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Stuck In A Rut


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Their visual design just isn't at a Top 6 level yet, even though the rest of the show design is. They have a design that gets them to Atlanta and then plateaus. It's happened the last four years, they start out hot, and then slow down into Finals week. Just needs a more difficult visual package that takes until August to clean and perfect. Could be the jump they need.

Kind of like them beating the Cavies at the beginning but by finals they had fallen below?

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The responses thus far have been interesting, but I'd venture to say that for many corps, they have been coming out of a rut in the last three years or so. I thought 2011 was a great year but I'm not sure it was due to better shows or drastic improvements over 2010. I'm not saying 2010 was horrendous, but I personally did not see all that much that inspired me. Corps I definitely see coming out of a rut would be SCV, Troopers, and Spirit. While I have enjoyed Phantom's shows, I agree with those who say some changes are needed or perhaps a return to past successes. If you look at "Turandot" of 2012, it was their best show since 2008 and seemed more like show of their glory days. I would not consider Blue Devils in a rut but they need to do more than innovation just for the sake of innovation. BAC and Madison will in all likelihood always have a fan in me but Madison needs to create new classics for new audiences. BAC has been working steadily to improve and has had some risky shows, but they need to also have shows that will expand their fan base. If Cavies have a similar year in 2014 as they did in 2012 and 2013, they will need to make difficult decisions.

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Kind of like them beating the Cavies at the beginning but by finals they had fallen below?

Exactly. Cavies show had more potential to clean and expand, while Madison had a definite visual ceiling that they hit right around the end of July. Same reason they were sitting in 7th going into Minnesota in 2013, and ended up in 9th by the end of the season.

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Phantom for sure. Was about to say Colts, 'til I saw the announcement for this summer. Academy... PC... Pioneer... Cavies.

I don't think that Academy has been repeating themselves lately. In 2013, they opened with a narrator who solicited responses from the audience and they closed with a singalong of Billy Joel's "Piano Man", and they had nothing like that in their Stravinsky-derived "Left of Spring" show in 2012.

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I don't think that Academy has been repeating themselves lately. In 2013, they opened with a narrator who solicited responses from the audience and they closed with a singalong of Billy Joel's "Piano Man", and they had nothing like that in their Stravinsky-derived "Left of Spring" show in 2012.

First time I saw the Academy was in Broken Arrow Oklahoma on July 18 2012. My dad and myself had already bought excellent tickets and we had planned to bring my mom but she passed on the 12th. The 17th was her funeral and was one of the worst days of my life so it really helped to get away from bad memories. We were both impressed by Academy, well I was for sure. They had such a huge sound and I wondered why I had never heard the corps before.Saw them again in Bentonville last summer and was disappointed, so I guess they awere in a rut too......sorry about that but had to vent and say something good about the Academy.
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How about the current DCI Judges and Judging criteria ?.. do you think it might perhaps be " in a rut " ?. I have nothing against DCI Judges judigng Championships Week in 2013, that were judging Championships Week in 1974, but don't we think its time to get some fresh eyes, fresh ears judging these shows ? I mean , some of the guys and gals judging these shows ( all good people ) have been judging shows since before Man walked on the Moon. Even the guys doing commentary at Championships in the booth are getting a little long in the tooth, no ? Does DCI have anyone thats not on the periodic AARP mailing list that can judge these shows, give commentary on these shows, that they can add to all these school system retirees that are doing it now ? Talk about needed " change ". How about some new blood ? Or are we happy with the DCI Judging system and an apparent status quo " rut " when it comes to THIS ?

there is truth to this even in the band world. it's tough finding that next generation

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Was just thinking about that.

Very few individuals ever get into adjudication, and even fewer will start at a young age. A rule of thumb is that it takes about 5 years to really become comfortable with all of the facets of doing it well. Add to that, you need to likely move up in whatever circuit you're involved with to get "known" by DCI or WGI, then asked to trial there.

Add to that, now think about this:

Usually, they prefer Music Adjudicators to have a Music-related degree. That keeps a lot of potential music people out. Visual, not so. They have a larger pool of people to choose from as an indirect result of that issue. Another thing it also can do is bring in different ideas, because the visual people tend to come from a large set of varied backgrounds and life-experiences. They look at many aspects very differently than many of the career Music Educators do. That's not a bad thing at all. Something to think about in regards to a lot of what's been happening.

No wonder most adjudicators are older.

Also, I know most of the better people make solid efforts to grow in knowledge base and "stay current". When they don't, they're usually pretty tired out, in many cases older even by judges' standards and have real health issues, and retire from judging within a couple of years.

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First time I saw the Academy was in Broken Arrow Oklahoma on July 18 2012. My dad and myself had already bought excellent tickets and we had planned to bring my mom but she passed on the 12th. The 17th was her funeral and was one of the worst days of my life so it really helped to get away from bad memories. We were both impressed by Academy, well I was for sure. They had such a huge sound and I wondered why I had never heard the corps before.Saw them again in Bentonville last summer and was disappointed, so I guess they awere in a rut too......sorry about that but had to vent and say something good about the Academy.

glad drum corps maybe was a good diversion for you.....more important than any debate on what is or isnt drum corps anymore...Im very sorry to hear of your loss....Ive often said..there so much on what is or isnt from BITD...well you just pointed out a major thing that HAS NOTn changed from the past...we focus on differences instead of things that are the same and unite ALL generations of the activity. We might find if we stopped focusing on the differences we MIGHT find whats the same............there's plenty

Edited by GUARDLING
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