Skydrummer9 Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 With the rapid evolution of competitive Drum Corps, harsh economic times, and varying membership levels, how much longer will Alumni Corps be around to preserve the history of not just individual corps, but of Drum and Bugle Corps in it's entirety? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayre Kulp Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 Sadly, I don't see much more than maybe 10 years. As the membership of the various alumni corps continues to age, and as the activity as a whole becomes more and more abstract from American life, I predict that we will lose alumni corps one by one till just the strongest survive. More likely than not, the only alumni corps we'll see by then will be the "reunion project" type alumni corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 a lot of it depends on the corps still competing. for those corps no longer with an active member base to draw from, it will become harder, but for those corps that are still out there, if they don't have an alumni corps, now may be the time explore starting one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 Can't give a time estimate because I don't know how each corps is made up. Gonna be real hard for corps who get most/almost all of the membership from former corps members. We're trying to recruit from the local area for younger members and seems the more successful recruiting comes from not pushing the Drum Corps angle. We're picking up some non-corps people but big problems are the (older) ex-corps members are able to remain in the corps longer and not gaining members as fast as we might lose in the next 10 years or so. Was thinking of more Minis as the next step in this but they need more venues to play and get $$$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegalEagle50 Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 Less than 10 unless younger members wish to replace older ones, as well as corps wish to evolve styles. IE Cabs start playing more of the "recent" shows. I can't see today's youngin's wanting to play something from the 60's, just as much as I was very selective about which alumni corps I chose to join because of the guard book. I don't want to spin work that was "before my time". That's not a knock on the activity. That's just pure honest personal perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorNik Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 in Ontario Canada,, we have one active junior drum corps,,, the current alumni corps 'feeder' corps have dried up years and years ago. Preston is still strong and attracting new members,, United Alumni is now looking to younger members (ie: members children). Without a 'feeder' system,, Canadian Alumni drum corps years are limited to say the least. Because junior corps have died, the future of alumni is uncertain in Canada.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayH Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 Hate to say (see) it, but I agree with Liz, less than 10 more yrs. Sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bad Bari Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 I have to tell you... I still think some of us folks that are still in the competetive side of things could eventually come in and help out too! I can tell you that my knees will only take so much more of the hard drill and the constant pounding... Now to get an alumni corps going with a full field show out here in CA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 (edited) I have to tell you... I still think some of us folks that are still in the competetive side of things could eventually come in and help out too! I can tell you that my knees will only take so much more of the hard drill and the constant pounding... Now to get an alumni corps going with a full field show out here in CA! I keep hoping that a someone will create a Alumni performance group here in the south. What I find really strange is that there are a lot of folks like myself that are stepping aside from the field shows to allow for the more youthful movement of the drill but a lot of the folks in that position seem to care very little about the alumni side of things. I am totally open to suggestion on how to turn that position around where people are hungry to march in a alumni activity. Edited October 15, 2010 by camel lips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 I keep hoping that a someone will create a Alumni performance group here in the south.What I find really strange is that there are a lot of folks like myself that are stepping aside from the field shows to allow for the more youthful movement of the drill but a lot of the folks in that position seem to care very little about the alumni side of things. I am totally open to suggestion on how to turn that position around where people are hungry to march in a alumni activity. Not sure where in the South you're located but, there is a very good Alumni Corps called the Florida Brass in the Orlando Area ... :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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