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When movement is so integral (to guard program design), how do you practice without marching?

In a field show, how much interaction do you have to have with the drill writer, to understand (or tell the drill writer) what guard members will be where, and how does that affect what you design? Kind of a chicken and egg thing, there.

I know with the marching band I teach, I get the drill early and I can change and edit the guard dots (the marching band only does football games.) And for the winterguard, I write the drill, so I make the full picture as I'm writing the work/drill :)

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I recall reading late in the 2006 season that the Phantom Regiment staff was excited about the next year's show, which they were already thinking about and was inspired by something in the 2006 show.

After hearing about the theme of the 2007 show, my speculation was that the inspiration was from Margarete's winged appearance at the end of the 2006 show. I could be way off on that.

Edited by kdaddy
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Successful design teams are those that are able to enlist ideas, decide those that work and those that don't.....yet do it all in a way that keeps the team together and creatively engaged. It is perhaps the most difficult working relationship because it's about acceptance and rejection of ideas. I think design teams like CC, Cadets and BD are consistently successful because they have been together so long and have found the right relationships that are able to bounce ideas off each other without ego issues. IMO there cannot be a single person that designs for drum corps so....building this creative team is essential. The story about PIXAR's cafe meeting in this thread is a perfect example of this.

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Successful design teams are those that are able to enlist ideas, decide those that work and those that don't.....yet do it all in a way that keeps the team together and creatively engaged. It is perhaps the most difficult working relationship because it's about acceptance and rejection of ideas. I think design teams like CC, Cadets and BD are consistently successful because they have been together so long and have found the right relationships that are able to bounce ideas off each other without ego issues. IMO there cannot be a single person that designs for drum corps so....building this creative team is essential. The story about PIXAR's cafe meeting in this thread is a perfect example of this.

THIS^^ in all my responses - I think I failed to mention it's not just myself, but three of us who are constantly calling/texting/brainstorming/throwing ideas at eachother. We've known eachother for years and have worked closely together. We can be extremely upfront with our feelings and know we aren't going to hurt eachother if we disagree, we figure it out. I'm very young, and our program (HS) is very new, but I feel like we are going in the right direction :)

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When movement is so integral (to guard program design), how do you practice without marching?

In a field show, how much interaction do you have to have with the drill writer, to understand (or tell the drill writer) what guard members will be where, and how does that affect what you design? Kind of a chicken and egg thing, there.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by the first question? But I'll try to explain:

With guard, many performers (especially at the world class level) also participate in winter guard, where they are receiving instruction and training during the drum corps "off season." The performers may also keep up their skills by teaching with local high schools or even marching their college programs. Many guard programs (both corps and winter guard) also encourage performers to take dance classes.

In a field show, the guard, being a large part of the visual aspect of the corps, should have sufficient interaction with the drill writer to state "this is where a big visual impact should happen. This is where my transition to new piece of equipment should take place. Here the focus should be on the rifles, not the flags, here the focus should be on the duet dancers, then take them out of focus during this part... etc."

Of course, at the upper levels, you have to trust that the drill designer is considering many of those aspects of the guard integration and responsibilities, and provide feedback based on what is produced. Also, there are designers who will start by writing work and then trying to put it into the drill without having seen the drill, and then tweak the work as needed.

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I'm not exactly sure what you mean by the first question? But I'll try to explain:

With guard, many performers (especially at the world class level) also participate in winter guard, where they are receiving instruction and training during the drum corps "off season." The performers may also keep up their skills by teaching with local high schools or even marching their college programs. Many guard programs (both corps and winter guard) also encourage performers to take dance classes.

In a field show, the guard, being a large part of the visual aspect of the corps, should have sufficient interaction with the drill writer to state "this is where a big visual impact should happen. This is where my transition to new piece of equipment should take place. Here the focus should be on the rifles, not the flags, here the focus should be on the duet dancers, then take them out of focus during this part... etc."

Of course, at the upper levels, you have to trust that the drill designer is considering many of those aspects of the guard integration and responsibilities, and provide feedback based on what is produced. Also, there are designers who will start by writing work and then trying to put it into the drill without having seen the drill, and then tweak the work as needed.

Thanks! My first question meant was essentially asking how a guard can practice largely standing still during sectionals, when movement is such a key part of the guard program (not just left-right-left marching stuff, but where your body is oriented, interactions with others around you, etc.).

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Does anyone know when a show is created? I would love to sit in on a think tank session on this creative process...seems that after tour and before winter camp begins there are only a couple of months of down time. Doesn't leave much time to wind down and crank it up again from a mental fatigue stand point.

Usually at a Waffle House the night of Sept 6th, and now you know where " I Love WAFFLES" comes from.

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