Tobias Posted June 28, 2016 Author Share Posted June 28, 2016 The link to the latest performance says a lot. This show definitely reads better lower than from a high vantage point. I could see the characterizations better. Man, that closer is something else! The gloom and doomers should probably be just a bit more patient. I'm unsure if this is championship caliber right now, but by the end of the season, it should be a lot of fun as long as the corps doesn't traverse into Cheeseland. I look forward to seeing the changes this week. I'm actually feeling optimistic!Same here. There's definitely speed and power for the traditionalists but I like the characterization and rawness. Definitely pulls the crowd in more which gets the kids connecting emotionally. Agree with you hoping they mold this into something great and not smother it with fluff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Channel3 Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 (edited) Frivolous criticism: can the girls wrap their hair up in a bun or gather it at least like real Roman statues? The long blonde hair against the white and silver is just distracting and impairs the good illusion. Edited June 28, 2016 by Channel3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcicolts Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Frivolous criticism: can the girls wrap their hair up in a bun or gather it at least like real Roman statues? The long blonde hair with against the white and silver is just distracting and impairs the good illusion. I'm glad that I am not the only one that is bothered by that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag girl Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Tuesday - Pittsburgh Thursday - Allentown Friday - Clifton I believe the guard costume changes (at least some portion of them) are due to make their appearance tomorrow or Thursday. They will not be in for tomorrow. Was at rehearsal tonight. They have made a great change in Wine Dark but will be doing original show tomorrow. Hoping to have the change in for Thursday. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcicolts Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 They will not be in for tomorrow. Was at rehearsal tonight. They have made a great change in Wine Dark but will be doing original show tomorrow. Hoping to have the change in for Thursday. Thanks for the info! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Channel3 Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 (edited) The Statues Awakening show has untapped potential. The emotional umph behind the metaphor is missing because we can't tell if these are good statues or bad statues. Are they protagonists or antagonists? What's their objective? What do they want? What are the doing? How do they change by the end? The Opening Pose I've never seen a large Roman statue with 35 figures, each in their own world, with no eye contact between them, in seemingly random poses , all standing next to one another, completely unrelated, one rolling cigars and the other shouting at birds in the sky, as if they're lunatics, or stacked on top of one another as if they're at a factory rejects display. Poses in real Roman statues, like the Trevi fountain, are clustered and tell a story. It might be worth it to explore spreading out the statues on the cupcake so that they span the area off the elevated platform, to the left right and center, just for some breathing room. Look at pictures of real Roman statues. Trevi fountain has story clusters. And there are other statues scattered in clusters down the street, too. Spread it out. The Physical Properties of Marble Statues Okay, Viola Spolin 101. How do statues act when they come to life? Like suburban kids finding a kegger in the woods? Or are they struggling to break free of centuries of marble encasement? Start with one statue, not 35. There should be a sense of the physical sensation and surprise of solid marble suddenly being able to move-- the crumbling joints, the agony of the leg that is immobile, the slow steady coming alive, limb by limb. The joy. The helping one another. The one reluctant participant whose leg refuses to move. The carrying of one statue, stiff as a board, and helping to massage the joints. One statue marvels at making a fist. Right now it looks like impatient high school theater kids in spandex who were told to get to the 40 yard line by count 8. Instead take your time with this beat. We want to feel the awakening. We want to come out with you. We want to feel the joy. Could the statues hug with joy that they're finally free? Do these performers know what it's like to be incarcerated for your entire life and to be set free? Are their necks sore? The statues come alive at the beginning like vacuum cleaner salesmen who are late for work. There's no struggle. There's no sense of the stiffness of the plaster of Paris. There's no indication that it's a hard thing to do. The discovery of coming alive should be the focus. En Mass Problem Recently, corps are shifting away from dance solos, probably because they're viewed as unfair. So now, you have literally 40 or 50 color guard members swarming like red ants on Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken dumpster, all doing the same motion, and it looks like a soccer match in Barcelona-- indecipherable throngs trampling security guards to get to the soccer ball. In life, throngs are rare. In the life of statues, throngs are even rarer. Why not feature select clusters of statues at select moments instead of en masse throngs? Cloaks or Diapers? In the middle of the show, we see all the newly personified statues unfurling large swatches of gold material. What is the material's real world purpose? Presently, it doesn't appear that the shrouds have a real-world purpose. They could be statue drapes. They could be cleaning cloths. They could be cloaks, common outdoor wear in Rome during the Roman Empire. What is the historical reference here and why are the awakened statues frenetically swirling them, wearing them, and then abandoning them like a heap of dirty laundry? What is the symbolism? I suggest that instead of running around swirling the fabric, instead establish that perhaps these are cloaks, and the statues are experiencing clothing for the first time. They help each other with putting on the cloaks for the first time. Maybe they come up to the soloist statues who are still encased in marble, still galvanized, and symbolically place a shroud on them, hoping against hope they too will come alive. But the solo statues don't come alive. The solo statues do not respond. The awakened statues have a puropse now-- they must bring the solo statues to life. Contamination So far, this show follows the standard dramatic action of contamination. One by one, people in a group steadily adopt the same attribute. There's usually one or two holdouts at the end (in this case, the solist statues) and so the focus or "game" in the scene is getting the last two guys to join in. That's what this show is about. Those last two soloists awakening. Ending Finally, the stage left statue comes to life, with the help of all the other statues, we see the joy, the discovery. Perhaps they have a final miraculous solo, they can move for the first time in their existence. The soloists are brought down, stiff as a board, still playing! The soloists gradually move freely. The Supreme Court has decided, th Roman court has decided, and the statues atop the building come alive with the joy of being alive. For the first time. The pines along the Appian Way have new meaning now. Edited June 28, 2016 by Channel3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag girl Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Definitely not saying they aren't beneficial, just think there are 4 other REALLY good guards. Agreed but just because they spin well right now and may be cleaner than the CBCCG right now does not mean that they will enhance the show or create as much effect as the CBCCG will at the end. It's not just about clean twirls..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumManTx Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Agreed but just because they spin well right now and may be cleaner than the CBCCG right now does not mean that they will enhance the show or create as much effect as the CBCCG will at the end. It's not just about clean twirls..... I know. I never said it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag girl Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 I know. I never said it was. I didn't mean you did. Not a criticism at all. Just making an observation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumManTx Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 I didn't mean you did. Not a criticism at all. Just making an observation. Ok. :) I will admit my guard expertise isn't very high, been trying to learn more though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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