krazyivan Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 as far as kids in DCA corps have no talent. i have two friends who came in to mon vallye with me. well one did the other a friend of mine in the corp at that time and i "recurited" him(by telling him to show up because he knew he wanted too). and he have never played a insturment before. and he learned barritone and was half way decent on it. but when he joined marching band he had to leave part wya through band camp to goto maine to see his grandparents. and knowing this he was put in the pit by the band director(who was the brass instructor at MVE) and learned marimba. and he became a beast on it. he went to cap reg after two years with MVE along with one of the horn players and they both made the corp. and now the horn player is the marching instructor and the kid fromt he pit who never played before joining corps is writing a musical, is going for a job in the music industry and thinking about coming back to mon valley. and both are still young enough to march junior. but we also have a guy in the corp now who i talked to his daughters alone with one of our drummers at a HS band comp that we were recuriting at and theysaid they wanted to join a corp but they also thought their father might like to join because he use to march corp and wanted to get back into it. so now we have a father with two daughters, and one of our lead sops brough his son and a few of his son's friends to practice and he ended up joining the pit two years ago. and this summer he jumped into the lead sop line. so not only do the kids have talent but somtimes all age corp is able to bring out talents that people don't know they have and it is also a family activity. and thats awsome that a father can do somethign with his kids they both enjoy alot instead of one or the other having to watch from the sidelines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Thank you for bringing this subject up, Cindy. It is very true that most junior corps will not hire anyone for staff if they don't have a degree or are at least persuing a degree in music or the performing or visual arts. Some senior corps will give a person the opportunity to teach whether they had any college level education or not. In my case I was a music education major but never finished college. Despite the fact that I had no degree, I ended up becoming a band director at a private school in San Antonio where I had to completely build the band program from scratch. I also founded a new corps, Music City Legend, and instructed the hornline for two years. Subsequently that hornline won the Class A High Brass Award in 2005. Now I'm doing it again in Austin, Texas and all this without a formal degree in anything. Go figure! B) So from my own personal point of view there are people out there who don't have a degree that I'd rather hire for my staff over someone with a degree. After all it's just a piece of paper. Real life experience is like a rock. i know many people teaching who dont have a degree.....DCA and DCI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scerpella Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 (edited) The DCI/DCA corps comparisons will always fall short because it is almost an apples/oranges phenomenon. There is no basis for a true side by side evaluation because DCA corps, for obvious reasons, put in a fraction of the time rehearsing their programs that DCI corps do and are usually no audition memberships. If DCA corps existed in an alternate reality where they could be selective about membership and could spend the same amount of time practicing as do DCI corps, theres no telling if they could be as good. Obviously the corps who skew older would have real difficulty scoring well, but consider other activities such as professional sports where the professional older ranks are a large step above college teams. Professional athletes remain competitive into their early 30s. We know that there are a larger percentage of better musicians in DCA corps, its just that the physical component is what falls off after 22. What is truly an unsupportable idea is that in any endeavor the physical, intellectual and artistic peak is age 22. What I am saying is that perhaps corps with an average age of up to 30-32 could possibly compete with DCI corps (in this alternate reality) Edited December 18, 2005 by dans24103 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojo Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Truthfully I feel a little pushed even though I do keep up. On average I don't see a vast age difference between top 12 DCI and top 12 DCA colorguards. Granted there are exceptions in every guard, but they're not the "average" member. From what I've seen the DCA guards run on the young side and in stark contrast to what you find in the other sections of the corps. I don't think "senior" applies to the colorguards if, in fact, it ever did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NS787980 Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 What is with this "all age" encompassment ? Why are older members being "eased out"? Please someone explain this to me. I am dying to know."For the benefit of Mr Kite. There will be a show tonight on trampoline" Lennon/McCartney Hmm.. I would never believe that. What I do believe is two fold. A marketing tool that was always part of DCA.. Of which I'm a product of. I was 19 when I started marching with a DCA corps. DCA has always been an alternative to DCI. And competition of bodies. I believe that DCA is now competing for the younger crowd. I believe that the circuit knows they can recruit younger than 22 year olds and they will. Personally.. I think that if a minor has the opportunity to march in junior corps? They should. Why? Because I've always believed it made DCA better. When the minor gets there. Sharon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiltieBD3 Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 i saw it said elsewhere all the kids in DCA today dont have the talent to make DCI.that's pure horse ####. Many of those kids DO have the talent. What they dont have is either the cash, the time, or in some cases, the desire to do DCI. just because a kid is in a DCA corps doesnt mean they suck. Someone actually said that? Well, I know this. There are 3 reasons in the Kilt snareline as to why that statement would be very wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 yes someone said that. ask Mistertoo where :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torn8o Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 (edited) I WONDER. Listen...I only said "I WONDER". This is not my opinion nor does it reflect my feelings on DCI corps verses DCA corps. Obviously, I could not possibly have an opinion on what I am about to say because #1 - I have not been around Jr. Corps MUCH since I aged out and #2 - I have just BEGUN to study and become interested in DCA corps. Having now made that disclaimer... With all of the rants about some of the changes DCI is making and TRYING to make such as amplification, potential woodwind futures and shows that the general population of at least the Drum Corps Planet population finds un-entertaining - is it possible that by creating the term "all aged corps", DCA is actually developing a safety cushion by encouraging youth to march DCA corps to keep "real DRUM and BUGLE corps" alive should the DCI activity finally make that one last rule change that ends up being the straw that breaks the camels back? In other words - should their no longer be "DRUM and BUGLE corps" due to DCI going full out marching band on us, is DCA trying to be the safety successor? And IF SO, could it work based on the apparent quality improvements in DCA corps over the years? Again, I understand that what I just said could be very controversial so again, don't read ME into the above please. Just read it as a "curiosity" for someone who for all practical purposes is somewhat out of the drum corps loop. Seriously, I have no clue what the answer is to the questions I just asked. That's why I'm asking them. Edited January 4, 2006 by torn8o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torn8o Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 One time when Steel City was manning the phones at a PBS telethon, the host of the program referred to us a the Steel City Senior Citizens Corps. ROFL!!!!!!! Sorry, I could not help but laugh at that one. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torn8o Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 However you will notice that nearly every single "junior" corps does not use that word at all. To them they are simply a drum and bugle corps. And to me that is reason enough for the "seniors" to drop that term as well. Maybe it's even time to drop the "all-age" moniker. DCI and DCA have two differing philosophies. Perhaps we should just refer to DCI-affiliated and DCA-affiliated corps. Two separate divisions of the drum corps fraternity. Two separate sets of ideals and goals. Two separate sets of age requirements. Wow, that is a FANTASTIC point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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