marchingartist Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 (edited) I was looking up the theme for this year's Tournament of Roses Parade and it got me thinking: What if DCI assigned a theme annually that all corps had to design around. For example, if say the theme next year was "Tapestry of Nations" (yes, I took it from the Disney show), then each corps would design their productions around a certain culture or country around the world. For example, Crown could do a show with french music or music that references France like American in Paris, Blue Devils can look into the roots of their musical identity and delve into South African Jazz, and Phantom Regiment or Vanguard would do a show on Eastern Europe or Russia since they both do it so so well. Each year the theme would change, so perhaps the next year will be "Celestial Bodies" with planets as a theme or "Movements of Power and Grace" centering around various dance styles from ballet to modern dance. DCI would be able to use these themes to market their shows as near-seamless production. It think it's a rather fascinating idea, no? Edited August 20, 2010 by marchingartist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 I hate to say this, but in the context of a G-7 type "circus comes to town" contest, I think this would make a lot of sense. But for a 23 corps competitive season, I think the corps would balk at losing such creative control. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Denning Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 It think it's a rather fascinating idea, no? No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdaddy Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 I agree with Mike - if these G7 "more entertainment, less competition" shows pop up, I think this idea would work as an add-on performance. For example, corps could do their traditional 11-minute show and then a, say, three-minute "global theme" show. In fact, I'd like to see the shorter show welcome all the bells and whistles - electronics, amplification, even woodwinds. Make them "GE explosions" like the 11-minute shows are today. Then perhaps remove some of the existing rules in the 11-minute show to ban electronics, etc. from those performances. Actually, I'm digging this. If we really want to get toward something like mini music entertainment/education festivals similar to what G7 has proposed, let's have separate shows, combined judging - something that keeps both sides of the aisle happy and paying money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glory Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Put me down for a "no" too. Narrowing the range of possibility would inhibit some of the wonderful creativity that defines this art. It's not that greatness couldn't happen. Rather that so many great ideas would be tabled because they can't conform. Better to leave it wide open and let the imagination run wild. Sure some will be disappointed by BD's mirrors. Better that, though, than missing Cavies' Machine or Bluecoats Metropolis or dozens of other shows sparked by boundless creativity. HH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 From a "total show" marketing perspective, though, it's a much easier sell to the public to say "DCI: A Celebration of America" or whatever, than to say "DCI: Come see 7 corps do stuff!" Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hostrauser Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Absolutely not. Seeing two dozen plus show ideas each year is what makes the activity great. I'd hate seeing the same idea or theme recycled a dozen times with slightly different trappings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrenE Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 No. The theme every year would end up being some really cheesy lame motivational poster that some commitee of DCI office workers and consultants thought sounded like a good idea. American Celebration Parade of Nations Flags on Parade Celtic Dreams Voyage under the Sea Cheeses of the World Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skevinp Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Like many things that are interesting to think about, it would be awful in reality. Not only would it severely limit the scope of creativity and design, it would be tiringly repetitive to contemplate the same theme all night long. Variety is one of the things I love about drum corps. Different corps have different styles and it would be bad to force them into a theme that does not fit their style, not to mention unfairly more difficult for some corps than others depending on what that them is. And any attempt to generalize the themes to compensate for that would just further limit the scope of creativity. For instance, but I don't want to see Phantom do a show about boxing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuphD09 Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 No.The theme every year would end up being some really cheesy lame motivational poster that some commitee of DCI office workers and consultants thought sounded like a good idea. American Celebration Parade of Nations Flags on Parade Celtic Dreams Voyage under the Sea Cheeses of the World I, for one, would love to see so many drum corps shows about various types of cheese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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