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March or Die thoughts 2021....


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Some very VERY big assumptions have been posted in this thread.

 

There is a very old saying at Cadets ... when they Zig we Zag.  Maybe the ZAG is going traditional, marching drill and playing a meaty brass book.  Sometimes old is new.  Tradition is also about remembering who you are.

Members at The Cadets have been repeating the same words over and over for the past few years.  I've heard it way too many times to count .....

"I want to fly around the field at 212 bpm with my hair on fire in Maroon and Gold".  They got what they asked for (mostly).

When it was announced that the 2020 show design was being put on the shelf and the 2021 show tunes were listed .... all I heard was< "YESSSSS!  In West Points?  YESSSSS!!!!  Wth the Stripe?  YESSSSS!!!!!! Omg, I have to practice or the crowd will hate us........"

I'm sure Phantom felt the same way, reacted the same way and pushed forward ... the same way.  It lit a fire and hunger in their membership because they knew they had an awesome opportunity to throw one down... come what may.

To assume that the 20 somethings don't want to do the same thing/look the same way/play as many notes/march actual drill -  as we did back in the day is just plain wrong.  Corps with a strong identity and tradition attract a certain type of person.  That person wants to continue the legacy that made that corps AWESOME.  The problem for the designers is figuring out how to use that tradition and identity and merge it with modern ideas that will appeal to judges, membership and alumni.

II think the big takeaway from 2021 is ... what will the judging community do with this new information?  What will the design teams and administrations do with the rules congress's going forward?  A shift has been needed for while.   I think it's finally here.   I just hope those in power have the foresight to do the right thing with this new knowledge.

 

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1 hour ago, GUARDLING said:

 the sheets are dictated by the corps not by judges.

Regardless, it should change.

Edited by Sutasaurus
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48 minutes ago, GUARDLING said:

I guess if the corps want it they will

I'm sorry.  But sheets and interpretation of said sheets is completely different.  Laws of unintended consequences.  Funny thing is that I don't think judges are voted on.

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39 minutes ago, Mello Dude said:

I'm sorry.  But sheets and interpretation of said sheets is completely different.  Laws of unintended consequences.  Funny thing is that I don't think judges are voted on.

Yes you're right but the point is corps decide what those sheets or weight of the sheets etc etc will be. Some tend to think judges decide WHAT those sheets will be and corps just follow like sheep. If corps don't like what the sheets are they can change that although they decided upfront what they are. Now if they don't like how any judge interprets what those sheets are as you say that's a different story.

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1 hour ago, GUARDLING said:

Yes you're right but the point is corps decide what those sheets or weight of the sheets etc etc will be. Some tend to think judges decide WHAT those sheets will be and corps just follow like sheep. If corps don't like what the sheets are they can change that although they decided upfront what they are. Now if they don't like how any judge interprets what those sheets are as you say that's a different story.

So I guess we, as supporting fans, don’t matter anymore with current design trends?It’s the “new way” or the highway? This activity has always had a foot based in it’s history. Is it a bad thing to celebrate that history from time to time? Oh hell no. There’s plenty of room on that football field to award diverse approaches to entertainment. I won’t put the onus on the judges to do this, but on the design community to showcase musicality and movement once again. The sheets need to reflect this.

Edited by Sutasaurus
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7 hours ago, Sutasaurus said:

So I guess we, as supporting fans, don’t matter anymore with current design trends?It’s the “new way” or the highway? This activity has always had a foot based in it’s history. Is it a bad thing to celebrate that history from time to time? Oh hell no. There’s plenty of room on that football field to award diverse approaches to entertainment. I won’t put the onus on the judges to do this, but on the design community to showcase musicality and movement once again. The sheets need to reflect this.

Agreed 100%. Even to my untrained eye (I fully admit that I have marched but never judged,) I can still appreciate traditional (horizontal) drill vs the modern vertical drill concepts of today. What I cannot understand is HOW in the world you compare the two side by side. I'm a nut for more traditional drill. Some of the most iconic drill movements in our activity were not exactly what we would call squeaky (or as drummers sometimes say p*ss) clean, and yet plenty of us (myself included) remember vividly seeing the first Z-Pull in '83 (I wish they would have come to ATL that year) or the Cross to Cross in '91. 

So in an extremely long winded way, I agree with you Suta. It can't be solely the responsibility of the judges to "figure it out" from a judging perspective. Designers are generally smart. It's time to put that brilliant creativity to work. 

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15 hours ago, supersop said:

 

II think the big takeaway from 2021 is ... what will the judging community do with this new information?  What will the design teams and administrations do with the rules congress's going forward?  

 

 There will be the annual DCI Winter Meetings, but those meetings will likely have no major changes in the judging sheets as the judges have made no new proposals, nor have  the Corps themselves. As such, Corps wlll prepare their shows for competition ( not exhibition ) next season when BD/ SCV/ Crown and all the Open Class Corps return. The judging sheets, ( and just as importantly the same judges ) will return in 2022 the same as in 2017-19. 2021 was an exhibition season. As such, most corps approached it as an exhibition season and prepared their shows, attire, props, music, visuals, etc as such, where if you wanted 184 on the field, or 94 brass, or 22 or 60 Guard, or overage marchers, or unapproved instrumentation, or a redo of older shows. music, drill etc, you could. 2022 will look like 2017-19, not like 2021 exhibition season. 2021 DCI was like MLB Spring training, ie... a time to experiment with old, new players, try old, new things, etc and where the games don't matter, and the players and coaches and fans are just having fun before heading out to the golf course, BBQ,  or the beach or wherever. But once the games are no longer exhibitions, but instead competitions,  ( like MLB ) the preparation takes on far more seriousness of purpose, and thus the designs, demand, performance execution will be expected to take on that focus, once the judges return to assess the show designs and the actual execution performance levels by all the marchers in all these World Class and Open Class Corps.

 

Edited by Boss Anova
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