Sandonovan Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 happy days at holy bass -- #3 is BACK and they corps is rehearsing in Broken Arrow at FULL STREGTH :) https://www.facebook.com/george.hopkins.yea/videos/10153729860236911/ I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and it's hot as hell this week. May they be safe and fully hydrated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Yup. They will run a ton of water breaks. They are in serious clean mode and some more small changes. A busy two days. Then a show then two more days. By Saturday cadets should look and sound much better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlenI Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 I think it is as simple as getting back to the program designs that have worked best for them in recent years. They can take a simple idea and write a program around it, Or They can choose a selection of musical works and build a simple title theme around it (like "Our Favorite Things") Or They can go over the top fun... or they can get serious. Whatever they do, they need to get the whole design team on the same page and write a Cadets show. They need to invest fully on a complete package and get a full version of it learned before the start of the season. Those are some general steps in the right direction. I think it's a mistake to put a whole lot of weight on details like uniforms... the trouble with the design is broad, general and diffused. I'm neither close to the corps or the activity, really (just a serious observer). While I agree wholeheartedly with almost everything you say here, I get to a different place when it comes to your last sentence. I consult professionally to various organizations around culture and process. It appears from out here that there is a tremendous amount of talent at every level of The Cadets' organization, but the process has broken down to the point where the pieces can't come together to realize the potential of the parts. If this is true, it completely supports what you say. But I think that it is not a mistake to put a whole lot of weight on details. On the contrary, polishing those very details to the highest degree is what ultimately seperates a very good show (or a product or service for that matter) from one that is truly exceptional. Inferno is a great example of a show that was merely very good at the beginning of the season, but Crown made it an exceptional show - not by making big changes, but by polishing, refining and adding little details to near perfection. However, the ability to do this is a luxury reserved for organizations where the process allows the fundamentals to be in place early (as you point out). It's a little counter-intuitive - but I think in 2017 the Cadets' organization has to de-bug "how" it does things (process) rather than "what" it does (content) in order to actually turn out a show with better content and results. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillH Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Yup. They will run a ton of water breaks. They are in serious clean mode and some more small changes. A busy two days. Then a show then two more days. By Saturday cadets should look and sound much better. They have shows tomorrow (Broken Arrow), Thursday (Denton), Friday (Houston) and SA on Saturday with the obligatory free day Sunday.... Today is the last full rehearsal day until Monday and Tuesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Yeah but housing at the show sites helps! I actually thought they were off friday. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 (edited) I'm neither close to the corps or the activity, really (just a serious observer). While I agree wholeheartedly with almost everything you say here, I get to a different place when it comes to your last sentence. I consult professionally to various organizations around culture and process. It appears from out here that there is a tremendous amount of talent at every level of The Cadets' organization, but the process has broken down to the point where the pieces can't come together to realize the potential of the parts. If this is true, it completely supports what you say. But I think that it is not a mistake to put a whole lot of weight on details. On the contrary, polishing those very details to the highest degree is what ultimately seperates a very good show (or a product or service for that matter) from one that is truly exceptional. Inferno is a great example of a show that was merely very good at the beginning of the season, but Crown made it an exceptional show - not by making big changes, but by polishing, refining and adding little details to near perfection. However, the ability to do this is a luxury reserved for organizations where the process allows the fundamentals to be in place early (as you point out). It's a little counter-intuitive - but I think in 2017 the Cadets' organization has to de-bug "how" it does things (process) rather than "what" it does (content) in order to actually turn out a show with better content and results. But you have to define what a Good Show is. Fundamentally, there seems to be great disagreement on what a Good Cadets Show is in this new era of show design. I think BD, Crown and Coats each have very strong, very articulate, and very "known" definitions of what a Good Show is for their respective corps. They vet concepts within the context of what a Good Show is for them, and that logically leads them to design ideas, music and GE that fits both their brand and the skills and motivations of their staff. They start with Good, and then they polish and evolve to make them Great. A Good Cadets show, a decade ago, was one very specific thing. It very much defined DCI. But in the last decade, Cadets won one gold and it was for a show that really could be a Crown show conceptually. Edited July 19, 2016 by MikeRapp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Could be a crown show? Oh brother. Some of the things on this site... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Could be a crown show? Oh brother. Some of the things on this site... Not sure what he's talking about. That was one of the most "Cadets" shows ever, down to the arrangements. Apparently any good and entertaining show with melody and body movement is a Crown show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Lancer Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Not sure what he's talking about. That was one of the most "Cadets" shows ever, down to the arrangements. Apparently any good and entertaining show with melody and body movement is a Crown show Well, yeah, obviously! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommeee Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 A Good Cadets show, a decade ago, was one very specific thing. It very much defined DCI. But in the last decade, Cadets won one gold and it was for a show that really could be a Crown show conceptually. Agree with many comments here. But it's also important to put things in perspective. If anyone is going to define success according to scores alone, then that is a shame. And if anyone is going to define success according to gold medals, then consider this: in the past decade, Crown has won only once, SCV hasn't won at all, and Bloo hasn't won at all. Just food for thought. For me, it's so hard to quantify my enjoyment of a show until YEARS have passed. So far, one thing I really like about Cadets this year is their drumline. This COULD go down as my favorite percussion of all time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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