Field and Floor

Props to (some) props

Did your favorite show need propping-up?

Props, those outsize objects that are used to give additional visualization in pageantry, have been used in color guard and drum corps since the beginning of the current organizational administrations. Historically, the use of props to provide drama and pageantry, dates to ... well, the opening ceremonies of the recent Olympic Games in Greece come to mind. Through prop-laden pageantry the curtain-raiser chronicled how prop-filled pageantry has been a part of the history of the Olympiad.

Props, then, are nothing new, but to fans of both pageantry idioms, their use can be an obstacle to appreciating the total performance on either field or floor. Take the just-finished Drum Corps International 2005 summer campaign, for example. Props were everywhere; they flew, they whirled, they communicated, they opened and closed, they rose above the fray, they posed, and they play-acted. And they met with decidedly mixed results.

While the Seattle Cascades fluorescent rolling tinker toys contributed to exactly one effect, Capital Regiment's sundial, which took the entire season to make sense, was simply misguided. The Cadets' now infamous "door" had the intrigue of a home improvement show "big reveal," but the Colts' enormous postcards provided lovely, if redundant, sentimental imagery to its "turn of the century" theme -- that is, until they collapsed and were "returned to sender" before the end of the season.

There were also human and vocal props this summer: from the Madison Scouts' ill-conceived and under-used "Carmen," to The Cadets' Catholic schoolgirls and their bad dream. There was one tiny second when it seemed that the Scouts' big "Carmen Project" was going to treat their lady-in-waiting as a diva, Mariah Carey-style, and pull some needed humor out of the experiment. No. The schoolgirls, well, they simply looked lost amidst the season's otherwise finest performance, with so little "writing" of their roles that it was a relief every time they'd disappear in the back of the door.

And then there was this narration, or as it came across more often than not, a school assembly presentation read over a tin can PA system. It wouldn't be quite so bad, having unnecessary sub-par scripts read poorly, if the entire category had been shoved on the activity. But come on units, you are the ones who had the *BIG IDEA* to add this element to shows; certainly no one else was looking for it. Either step up to the mike and win this ESPN2 spelling bee of a challenge, or simply opt out (as did most of this year's achieving units.)

On the color guard side of props, it's an institution, almost a required element now, those folded-up, rolled-out pieces of plastic that cover gym floors as "backdrops" that often hide both good and bad guard work. Indoor fans are used to elaborate proppings, if for no other reason to watch in amazement as these constructions go up, and come down, within the required time. To point fingers at the unnecessary and offensive would garner the industry-standard response: "The season's over, move on." So I will.

To the exemplary ... the use of props in both color guard and drum corps this year that earned a second round of ... props!

THE TOP 25 DRUM CORPS SHOWS OF THE HALF-DECADE

... but the list represents 6 years!

Blame it on Drum Corps International, but that darned fun "Classic Countdown" got every mind to making lists, checking them (at least here) six times, and coming up with best's and first's and notable's.

What have been the Top 25 drum corps shows of this half decade? Which shows made the cut as "signature signature shows"? The Elite 8 represent performances and shows that display a "leading edge," and the Final Four, with a runner-up and winner, "set industry standards" in that particular year and for the future of the activity.

SIGNATURE SHOWS

Southwind, 2000, “Holst Suite for Band”
Glassmen, 2001, “Imago”
Mandarins, 2001, “Festival of Music”
Bluecoats, 2002, “Urban Dances”
Spirit, 2002, “Darkness Into Light”
Magic of Orlando, 2002, “Desert Winds”
Blue Knights, 2004, “A Knight’s Tale”
Colts, 2004, “From the Heartland”
Spartans, 2004, “Medusa”
East Coast Jazz, 2004,“Heart of Jazz”
Bluecoats, 2005, “Caravan”
Carolina Crown, 2005, “Angelus”
The Cavaliers, 2005, “Our Kind of Town”

LEADING EDGE

The Cadets, 2001, “Juxtaperformance”
In retrospect, a fine, fine show
The Cadets, 2005, “The Zone”
Leading edge performance, silly design
Capital Regiment, 2004, “Mind, Body, Spirit”
Will remain as one of the best shows NOT to make finals
Cavaliers, 2000, “Niagara Falls”
A personal favorite from the current six-year run
Phantom Regiment, 2003, “Harmonic Journey”
Dark and brooding; the way we all liked Phantom, until ...
Oregon Crusaders, 2004, “Metro Metal”
Coulda, shoulda, woulda, been a contender at the nationally-touring level

DCI 2005: Field&Floor Grid/4

My brow noticed the HIGHS and LOWS, of the Oh-Yes'es and the Oh-No's of the Summer Season

DCI 2005: The season's best color guards

Since the overwhelming audience for this blog is color guard folk -- thanks for your interest! -- some additional thoughts on the summer guard season seem in order. If you read THE ESSENTIALS you know that I chose Carolina Crown's guard as tops for its heart rendering portrayal of angels among us. The book was stunningly complex, yet spare; the performance level oozed confidence. Costuming and equipment design were both unexpected and just-right in their simplicity and in their unexpectedness in these overblown, bloozy design times. It was this season's auxillary highlight, pure and simple.

Just behind the "Angels," were the season's two most technically proficient guards: The Cadets and The Cavaliers. The two shows could not have been more diverse: dreamweavers in the first, Fosse' dancers the second, but the level of execution and the design elements of both were outstanding.

While it was hard not to name Phantom Regiment's "cast of thousands" guard as the winner, what this guard really did was less for the benefit of itself than for the overall achievement of the drum corps. And in this case, it was the guard, with its singular guest star, that harked to Paris, Leslie Caron, Gene Kelly, and the Folles Bergere, as "set pieces" that were spotlighted throughout the corps' rhapsodic performance.

Rounding out this top five color guards of the summer season is the in-your-face aggression and excitement that was the Bluecoats. Like the corps' show, this guard meant business from the first note all the way throught the finale-lifting unison flag *whoosh.* Absolutely thrilling!

Note the performances of these fine guards, as well:
Blue Knights, with a finely articulated equipment book;
the Colts' full-field visualization of the corps' lovely "Postcards from Home;" and
Mandarins, with its "Loves Me, Loves Me Not" take on the musical classics.

DCI 2005: THE ESSENTIALS

The shows that defined the nationally-touring corps

It was another record-breaking, history-making summer for Drum Corps International and its Division I units. Well, no it wasn't; it was a good year, but save for the high-rolling numbers game the judges played on championship night, this season just past came in at about a B-minus.

That's not to say to say there weren't terrific things happening on fields across the country from June through mid-August -- and that's what we'll get to here in just a minute -- but the 2005 campaign will find a very mid-to-low spot on the historic barometer.

THE ESSENTIALS

No matter the overall strength of a competitive year, there are those shows that define our shared time just past. This year there were five offerings that set the pace for the activity and that laid the groundwork for contemplation, research, creativity, and instruction for the off-season.

There were also three corps that, while they did not set any industry standards, did provide what many will consider signature shows and performances. The audience-thrilling Bluecoats, the always-lovely Mandarins, and the historic Pioneer met with approving eyes everywhere the units performed, and both Bluecoats and Mandarins ended the season in their best-ever competitive position.

There were four more nationally-touring corps that need to be spotlighted one more time before we begin turning our pages of drum corps time. Highlight the Blue Knights' captivating "Knights' Life," the Colts' pitch-perfect programming, the Madison Scouts' return to crisp, potent performance levels, and Southwind's "twisted" but delightful dream of its own.

Now to THE ESSENTIALS.

DCI IS NOW *ON* THE ESPN2 SCHEDULE

I've been clicking and searching for this for weeks now. Yahoo!
(Please note the listing is in Eastern Daylight Time.)