years, school boards have cut back on music programs dramatically. They seem to be the first to go. The provincial governments are responsible for funding education and have reduced their funding dramatically. Pretty well all high school bands except for a few are concert or jazz bands only. My son's high school band 3 years ago in a school with 1500 students had only 20 musicians in it yet their hockey/basketball/soccer/field hockey/baseball etc etc. teams always were the best equiped and always going to the provincial finals. Drum Corps rely on high school musicians to fill their ranks. During the 1970's there were I believe 3-4 corps in the Kitchener area alone and a dozen spread across Southern Ontario including a couple of all girls corps. Now there is one which as we know is Dutch Boy that is still in competition. I believe North Stars (?) tried to start up again this year. They are from Northern Ontario. There were also many marching bands in Southern Ontario that were quite successful financially and membership wise. Pretty well all these bands are/were sponsored by Optimist/Rotary/Lions Clubs not high schools. Windsor Ontario had 3 competitive marching bands at one time. Not one of them were from a high school. There is is one in Burlington Ontario which is still doing well and is sponsored by the City and a Booster Organization. There are also many community bands spread across Ontario. Many of these now defunct drum corps such as Toronto Optimist were successful as they were the result of multiple smaller corps joining together and pooling their resources etc. Problem is it only lasted so long and they eventually folded. Other than Kingston Grenadiers (which by the way are in first place in their division) DCA is dead in Canada. Like anywhere it has always been about the money unfortunately and that starts with the school system and local groups who use to sponsor these corps. We do have lots of hockey arenas though!! Edited August 6, 2009 by Canuck DCGroupie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galen Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 The healthcare system ? Chuck Norris killed Canadian drum corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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