DCI

[Stu]

well then here's my thoughts, which may be wordy.

I watched every World Class corps at Allentown, and I watched every DCA corps that came to Annapolis. I didn't see any DCI Open Class corps live, as nothing was within 4 hours of me, but I watched several online.

Both have their niche. I do not expect DCA corps to be DCI clean because of the schedule. While DCA corps pop scores in the high 90's, it's known by the judging community it's not DCi clean, and if you look at the recaps, you see people judge in both circuits.

DCA has a new communication caption, handled by the effect judges. It seems a little vague, but it does seem to go more into how the performers communicate the show to the crowd beyond the usual GE sheet stuff.

Now do both circuits have some shows that are more weighted to the intellectual side of things? yes. But then again, both circuits have corps that program for the emotional.I think the DCA philosophy of entertainment being publicized is where you get the impression from some posters DCI is in need of guidance from DCA. I can tell you this year I enjoyed far more of the DCA shows I saw live than the DCI ones. In other years it's been the other way around.But in DCA, there does seem to be more of an emotional connection between the crowd and the corps than in DCI. I think one advantage for DCA with that is smaller venues ( and no domes). It comes off as more initimate. DCA at this point is still an older crowd, but the tide is changing and it was eivdent not just on the field, but in the stands. As DCA continues its slow but steady growth plan, I expect the fanbase to continue to change and morph.

DCi continues to go after the young, while slowly bleeding off the older crowd. It happens..old folks die. But the arms race in DCi continues to raise the cost for people to participate, and as such, corps keep going away. There's many reasons for it, the G7 stuff, the way OC has set themselves up to fail with their pay structure and governance, etc, but thats threads for a different day.

There are peoplein the world that think DCI is the only show in town, and still believe DCA is full of old drunks.

There are people in the world that think DCA is it, and DCI is driven by ego maniac designers and their art.

And there are people that like both, and see pros and cons to each. Count me here.

No one needs to follow anyone else's lead...BOA, WGI, DCI DCA. they all have their own thing. But the cooperation that has been building between all of the groups is a huge plus that only strengthens all. Imagine 5 years ago seeing an article about DCA on the DCI webpage. get the #### outta here....yet now you do. I went to WGi percussion week 2 years ago and saw DCI and DCA with booths there for recruiting and info. Unheard of 5 years ago.

The key players in both have realized they need to work together. Sure some don't like it. But they need it.

Well see, now that wasn't too painful at all was it? And just the type of lucid logical response I was seeking.

[Jeff Ream]

Yes but we had to pull teeth and beat you over the head to get a lucid question so we knew how to answer. Lol

[Kansan]

Part of it may be that DCA membership has been growing in recent years, and are still close to their all-time highest participation. Much this is due to expansion into markets outside the NE. It has to be noted, though, that many of the all-age corps outside the NE rely on a relationship with DCI to provide competition in their area.

On the flip side, DCI have not been sustaining their membership quite as well. Compare DCA competing corps attendance with DCI competing corps attendance in, say, 1980. DCI has shrunk considerably while DCA has expanded, as noted above.

Recent years have shown more cooperation between the two organizations than in the past, which can only be good for both. Does there need to be a merger? Not in my opinion, but cooperation on joint concerns isn't a bad idea.

Garry in Vegas

Part of the reason DCI may be shrinking is the demand of some high school band programs to be at Band Camp and all year school.

[Stu]

Yes but we had to pull teeth and beat you over the head to get a lucid question so we knew how to answer. Lol

Toche; I concede that I should have structured the initial question differently. This thread, however, now has 6 pages of responses which is the type of back and forth activity I was hoping to generate concerning the subject matter.

[Stu]

Part of the reason DCI may be shrinking is the demand of some high school band programs to be at Band Camp and all year school.

Ehhhhhh... your premise is true in that most all of the DCI corps which met their demise from the '70s through the late '80s or early '90s were packed with youth having an average age of HS. And that demise was not because the drum corps activity got worse, but because the HS programs got better and many school band programs grew to being more qualitative than a plethora of the corps which folded. But today, while some DCI corps are still filled with HS age youth, the higher the DCI competitive rankings the higher the average age where many corps now have youth 18, the summer after HS graduation, to 22. So, I do not see high school summer band camps as a major issue today. However, I do see the national push for increasing scholastic summer programs (football camps, soccer camps, baseball camps, cheer leading camps, all of which utilize the facilities), combined with the national trend of starting the HS academic year in early to mid August, way earlier than Labor Day, as now now becoming a huge problem; not so much with DCI membership, but with corps housing all throughout the summer.

[Ghost]

Toche; I concede that I should have structured the initial question differently. This thread, however, now has 6 pages of responses which is the type of back and forth activity I was hoping to generate concerning the subject matter.

And how many of those pages were about the initial topic?

[Stu]

And how many of those pages were about the initial topic?

With my re-wording the question in post #5, then starting with post #6 by Kamarag on the first page, every page, including page 1, deals with discussing the topic at hand.

Edited September 5, 2013 by Stu

[CrunchyTenor]

Part of the reason DCI may be shrinking is the demand of some high school band programs to be at Band Camp and all year school.

This is the case in programs where the band director demands full camp attendance. But it's been my experience that the drum corps kids coming off tour are in better shape, are used to rehearsing effectively, and learn on the fly better than the NDC kids who spent much of the summer glued to their gaming system.

JMO

And the majority of DCI corps that have folded fell victim to management issues, including but not limited to adapting to the touring model, loss of sponsorship, etc.

Garry in Vegas

[Jeff Ream]

This is the case in programs where the band director demands full camp attendance. But it's been my experience that the drum corps kids coming off tour are in better shape, are used to rehearsing effectively, and learn on the fly better than the NDC kids who spent much of the summer glued to their gaming system.

JMO

And the majority of DCI corps that have folded fell victim to management issues, including but not limited to adapting to the touring model, loss of sponsorship, etc.

Garry in Vegas

it was until recently that the limited touring model became a real option...maybe 10 years ago or so. If that idea had been in place say 25 years ago, there may be some still around. notice i said may.

[IllianaLancerContra]

Speaking as a classically trained field ecologist, and as a biology professor, the fact that both DCI and DCA can co-exist suggests that they do not occupy the same niche.