Plan9 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 The irony was not lost to me that The Rite of Spring was so prominent in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics is Sochi. It proved itself again to be a formidable score for pageantry. My guess is that BD's designers had smiles from ear to ear watching it. Besides the music there was more than a few moments when you could imagine hash marks on the ice and brass in the hands of the performers. Several very familiar classic Drum Corps movements throughout. Many staggering visual moments and extraordinary uses of light and exotic visual effects. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of these effects finding their way onto the field in the future.....light may indeed be the next new frontier in DC (oh yeah, daytime venues.....nevermind!). All in all, a well produced and spectacular opening ceremony. Dasvidaniya! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 It proved itself again to be a formidable score for pageantry. Let's start a fund to erase that word from any use in conjunction with drum corps. I don't know about your experience, but I never did "pageantry." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plan9 Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 Let's start a fund to erase that word from any use in conjunction with drum corps. I don't know about your experience, but I never did "pageantry." Fair criticism.. but "that word" has been used often on these boards to describe big production performances across the board of which some would consider Drum Corps to be part of. In any case, it is getting harder and harder to amaze the public and keep them interested with their senses so thoroughly immersed and desensitized in "green screen and 3D effects" these days. In fact the definition "elaborate display, spectacle, grandeur, show" all seem to come to mind for me when I watch a good drum corps production....perhaps not for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lincoln Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 The irony was not lost to me that The Rite of Spring was so prominent in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics is Sochi. It proved itself again to be a formidable score for pageantry. My guess is that BD's designers had smiles from ear to ear watching it. Besides the music there was more than a few moments when you could imagine hash marks on the ice and brass in the hands of the performers. Several very familiar classic Drum Corps movements throughout. Many staggering visual moments and extraordinary uses of light and exotic visual effects. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of these effects finding their way onto the field in the future.....light may indeed be the next new frontier in DC (oh yeah, daytime venues.....nevermind!). All in all, a well produced and spectacular opening ceremony. Dasvidaniya! I've always thought that if this activity were to be truly international, rivalry with the Russians and others would be spectacular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 (edited) In fact the definition "elaborate display, spectacle, grandeur, show" all seem to come to mind for me when I watch a good drum corps production....perhaps not for you. The word is used by those in the beauty pageant world, and has been for a long time, well before the guard world started using it. Perhaps the guard/visual staffs think of themselves as being part of the Honey Boo Boo/Miss Teen USA world, but I doubt you'll find many horn or percussion players who identify with that. From a marketing/positioning standpoint, it's decidedly at odds with DCI's attempts to position themselves as being a sport, rather than just a bunch of band nerds and high school interpretive dance teams on grass. Edited February 8, 2014 by Slingerland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDA16 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 The word is used by those in the beauty pageant world, and has been for a long time, well before the guard world started using it. Perhaps the guard/visual staffs think of themselves as being part of the Honey Boo Boo/Miss Teen USA world, but I doubt you'll find many horn or percussion players who identify with that. Rude. Either way, pageantry is defined as "elaborate display or ceremony." Is a Drum Corps show not an elaborate display? Are our retreats not elaborate ceremonies? Drum Corps and pageantry go hand in hand IMO. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveKathyG Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 What I want to know is whether there was someone with marching band or drum corps background who helped write "drill" for the Sochi opening ceremonies. (I put drill in quotes because I'm guessing that's not what they call it, but it's the same concept.) There were quite a few movements that I haven't seen staged or executed the same, other than drum corps. A few examples... The big rotating boxes that turn into a big rectangle during the War and Peace segment. The way the women ballet dancers snaked their way through the block. The loose Russian flag formation that slowly came into a perfect block. (Which the performers clearly had marks for since it couldn't have been more perfect.) The waving flag move. I was kind of waiting for a z-pull. I've seen dance companies do similar things. I'm guessing drum corps borrowed these moves from other sources, but again...the way they were executed and the size of the ensemble made me think of drum corps. Kind of cool to see. Made me excited for Summer 2015. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) I've always thought that if this activity were to be truly international, rivalry with the Russians and others would be spectacular. Maybe. But right now, there are reports afloat ( denied by the parties ) that the Russians and US might be involved in fixing some ice skating events. Lets choose another sport by the way to future compare DCI subjective judging with than the sport of Ice skating ( as has been done on DCP in the past ), as this ice skating sport is chock full of past history of curious to say the least judging scoring with its international competitors with its international judging. We should dispense with any future comparisons with this sport, imo. All the Ice Skating sporting events, except Hockey, seem to me highly susceptible to politicking and who you know, rather than what you do in live sport competition. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/olympics/chi-us-figure-skating-ice-dance-collusion-20140208,0,1915304.story Edited February 9, 2014 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindap Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 What I want to know is whether there was someone with marching band or drum corps background who helped write "drill" for the Sochi opening ceremonies. (I put drill in quotes because I'm guessing that's not what they call it, but it's the same concept.) There were quite a few movements that I haven't seen staged or executed the same, other than drum corps. A few examples... The big rotating boxes that turn into a big rectangle during the War and Peace segment. The way the women ballet dancers snaked their way through the block. The loose Russian flag formation that slowly came into a perfect block. (Which the performers clearly had marks for since it couldn't have been more perfect.) The waving flag move. I was kind of waiting for a z-pull. I've seen dance companies do similar things. I'm guessing drum corps borrowed these moves from other sources, but again...the way they were executed and the size of the ensemble made me think of drum corps. Kind of cool to see. Made me excited for Summer 2015. I agree with your observations. I also saw a girl with a balloon (Bluuuuu), ballet on a big stage (pick a guard), choirs singing (BC), a large blue orb (BK) and heard Rite of Spring, Firebird Suite, Swan Lake and more. As I enjoy drum corps and olympics ceremonies, it was a symbiotic relationship moment for me. Not sure if they can turn off the lights at Lucas Oil for lighting effects? Let's go with music and motion and the many ways they can be presented! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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