RContra Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 2007 was one of those odd years where I only got to make it to one show and never ended up buying the DVDs thanks to being ultra poor and just out of college. Every year for the last 15 years, I felt like I knew every show in the top 12 top-to-bottom, but '07 just seemed like that forgotten son in my mental drum corps registry. Until tonight. I was absolutely AMAZED at the brass playing in that hornline. Good lord. That triplet thing in the high brass during the opener? Get the #$%^&* out! (Here's where I mention that this thread will NOT be about whether we should have amplification or not. THIS IS NOT THE INTENDED DIRECTION!!!!!) *whew* Now that that's out of the way... It took my four tries to finish this show. I felt...embarrassed... to even be watching it. The narration made me want to break into a maternity ward and punch every baby in the face. The acting...the writing... all of it was just appalling beyond belief. (Once again, narration is NOT the focus. Stay with me here...) What I'm curious about is how a show affects member morale throughout the summer. Were any of those '07 Cadets embarrassed to be performing with that narration? How does show design subtly affect a season? Where I marched (which shall remain nameless), we had some very jazzy years and some not-so-jazzy years. I remember the more up-tempo jazz shows being infinitely more fun on the field, and daily rehearsals really went by quickly. The music, the overall vibe--it was just fun. One particular year, we went artsy. The crowd didn't dig it as much. We members weren't feeling it as much (cool concept, but the show was just 'meh,' particularly the ending). Days dragged by. It really felt as though we never got close to living up to our potential that summer and cleaning that show. Hell, I didn't want it to be clean; I wanted it to be over so we could do something different, and I #### sure wasn't alone. So there's the question--thinking from an educational standpoint, does show design and its effect on students ultimately effect the teaching method and its efficiency/effectiveness over the course of a summer? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actucker Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I think a certain kind of student gravitates towards a certain kind of corps for a myriad of reasons. Overall show design can sometimes play into that thought process. A kid today who really wants to march Blue Devils knows exactly what kind of shows they tend to program. I doubt they would go there if "artsy" design was going to be a problem for them. That being said, if a show just isn't working like it expected to, sure, I think that can affect the kids on tour. I don't know that a kid who wants to march Cadets is worried about Narration though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I always encourage people to mention show titles and repertoire when mentioning years, as after awhile, one year blends into another and years don't mean much. The show the OP is referring to is "This I Believe. Truth, Value and the Personal Experience Called Drum Corps," including Vaclav Nelybel's "Symphonic Movement," Frank Ticheli's "Blue Shades" and Carl Jenkins' "Adiemus: Cantata Mundi." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I think if any of their members were going to be scared off by the content, the title of the show would have done the trick before they got too far into camps. Very good performances and training matched with an iffy concept, and a bad script. It happens (more often than not, if you think about it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barifonium Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 (edited) From a performer's standpoint it would make a difference if I were there for more than one year, but even then those feeling would only be temporary. I knew that shows would always get better and would grow on me and I'd be able to perform it and buy into it EVENTUALLY, even if the reasons for doing so were mostly involved in the positive nuts and bolts of my summer experience that may not have anything to do with show design. I mean, my default was, if all else fails, go with the brute-force method and make myself like it. Edited October 16, 2013 by Barifonium 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I always encourage people to mention show titles and repertoire when mentioning years, as after awhile, one year blends into another and years don't mean much. The show the OP is referring to is "This I Believe. Truth, Value and the Personal Experience Called Drum Corps," including Vaclav Nelybel's "Symphonic Movement," Frank Ticheli's "Blue Shades" and Carl Jenkins' "Adiemus: Cantata Mundi." Michael, was that Cadets' show connected in any way to the This I Believe organization? Curiously, an essay on that site refers to Martha Graham's "athlete of god" quote, to which the Cadets show also refers. The essay seems to date to 2009, but the organization was apparently founded in 2004, and based on a radio program from the 1950s. (I feel like I asked about this before, but a site search turns up nothing.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Michael, was that Cadets' show connected in any way to the This I Believe organization? Curiously, an essay on that site refers to Martha Graham's "athlete of god" quote, to which the Cadets show also refers. The essay seems to date to 2009, but the organization was apparently founded in 2004, and based on a radio program from the 1950s. (I feel like I asked about this before, but a site search turns up nothing.) I don't think it had anything to do with the organization, but I remember reading something about the radio show being an inspiration. I don't have that in my notes, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Rott Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I wasn't the biggest fan of narration..although I did find the individual members contributions to be interesting. This was a show that had to grow on me over the summer...and when Finals came about, I felt it most certainly deserved to win. That last performance was what you would expect from the Cadets...like it or not, that performance was awesome...I don't watch the DVD alot, but I do remember that night frequently...and still feel it was an incredible performance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 the kids moved and played well. the staff focused so much on the story that it too often got in the way of that simple fact Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideways Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I think a certain kind of student gravitates towards a certain kind of corps for a myriad of reasons. Overall show design can sometimes play into that thought process. A kid today who really wants to march Blue Devils knows exactly what kind of shows they tend to program. I doubt they would go there if "artsy" design was going to be a problem for them. That being said, if a show just isn't working like it expected to, sure, I think that can affect the kids on tour. I don't know that a kid who wants to march Cadets is worried about Narration though. Once those kids were assimilated into the Cadets collective I'm sure they did not feeling anything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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