Drum Corps Shows - Aesthetic Requirements as per Aristotle

[Jeff Ream]

Could it be that perhaps there is too much analysis going on with shows? Yes, maybe some designers are trying to portray too much, but it brings me back to Phantom 2010 and how there were a lot of people who seemed to understand the message without the need for anything deeper.

You are born - you have a life and then you pass on.

how dare they be that shallow!

[Eleran]

Bluecoat's Tilt was an example of a spectacle without Aristotle's required plot, thought, character and diction. The visual spectacle was merely an interpretation of four pieces of modern symphonic music without underlying thematic argument. It contained only two of Aristotle's required components for aesthetic works, spectacle and melody, and as a result contained no dramatic action, and no cohesive progression of emotion. Sure, other successful drum corps shows have simply interpreted music without using character, dialogue or plot, [sCV '99] but they were successful because they used repetition of drill sets, and used the music's understructure to create an identifiable visual story. The music in Tilt, however, had no identifiable understructure, no character, no solid emotional progression, no game, and as a result failed in its dramatic action. It failed to bring viewers on a pathway of logic from beginning to end. Audiences were so thrilled with the special effect device of the pitch bend at the end of the show, that they completely forgave the show's egregious flaw-- the show had no thematic argument, no pattern, and let's face it, no meaning.

Can't help but think of this (despite agreeing with Brutus):

“Understanding Poetry, by Dr. J. Evans Pritchard, Ph.D.: To fully understand poetry, we must first be fluent with its meter, rhyme, and figures of speech. Then ask two questions: One, how artfully has the objective of the poem been rendered, and two, how important is that objective. Question one rates the poem's perfection, question two rates its importance. And once these questions have been answered, determining a poem's greatest becomes a relatively simple matter. If the poem's score for perfection is plotted along the horizontal of a graph, and its importance is plotted on the vertical, then calculating the total area of the poem yields the measure of its greatness. A sonnet by Byron may score high on the vertical, but only average on the horizontal. A Shakespearean sonnet, on the other hand, would score high both horizontally and vertically, yielding a massive total area, thereby revealing the poem to be truly great. As you proceed through the poetry in this book, practice this rating method. As your ability to evaluate poems in this matter grows, so will your enjoyment and understanding of poetry.”

“Excrement.”

[Lincoln]

how dare they be that shallow!

What?

[MikeN]

Garfield, it pains me to point out that Aristotle was a Greek, and marched in the fourth century BC. The Greeks were basically G7 until about the first or second century AD, long after Aristotle aged out. They then dropped to open class for the next couple millennia. Now, the Romans were medaling until about 400AD, before going inactive due to poor management and Huns.

I know I'm not the first to quote this in the thread, but this might be one of my favorite posts from 12 years of reading DCP.

And I completely disagree with the OP, BTW - Bluecoats show was the most fun I've had watching drum corps in years.

Mike

[N.E. Brigand]

Even if Aristotle's strictures are being correctly applied here, they could still be wrong.

[N.E. Brigand]

Could it be that perhaps there is too much analysis going on with shows? Yes, maybe some designers are trying to portray too much, but it brings me back to Phantom 2010 and how there were a lot of people who seemed to understand the message without the need for anything deeper:

You are born, you have a life, and then you pass on.

I saw complaints in these forums in 2010 about Phantom's "Into the Light" having no clear meaning.

[Cappybara]

I saw complaints in these forums in 2010 about Phantom's "Into the Light" having no clear meaning.

Well... It's kinda hard to express life and death in a drum corps show in a crystal-clear-even-if-you're-dumb kind of way unless you want to be painfully blunt (guard members rising from the ground at the beginning, guard members dying and falling to the ground at the end). I think phantom's approach of entering from one tunnel and exiting from the opposite one is a lot more tasteful.

[N.E. Brigand]

Well... It's kinda hard to express life and death in a drum corps show in a crystal-clear-even-if-you're-dumb kind of way unless you want to be painfully blunt (guard members rising from the ground at the beginning, guard members dying and falling to the ground at the end). I think phantom's approach of entering from one tunnel and exiting from the opposite one is a lot more tasteful.

During the 2010 season, people were saying that Phantom's show had no deaths, to which I replied that, on the contrary, they killed off the entire corps.

(Edited to fix typo.)

Edited April 24, 2015 by N.E. Brigand

[mingusmonk]

Drum corps shows have have evolved to the point where the productions have themes, thematic arguments, story elements, and underlying meaning beyond simply movement and music. Gone are the days of drum corps' random jukebox spectacles which included "Yellow Rose of Texas" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the dreaded, puerile "Camptown Races" randomly stuffed into the same show. Today's drum corps shows are no longer spectacles without meaning.

In Poetics, Aristotle warns against such spectacles without meaning. Aristotle calls spectacle the "least artistic" element of tragedy, and the "least connected with the work of the poet (playwright/musician). For example: if the play has "beautiful" costumes and "bad" acting and "bad" story, there is "something wrong" with it. Even though that "beauty" may save the play it is not an essential thing.

The Bluecoats' To Search for America is an example of the height of the drum corps activity's evolution in the vein of Aristotilian completeness. The production told a coming of age story based the theme of the loss of innocence. However, Bluecoat's Tilt was an example of a spectacle without Aristotle's required plot, thought, character and diction. The visual spectacle was merely an interpretation of four pieces of modern symphonic music without underlying thematic argument. It contained only two of Aristotle's required components for aesthetic works, spectacle and melody, and as a result contained no dramatic action, and no cohesive progression of emotion. Sure, other successful drum corps shows have simply interpreted music without using character, dialogue or plot, [sCV '99] but they were successful because they used repetition of drill sets, and used the music's understructure to create an identifiable visual story. The music in Tilt, however, had no identifiable understructure, no character, no solid emotional progression, no game, and as a result failed in its dramatic action. It failed to bring viewers on a pathway of logic from beginning to end. Audiences were so thrilled with the special effect device of the pitch bend at the end of the show, that they completely forgave the show's egregious flaw-- the show had no thematic argument, no pattern, and let's face it, no meaning.

Clearly, the ancient greeks implore us to avoid frivolous spectacle and loose themes in our drum corps shows for 2015.

This is great. You took significant efforts this summer in trying to convince everyone here why Bluecoats' show was failing.

Now in hindsight, it was by all means a successful show and year for the team from Canton. So you are telling us why that success is a bad thing.

At least you are consistent.

Edited October 10, 2014 by mingusmonk

[freakyswotboy]

I can't remember, but did anybody try and relate the principles of Einstein's Theory of Relativity to Crown,s e=mc2?