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DCI's "Artistic Shift"


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I for one, do not believe that the new judging system changed who the winners are going to be and I don't say this to be cynical. I would venture to say that the corps that won this year would have won last year. Even when we went from the more objective "tic" system to more subjective judging, results didn't drastically change. I do think that if we had some objective captions, the overall season would be more exciting as far as placement because every corps is not always on top of its game in every competition.

However, I do believe there has been a difference in the entertainment value of drum corps in the past two years. In 2010, I did not find the shows riveting. I knew the talent was genuine and excellence was there, but I wasn't caught by it. 2011 was a different story. Crown's "Rach Star" became one of my favorite all time shows, I loved PR's "Juliet" and I even found myself warming up to Blue Devils, which rarely happens. I felt 2012 continued this trend. In fact I've noticed a return to "screamers," drum solos with abandon, and traditional guard moves using traditional equipment and the audience responding. I do believe there are some very good efforts at connecting with the audience.

One thing we need to keep in mind when we talk about drum corps, opinions are generational. Not many were impressed with the Cavaliers this year. DCP posts prove this, but even at shows, people were not that impressed, but I will have to qualify it with people of a certain age who know the Cavaliers of earlier years were not impressed. At Indy, a young man, probably about 17, was sitting with his mother. He went crazy as Cavies performed. He was not the only person in his age group who felt this way. When they began dancing to a song with the words "Guess I got my swagger back" I was thinking this has been an off year for you, next year, you'll have it back, but chances are the kids in the audience thought Cavies never lost their swagger.

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I was at a bowling alley in a little northern Colorado town a couple of months ago and it was packed with HS age kids for a Rockin' Bowl night. They were playing the internet jukebox pretty loud and there was lots of music being picked out from when I was in HS in the mid 70's. Zep, Floyd, Stones, Marchall Tucker, etc...

When Hotel California came on, I saw lots of air guitar and mouthing of the words, one kid knew all the words, guitar licks, everything note for note. He put on quite a show.

I smiled, wondering if they even knew that song was from my youth; me, the grey-haired dino sitting there eating a sandwich watching them enjoy themselves.

I smiled even bigger when I realized they could not care less, classic music is classic music.

Edited by breezemont
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MC: One of the things re-established this year is the idea of the judge's paradigm. The sheets are designed toward criteria reference: What are the things the judge must measure this Corps against? The back of the sheets are filled with questions which the judge must address. Its not just a checklist. What is the judge's standard for, say, Visual Proficiency (nee M&M, Field Visual, Visual Performance) or Music Effect? The judge should consider sub-captions for the paradigm, e.g., emotional intensity or clarity. Importantly, does that standard hold up today? Would the 1995 Madison Scouts hold up today in grabbing that audience? (Of course.) What about your (TFs) Standard? Would "Jeremiah" hold up to today's examples of substance (and exposure)? (We both said YES.) Why add the paradigm? Simply because we expect the performers to be proficient, to really master countless musical visual skills--not just marching and playing. Its another comparison point to consider. And, I think you're going to see more drill. Remember that?

from the article attributed to Michael Cesario

by that, the judging changes failed this year

the above bolded, is there is a push towards dancing horn lines?

saw a show with Cavies, Madison, Cadets and Blue Knights…(no Blue Devils)..my impression, was a lot of corps set their horns down on the field to dance…even Madison :barf:

Maybe if the horn lines are going to dance we can have the guard pick up the slack and play horns I dont think the guard has enough musical demand !!!!

A causal fan (one that cant even identify most of the corps on the field) said it best at SOS in Rockford…with That show winning, DCI loses creditability. It should be easy for everyone to tell which is the winning show

Edited by cowtown
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from the article attributed to Michael Cesario

by that, the judging changes failed this year

the above bolded, is there is a push towards dancing horn lines?

saw a show with Cavies, Madison, Cadets and Blue Knights…(no Blue Devils)..my impression, was a lot of corps set their horns down on the field to dance…even Madison :barf:

Maybe if the horn lines are going to dance we can have the guard pick up the slack and play horns – I don’t think the guard has enough musical demand !!!!

I think dancing/body movement is horribly overused in drum corps today. There was a time when players dancing and/or doing body movement really stood out if it was used (sparingly) to punctuate an overall musical or visual effect. Now that it seems it's de rigueur, it no longer has any real impact. If anything I find it distracting.

I also don't like the sloppiness of having the whole corps dancing. It is extremely difficult to get these things in synch, and it looks like mush. Some corps are worse offenders in this category than others, but in general I find it takes away from the overall visual appeal of a show.

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