Allegiance Elite to go inactive

[Ryan H. Turner]

i marched on AE's guard last year and i know a lot of the people didn't come back for the '06 season. that was probably one of the biggest problems. there were about 10 people from my city who went there who aren't returning, a few from the states who i dont think were coming back (they joined because they were going to join strutters last summer but strutters went inactive so we were the next closest corps.) and there are a few (me included) who have moved on to div I corps. in general, it is hard for canadian marching activities to stay afloat because there is no media coverage of it up here. we dont have high school or college bands or corps, they're all extracurricular and almost no one knows they exist. in canada if you said 'i march in a drum corps' people either say 'whats a drum corps?' or 'oh, so you play the drums?'. its difficult to thrive when the populous is ignorant to what we are.

Canada must have been sucked into some kind of amnesia-causing time vortex rip in the space/time continuum. What, did the populace all of a sudden forget about the MILLIONS of drum corps that have come out of that fine country?

I think it's more apathy on the part of the those that CAN march. Probably don't want to.

[Canadacorps]

Even though you joke, I don't think your assumption is 100% correct. While apathy may play a part in the current Drum Corps situation in Canada, its share is fairly small.

The "Millions" of corps you refer to, have almost ALL been in the East.

It is important to note that there are a number of factors other than apathy at play here, namely:

A 90 to 95% Majority of those "millions" of DC's that came out of Canada were primarily from Ontario and Quebec.

Even with how incredibly VAST the United States is in terms of Landmass and size, Canada is even bigger... and with a population that is only the size of California's, that puts a LOT of space, and comparatively FEW people between the eastern and western portions of the country. Therefore, the amount of people that are going to have a clue as to what Drum Corps is, outside of certain portions of Ontario and Quebec, is going to be very small, even miniscule.

Also, The only three DC's that I have ever heard of from the West are Allegiance, Strutters, and Pride. (who only spent 1 season as a DBC so far, and I'm not sure of any future plans) Anyway, since there is more than 2000 miles between the eastern and western groups, there isn't much oppourtunity for shows within the country.

Now we could have more shows in Ontario and Quebec, but that sure doesn't help spread the activity at all within the rest of the country, which is what we'd all like to see, isnt it? Public exposure now-a-days (wow I'm getting old) is pretty much minimized, except for local gigs.

Also, I would attribute a lot of the problem to the lack of marching activities in Canada. Marching programs are just NOT FEASIBLE for our schools. Seriously, why would the schools invest all the money it takes to have marching programs, when the ground is covered with snow for the majority of the year?? Music programs have also been extremely underfunded in the last 10-20 years in Canada.. Many schools across the country don't even have a music program to speak of now.

Therefore, with very few marching activities, the ones that still exist are trying to recruit kids that usually have no previous marching or musical experience, and are a lot less interested in the activity than your typical band/corps kid in the states.

The majority of them would rather participate in sports like Hockey! B) (Btw, the Edmonton Oilers are goin to the cup! )

Oh, and I forgot, Money. Yeah... good ole' greenbacks.. er.. In Canada, I guess they'd be loonie-backs?

Anyway, Many places in Canada have decided to go Non-smoking in public places. This may seem like a good thing initially, but it really doles out a nice beating to Bingo revenue, which is the lifeblood of our activity.

Anyways, thats my 2 cents.

Edited May 14, 2006 by Canadacorps

[argonaut]

Canada must have been sucked into some kind of amnesia-causing time vortex rip in the space/time continuum. What, did the populace all of a sudden forget about the MILLIONS of drum corps that have come out of that fine country?

I think it's more apathy on the part of the those that CAN march. Probably don't want to.

Here is a computer image of the amnesia-causing time vortex.

[CrunchyTenor]

Even though you joke, I don't think your assumption is 100% correct. While apathy may play a part in the current Drum Corps situation in Canada, its share is fairly small.

The "Millions" of corps you refer to, have almost ALL been in the East.

It is important to note that there are a number of factors other than apathy at play here, namely:

A 90 to 95% Majority of those "millions" of DC's that came out of Canada were primarily from Ontario and Quebec.

FWIW, click here for a list of former drum corps in BC alone... http://members.aol.com/rigroves/dc/bc.htm

Garry

[Canadacorps]

FWIW, click here for a list of former drum corps in BC alone... http://members.aol.com/rigroves/dc/bc.htm

Garry

Well, I guess this means I sit corrected. B)

Even still though, there were still WAYYYY more groups out in the east than there have ever been in the western portion of the country..

Plus, I wonder what ever happened to all those groups, and if any of them plan on making a re-appearance... I know there was a guy on here talking about a start-up in Vancouver some months ago...

[Ryan H. Turner]

Even though you joke, I don't think your assumption is 100% correct. While apathy may play a part...

The majority of them would rather participate in sports like Hockey! B) (Btw, the Edmonton Oilers are goin to the cup! )

Sooooooooooooo...I was right.

Apathy.

They'd (those that CAN march) would rather not.

I stand by my original use of the word. And I thank you Garry for the assist. I would just wonder why it seems "all of a sudden" that the decline of drum corps in Canada has REALLY taken its toll. Or has this just been so on-going that now with practically no corps left from Canada the absence of just one REALLY stings?

[PhantomR]

VIVA LA DUTCH BOY!

~>conner

[kusankusho]

VIVA LA DUTCH BOY!

~>conner

Heh! This makes me happy! B)

But the state of Drum Corps in Canada makes me sad, speaking as somebody who can remember summers with shows almost every weekend and you didn't have to leave the province.

There are a couple of high schools that have bands, E.L. Crosley in Fonthill and Arthur high school - significantly they are small towns and the last time I saw one of them the level of instruction looked mediocre at best. There is the very successful Burlington Teen Tour Band, but that's about it. None of these band directors seem to put much or any effort into encouraging their kids to march corps in the summer. Too bad - they would have a significantly improved band if they did...

Of the corps from the '70s and '80s that have disappeared, one or two have staged comebacks as alumni corps but have met with varying degrees of success. Preston Scout House are very successful, Royalaires just folded up as far as I know, and my old corps, Conqueror II has started an alumni group. All well and good, but I'd like to see more junior age corps starting up or this thing will really dry up in another 30 years.

Reasons are myriad. Poor management, the soaring cost of putting a corps on the road for the DCI tour, lack of local circuits - it's all been discussed before. Southern Ontario now has St. Johns, HYPE and Dutch Boy - a sad statement from a province that used to have how many dozens of corps? Let's not even start talking about Quebec.

I have advocated before that the best transfer of knowledge at this point would be managerial in nature and should flow from the successful div 1 and div 2 corps to those struggling in any division. Drum corps has not been "sold" to the general public in a very long time here.

Dutch is doing well, I am happy to say under new (and renewed) management. Hype is improving over last year, and I haven't heard anything much about St. Johns but I saw them in an indoor concert a month or so back so I'm assuming and hoping they are heading for the field. A few more would be nice.

Just a saddened rant from an old geezer that wants to see 21st century drum corps in the 1970's quantities.

Cheers

Jim

[ripper]

Heh! This makes me happy! B)

But the state of Drum Corps in Canada makes me sad, speaking as somebody who can remember summers with shows almost every weekend and you didn't have to leave the province.

There are a couple of high schools that have bands, E.L. Crosley in Fonthill and Arthur high school - significantly they are small towns and the last time I saw one of them the level of instruction looked mediocre at best. There is the very successful Burlington Teen Tour Band, but that's about it. None of these band directors seem to put much or any effort into encouraging their kids to march corps in the summer. Too bad - they would have a significantly improved band if they did...

Of the corps from the '70s and '80s that have disappeared, one or two have staged comebacks as alumni corps but have met with varying degrees of success. Preston Scout House are very successful, Royalaires just folded up as far as I know, and my old corps, Conqueror II has started an alumni group. All well and good, but I'd like to see more junior age corps starting up or this thing will really dry up in another 30 years.

Reasons are myriad. Poor management, the soaring cost of putting a corps on the road for the DCI tour, lack of local circuits - it's all been discussed before. Southern Ontario now has St. Johns, HYPE and Dutch Boy - a sad statement from a province that used to have how many dozens of corps? Let's not even start talking about Quebec.

I have advocated before that the best transfer of knowledge at this point would be managerial in nature and should flow from the successful div 1 and div 2 corps to those struggling in any division. Drum corps has not been "sold" to the general public in a very long time here.

Dutch is doing well, I am happy to say under new (and renewed) management. Hype is improving over last year, and I haven't heard anything much about St. Johns but I saw them in an indoor concert a month or so back so I'm assuming and hoping they are heading for the field. A few more would be nice.

Just a saddened rant from an old geezer that wants to see 21st century drum corps in the 1970's quantities.

Cheers

Jim

The Blue Saints are also doing fine as Canada's longest continiously active Corps :)

Edited May 15, 2006 by ripper

[Canadacorps]

Sooooooooooooo...I was right.

Apathy.

They'd (those that CAN march) would rather not.

I stand by my original use of the word. And I thank you Garry for the assist. I would just wonder why it seems "all of a sudden" that the decline of drum corps in Canada has REALLY taken its toll. Or has this just been so on-going that now with practically no corps left from Canada the absence of just one REALLY stings?

I still do not defer from my point. It's not apathy, at least not everywhere.

I agree with you on your second point. It really HURTS.. with Allegiance Elite and Strutters being the only TWO active corps from the west in the last 10 years or so, then suddenly within one calendar year, they are both inactive.

(Ok, so there's the lone exception of Pride in 05.. who are not touring this year either.)

To put it in to perspective:

Imagine, if you will, that BD and SCV were the only two active Drum and Bugle corps left in the ENTIRE western half of the United states. I'm sure there'd be a few shouting doomsday.

Then, per se, they both go inactive. How would you feel?

I must say, It's a little more than a "sting" for some of us..

Edited May 16, 2006 by Canadacorps