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DCA Weekend Thoughts/Ramblings


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Memo to the Class A corps who are struggling to play and march their shows: Take a good, long look at the DVD of the Govenaires from this year. THAT is how to program a show for a small corps. Great staging...honest to God, from upstairs this corps sometimes looks twice the size it actually is, thanks to the outstanding staging....achievable music and visual, and a solid performance and execution level across the board. It's a winning combination. And when you throw in the Govies' knack for REALLY having fun out on the field, you have one terrific drum corps.

The Govies are a tremendous corps who do the most with the least in DCA. Congratulations to them on their championship. With that being said, not everyone approaches programming with the same mindset or goals in mind. The Govies approach is a proven winner and works for their organization, but that doesn't mean it will work the same for others.

I know at Sun Devils, pushing the limits of what our members can do, and what we as a staff can do, is a part of who we are as an organization. It's what drives us through the mercilessly hot rehearsals week after week. I'm quite confident that a "safer" approach to programming would have yielded a smaller, less dynamic Sun Devils corps than the one that took the field in Rochester. Our members love our shows and are eager for the challenges they're presented. As our membership grows and matures into the kind of experienced performers corps like Govies and Grenadiers work with, hopefully we'll be able to rival them in cleanliness.

We understand going in that doing what we do is risky competitively, but it's hardwired into the DNA of the corps. I wouldn't trade all the trophies or medals in the world for the tears in the eyes of so many of our members when they came off the field in Rochester. They achieved more, grew more, performed at a higher level than they ever thought they could precisely because we challenged them constantly to do what they thought they couldn't do.

I would also add that I think that Sun Devils are helping to prove that there are more ways than one to entertain. Certainly the "give'em what they know" approach is proven to work, but to my admittedly biased eyes, Sun Devils got one of(if not THE) most enthusiastic crowd responses of any Class A corps and did it with a show that challenged the audience to think and appreciate a style and genre of music and show design that was completely new to them.

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Alan...i think there is a difference between what you call safe and what it is the Govies do.

if to you safe means programming for a full sized corps when you only have 65 or less, then call the Govies safe. I call that not smart.

and the Govies program smart. They require every person to carry their fair share, but they don't write for every member to be 2 players instead of one. This is an issue too many small corps have ( cant say about you guys, didnt get to see you from the front) and that is what I think Fran is saying, and i fully agree

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Alan...i think there is a difference between what you call safe and what it is the Govies do.

if to you safe means programming for a full sized corps when you only have 65 or less, then call the Govies safe. I call that not smart.

and the Govies program smart. They require every person to carry their fair share, but they don't write for every member to be 2 players instead of one. This is an issue too many small corps have ( cant say about you guys, didnt get to see you from the front) and that is what I think Fran is saying, and i fully agree

What I call "safe" is writing a show that you know going in your members can perform at an extremely high level because it doesn't require them to do anything they haven't done before.

Take the Govies out of the equation because I don't have any idea whether that's what they do or not...only they know their membership will enough to say.

I am admittedly bothered and confused that the accepted formula for success in Class A is to veer away from any kind of demand whatsoever. I am not in any way denigrating organizations that take that approach. If it works for them, great. I am bothered that people think it's the only valid way to do things. I don't do drum corps to spend 9 months cleaning a show that I can learn in a day, and I would have even less interest in teaching it.

There is no "one size fits all" approach to drum corps, even in Class A.

And again, I'm not saying the Govies do any of these things, or that Fran is suggesting everyone do it. I just saw it as a good opportunity to make a point about an issue that bugs me.

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i think it's smart to write for your people's ability. sadly in Class A I feel too many times corps over write for what their people can do.

you can write for them to do things that require them to do anything they haven't done before. they just have to be able to do it.

you dont get points for trying. you get points for succeeding

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i think it's smart to write for your people's ability. sadly in Class A I feel too many times corps over write for what their people can do.

you can write for them to do things that require them to do anything they haven't done before. they just have to be able to do it.

you dont get points for trying. you get points for succeeding

And points are the only measure of success?

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And points are the only measure of success?

Nope.

In my book success =

The ability of the membership to enjoy the experience and make life long friends.

The ability of the membership to grow as people.

The ability of the membership to grow as performers.

The ability to play the show better each time we do it.

The ability if the corps to entertain the people that pay good money to see them.

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i think it's smart to write for your people's ability. sadly in Class A I feel too many times corps over write for what their people can do.

you can write for them to do things that require them to do anything they haven't done before. they just have to be able to do it.

you dont get points for trying. you get points for succeeding

I appreciate your opinion Jeff. I always have. In some respects I agree ... but for the most part I have to disagree with this one.

Case in Point. Star United. 18 horns? 19? Did they write for a 20 member hornline or a FULL hornline? It's not about how many players you have, it's about how well they play and what approach the instructional staff takes in interpreting the product given them.

I feel the true issue here is longevity - return membership - WILL/DESIRE. If you have the same core of members returning year after year and they know they have meat in their book ... they better bring it and do the woodshedding. The problems arise when you have heavy turnover, younger and younger membership and you're not driving the nail in on a daily basis. It's only weekends and sometimes only 2 weekends a month if you're lucky. It truly is a dedication issue in my mind. I say, give me meat ... make them play the meat and if they aren't getting it .. you hose the month of August.

The corps I was involved with this summer was only the last 2 weeks of the season. Myself and 4 others joined the last 2 weeks just so the corps could field the show with the minimum membership required. The show was already there. Ask yourself how many other corps went through the same things this year? Nearly every corps in both divisions had fewer members marching this year due to the economy.

All excuses aside ... if a corps wants a tough book then that's their choice. It's then in the memberships hands to bring it or to suck.

Personally (and I mean ME), I would rather play a tough book and march a tough book that challenged me. Having a niche that is cute and entertaining, yet easy and written strictly for a 15 member jazzband transcribed for brass with only 2 parts per section - isn't a rewarding experience.

What you're really saying is .. have ONE trumpet part with a split. Have ONE mello part. Have ONE bari part with a split and one contra part. As an arranger ... that's also NOT challenging. And maybe what you're really saying is - Don't try anything new or unfamiliar to DCA fans because they won't get it? Maybe?

Speaking, again, for myself ........ I enjoyed every class A corps on the field this year. Their design teams are growing and gaining experience. There were moments of greatness in every show. There was a fair share of ick as well. The same can be said for the Open Class corps. DCA is more than the competition or winning. It's about families sharing the drumcorps experience. It's about staff's getting experience. It's about old timers getting out there and feeling like a kid again. Winning isn't everyone's goal ..... not from the start. That's why I refuse to make judgements on a corps unless they ARE pushing for a title. The rest, I look for the good .... the story within the story on the members faces .... the 9 yr old kids on the field right next to the 65 yr old ..... the excitement of being at Nationals ... and having an appreciative crowd that respects what you're doing whether they think it's great or not.

Drum corps is growing again just like when it started. It's grass roots. It's neighborhoods. It's not all TITLE WORTHY, but it's great and getting better every year. I thoroughly enjoyed my short version of a season in 2009 .. and look forward to what comes next. I hope you all do the same as well.

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And points are the only measure of success?

not at all. however you were speaking of "safe shows" in terms of scoring, or so I thought. If i misread I apologize.

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Nope.

In my book success =

The ability of the membership to enjoy the experience and make life long friends.

The ability of the membership to grow as people.

The ability of the membership to grow as performers.

The ability to play the show better each time we do it.

The ability if the corps to entertain the people that pay good money to see them.

Well if this is what you consider success ( which is great ) then why whine about placement or scores.

I saw SD and thought for a small corps had a great sound . I was very impressed Visually lacks alot and guard totally lacks in members, design, creativity. I think with a focus in that area may have put you in finals.

As the other poster also said YOU DONT GET CREDIT FOR ATTEMPT. If you succeed at something harder then fine you should be way ahead BUT if they achieve with maybe a smater show and you dont with the risk you might take, Sorry no cigar

With that said I do hope to see SD bigger and stronger in 2010

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Well if this is what you consider success ( which is great ) then why whine about placement or scores.

I saw SD and thought for a small corps had a great sound . I was very impressed Visually lacks alot and guard totally lacks in members, design, creativity. I think with a focus in that area may have put you in finals.

As the other poster also said YOU DONT GET CREDIT FOR ATTEMPT. If you succeed at something harder then fine you should be way ahead BUT if they achieve with maybe a smater show and you dont with the risk you might take, Sorry no cigar

With that said I do hope to see SD bigger and stronger in 2010

Perhaps you have me confused with someone else. I don't think you will EVER find an instance of me commenting on scores or placements. As Smoothy would say, "scores schmores"

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