TomPeashey Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Jubal, The Company and Kidsgrove... as KS has proven are "middle of the pack" corps in DCA as they are, who could be serious contenders were they to write the show for just DCA sheets and work with the system throughout the year. Size is an issue only from the competing "apples to apples" point, but there is absolutely no question as to the quality of the design for their top corps in Europe... also their ability to translate that design into quality performance is excellent... I don't know who wrote the visual for The Company but they are very good... excellent pen for sure... Having worked closely with Rob Swindells of KS, I can tell you that not only is he a good DM and Corps Director (with his Dad)... He could write visual for ANY corps anywhere - quality pen transverses all activities whether marching band, DCA or DCI or DCUK or DCE or DCJ... Anyone looking to buy a drill should consider him. But he's not a drum corps bum, which means I doubt he has time for much in drum corps other than KS... he has a life - including a great family and is a high school principal in England... and I'll bet he's quite the taskmaster and runs the school with a strong leadership that has developed through the drum corps activity ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Tom, Thanks for giving us Ron Swindell's name as a drill writer with Kingsgrove Scouts. Still waiting for someone to nominate the drill writer for Company; and no, it's not on their website. Sometimes we may be incorrect that the best in these caption designs are limited just to N. America or that the best elsewhere but hire the yanks to come over once DCI is done. These three corps of DCE make us proud, but also keep us humble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Tom, thanks for giving us Ron Swindells's name as a drill writer with Kidsgrove Scouts. Still waiting for someone to identify the drill writer for Company; and no, it's not on their website. Sometimes we may be incorrect that the best in these caption designs are limited just to N. America, or that the best elsewhere hire the Yanks to come over once DCI is done. These three corps of DCE make us proud, but also keep us humble. The very best may be working here. (The very best who have the opportunity to realize their talents, that is. It's possible that the person who had the greatest natural drum corps ability lived a thousand years ago in, say, the Amazon rainforest without ever knowing what their skills were good for.) But your reminder is a good one. At least one other overseas corps has performed nearly as well as Kidsgrove in DCA: the Yokohama Inspires Sr., who were fifth with 91.850 in 2002 and seventh with 89.588 in 2004. On the DCI side, Taipei Yuehfu did pretty well in Div. II and III in the early 2000s, although they have some overage members. I think that North Eastern Technology from Thailand, who were announced to participate in DCI Open Class this year but couldn't make it (no reason was ever given, but that country's military coup may have been one cause), would have scored fairly well, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida Sun Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Interesting thought ,If KidsGrove ,Inspires,Jubal ,and The Company all came to DCA in 2015 or 2016 . l guess it would change the top ten .Who would make it .and who wouldn't ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 I've only seen a number of the DCE corps on video (other than Kidsgrove and Heartliner at DCA shows) in recent years , at their championships and during the regular season ... but of the corps I've seen, I find a lot of their programs very refreshing... a bit of a different take on marching music programming than what the corps here in North America are doing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPeashey Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Fran... to be precise... his name is Rob (Robert) Swindells - Visual Writer - co-corps director and drum major... and yes... the programs in Europe are fresh and quite well done... even though the corps tend to be a bit smaller... As DCA now exists... The 3 (and possibly 4 or 5) top corps in Europe and certainly Inspires are certainly finalists in any of the last 5 years or so, but I must add that the improvement in the DCA top 14 is marked and you never know what next year will bring... I do know that Kidsgrove is coming and that in itself is a real treat for all of us in the "New World" - I only wish The Company would join us sometime... they are a real treat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Williams Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Company Drill Writer used to be my good friend Craig Sherratt. Although he may not have written for them in 2014. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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