LisaLisaMoMeesa Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 Danceswithsalad..... Last night I saw your name on the members list and I almost peed myself from laughing so hard....I love your screen name!!!!! %-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffsjetta Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 I'm a bass drummer...this year i was asked to help a friend with their indoor guard...so of course, i went in with my mentality, that most drummers seem to have, that in order to be cool, you have to throw #### all the time and catch it. Fortunately the team i helped did a lot of that...but i also gained an appreciation of body and dance, and how and where to place it and make it effective. now some teams do go overboard, and have too much of one or another. just like the tacet time drum discussion on ramd, there can be extremes. A healthy balance needs ot be achieved, but everyone has their opinion on what is balanced. I like most of the newer stuff. I also pop in my Brass roots video to watch some of the killer exchanges from days gone by...like in the late 70's early 80;'s when everyone did them during the drum solo.....it was like ok, if they do it, we have to do it as well. same thing applies to dance and body stuff now....do what is best for your program, balance in what the sheets will reward you with, and no matter what, entertain the fans. oh yeah, that guard i helped...they went undefeated in the chapter. all i did was tell the kids about how to perform and sell....i couldnt tech the work if you paid me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria_R Posted April 30, 2002 Share Posted April 30, 2002 If you have the question of which is better in your mind just think about which truly makes you enjoy the experience. Which draws you in and makes you watch. The "old school" guards were good in their day, they were technical and precise but, they really weren't "performers" and they didn't really tell a story. I will certainly agree that many guards today could use a lesson in precision and quality but...I think it is easy to see that this program has come so far in the past twelve years, and there is no way that I would want to go back. Oh, good grief. Guards were "performing" in the 1970's and 1980's. We didn't do "facials" and emote like silent movie actors. And we could "tell a story" without throwing paint, cutting hair, or having elaborate sets and props. And, no, I'm not insecure. I came out of "enforced retirement courtesy of the WGI" to help a college band restart their program and it was the "new guard" that was surprised to see the old fogey pick up yet another style of spinning AND learn a show in a week or two and perform it. The point being missed, I think, is the difference in the "design" (choreography) of today's guards as a group of soloists on the field verses the shows that designed the guard as a unit in which the individuals submerged their personal quirks to perform as a unit. (People may want to check out synchronized skating or synchronized swimming or the Kirov Ballet to see just how "clean" a unit can get. Top guards used to be that clean.) Sure, drop spins and slams are easy. But can the group do them together? With the same timing? Lined up 5 yards apart from goal line to goal line where they can't see each other? It's a lot harder than most people think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeD Posted April 30, 2002 Share Posted April 30, 2002 Right, my point in starting this thread was to discuss the differences in the approach of design mostly for old-guard verses modern. Are the designers of today throwing out too many of the things that work in the past as "too easy" or "too old" when they are really quite effective. I also think at times current designers are designing books way over the heads of the performers. I just get the feeling that with the introduction of dance, we have shifted away from precision. For instance, if you look at a dance troup or ballet troupe, you will see great performances, but precision is often lacking. As an audience member, I always find that very distracting, your eye just is drawn to the one arm out of place... or in corps' case, the flag out of time. Add to that issue the current design emphasis of multiple parts going on at the same time, and the affect gets muddled. Multiple parts need to be even MORE clean to be effective. IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLisaMoMeesa Posted April 30, 2002 Share Posted April 30, 2002 Well, I guess it's a matter of entertainment...which is definitely in the eye of the beholder. I would grow quickly bored of this show 8 cts right slam 8 cts drop spins 8 cts right shoulder 8 cts box angles 8 cts drop spins ad infinitum, ad nauseum. There's only so much you can do within that realm. Yeah, I don't like many of the "essoteric just for the sake of being essoteric" shows out there. It doesn't entertain me. But give me Blue Devils, Cavies or Cadets guard....innovative and clean as all heck. And in answer to your question Victoria, yes, most of today's guards could do it blind folded and clean. (Drop spins 10 yards apart) At least all the ones I've taught. I know b/c I'd make them do it. (I'm a MEAN instructor!) Which reminds me. There was a guard at WGI some years ago that did almost their entire show without music. Without a click track, without a blinking light...nothing. And they were CLEAN. CLEEEEEAAAAAAN. They pranced around, they emoted like silent movie stars...sometimes they'd group off and do different little solo-ey things, and come right back together.....and towards the end of the show...just when they threw this realllllly high (and clean) toss, the music came in and they caught on the down beat. It can be acheived....if the instructor cares enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PioneerLeadSop Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 Well personally i don't think that the old guards were that much cleaner than the ones today. Check out blue devils 98. Now that's one clean guard show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 Well personally i don't think that the old guards were that much cleaner than the ones today. Check out blue devils 98. Now that's one clean guard show. Umm......check out 1980 27th Lancers, now that's one clean show !! ~G~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deftguy Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 I guess I am from the "old school". I marched from 1979 to 1987 and there was nothing easy about any of the shows I did. While I do really like the cavs, vanguard and the cadets guards of the last few years, there were many more guards back in the day that I liked more. I think overall show design(especially the Cavs, Cadets, and Vanguard) is better than the old days, uniformity, consistancy and precision have suffered terribly within the guard ranks. I also think that there is waaaay to much dancing and not nearly enough equipment handling(Cavs, Cadets are exempted). I cringe when the cameras pan in on guard work because I see poor catches, bad positioning for tosses, and odd looking flag work combined with a dance move. I personally like seeing the guard more uniform with the corps doing more equipment work in unison. IMO this has more impact than the individualistic approach I currently see. I do not want to see dance go away, but I would like to see more body movement that looks more natural, and is more integrated with CLEAN eqiupment work. I would like to see ALOT more precision and technical prowess within the guard itself. I will always be a drum corp fan. I on the other hand would be much more excited about drum corps if the shows had the guard more intergrated within the drill design instead of a afterthought(like it currently looks). I would like the guard to have to have the same uniform or something closer to what the corps is wearing instead of costumes. Can a thirty something old fart do todays show?? I know I can. Would I enjoy it as much as I did the "old" shows I did?? I am afraid not. I love precision and uniformity too much. Would I compare todays guard with "old style" guard? Heck no, they do two completely different things. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLisaMoMeesa Posted May 9, 2002 Share Posted May 9, 2002 I would like the guard to have to have the same uniform or something closer to what the corps is wearing instead of costumes.Can a thirty something old fart do todays show?? I know I can. Would I enjoy it as much as I did the "old" shows I did?? I am afraid not. I love precision and uniformity too much. ::::just trying to figure out how it would "translate" to me if Phantom Regiment's guard was wearing a big ol' hemet and something that looked like the corps uni....for 'New World Symphony' hmmmm "bull in a china shop" comes to mind::::: Also....wondering....if guard work never changed from the 70's....how bored would we be? Not because that work is boring. But there's only so much you can do within those basic moves before you start branching out and trying new things. (Key word *try*.... means some times it works, some times it doesn't) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLisaMoMeesa Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 To anyone who thinks the advent of the dancing guard killed precision...I invite you to watch Blast. Maaaaaan..... see what can be acheived when the instructer gives a sh... a hoot and bothers to focus on CLEANING the work?!?!?!?!?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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