WPendergrass Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 The Cavaliers marching style does exactly what they want it to. Hides dirt, because it is hard to read. Makes high tempo and large step sizes easier to achieve. Makes you look at the upper half of their bodies, which are extremely stable and over the dot. I don't think their drill would look the same if they were using straight leg technique, or even MSL. Leon May's drill, on the other hand, looks AWESOME when marched with MSL or straight leg. Those long flowing forms that cover the entire field, where you can see every members entire leg. Awesome. Each has their purpose in my mind, each have evolved and changed for their own reasons. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobrien Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 (edited) Who's seen an action shot of a cavalier (sic) moving that had legs in it? I sure haven't. Now you have. Edited May 18, 2012 by mobrien 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WPendergrass Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 near as good as someone from another team that uses straight leg from an individual body control standpoint. If anything, that bent knee technique makes upper body control better than MSL. Groups that don't perform MSL at an extremely high standard "whiplash" their entire upper bodies at direction changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Now you have. OMG Yowza! They're legs are all over the place! </jk> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 OMG Yowza! They're legs are all over the place! </jk> looks like this thread might have some legs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 looks like this thread might have some legs. Not so much... I dunno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actucker Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I think a lot of it depends on what you're looking at when considering the appeal of each. One of the things that the Cavaliers do really well, possibly better than most other groups, is control of the upper body. As the members move across the field, their upper bodies seem completely unaffected by their lower bodies. Its already been pointed out that the use of knees and ankles in the technique facilitates that. The biggest criticism that the technique gets is that its harder to clean bent legs, rather than straight legs, and to a certain extent, that is true. However, I don't really spend a lot of time watching members legs as they march. I'm busy watching forms, and trying to read the big picture. For that reason, I don't really notice little changes between players. The lower body, to me, is just a facilitator. What's important is what's going on from the waist up. Cavs drill is absolutely written to highlight that. I've never taught or marched at Cavs, but judging from the technique and design choices they tend to make, I'd be willing to bet that those choices are made from that same big picture perspective. By choosing a more ergonomic technique, and teaching very strict dot to do cleaning techniques they are able to get that signature look that they get when they go out on the field. Its almost like watching transformers the way their forms flow, and I would be willing to bet that each of the choices they've made in terms of pedagogy are made with that in mind. The trick is, folks tend to want to take away one or two of those choices as if they are the only thing that creates that look. I've worked with band directors that chose to use the Cavs marching technique while marching BD style drill, but never understood why it didn't look right. You can't just look at what people are doing. You have to look at WHY they are doing it. Think about how many young drum writers you've seen who write the book consisting entirely of recycled drum corps books, and none of it seems to make sense. It doesn't make sense because it wasn't inspired by the context the original thought was inspired by. Sorry, just my rant on how single minded people tend to be about their captions, and what people should do. Something I"m working on in my own design and teaching is to look past my caption, and see the whole package, thus creating a more cohesive concept and better design choices. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zach_8vb Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Now you have. Sorry, should have been more specific. I was talking hornline. See the baritone behind the middle snare? That's what I'm talking about. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Sorry, should have been more specific. I was talking hornline. See the baritone behind the middle snare? That's what I'm talking about. And you see all those baritone players around him all with the exact same technique and look? Wow, that technique must be sooooo dirty. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 And you see all those baritone players around him all with the exact same technique and look? Wow, that technique must be sooooo dirty. Heh, That's what I thought too. Wow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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