I spent the evening in the stands at Endicott College's new stadium cheering the teams on. Football? Nah, you know me: the only thing I ever liked about seeing a football game was a marching band in the half-time. That's what this was: an evening of band -- or more precisely, an eight-team competitive show of drum-and-bugle corps. The roster was pretty impressive too, with some Division I corps such as "The Crossmen" of Allentown and "The Magic of Orlando".
There's more to come in a few weeks when the national championships are held nearby in August, at the Pats' stadium in Foxborough.
At one point I was watching this group do its maneuvers on the field, with groups of musicians interleaving and all those Color Guard gals and guys waving colorful flags and ribbons and dressed in leotards, and I think I had a little flashback to the '80s. For a second, I was watching a liturgical dance offertory procession. It was triggered by the music too: something from Broadway, I don't know what.
But just as quickly the illusion passed, thank Heavens.
ah, but RC - what you were experiencing was authentic! To the degree that Drum & Bugle corps are authentically volkisch (and I can think of no expression of folk art more authentic, other than candle shops) they represent a seedbed for the enculturation of the liturgy! Yes! Waving strips of brightly colored cloth in synchrony to the glory of the Lord! Dance before the Ark, you girls in hot pants and tiny cowboy hats!
Were the Boston Crusaders there? I was a member back in the summer of '94. I've heard that they've gotten much better since then.
The Boston Crusaders were indeed there, as were the East Coast Jazz of Malden, and they did a fine job. Eventually photos will be on the web site of the host organization, cardinalalumni.org. (They do have pics of last year's Beanpot Invitational.)
Prof. Tinkler's thinking is the opposite of mine: I'd rather see color guard become a legitimate outlet for the would-be dancers' zeal to perform.
What is important to note (in this forum, especially!) is that many drum & bugle corps started off as "youth ministry" projects of parishes in the 1950's & 1960's. The Cadets of Bergen County, for example, started off as the Holy Name Cadets of Home Name Parish (OFM) in Garfield New Jersey. In our modern day quest to keep our youth active & involved in parish life, could we, perhaps, learn from history?
mreeeeooooowwwww!
Gordon, it's hard to tell what you're saying by that.
Go marching bands! I was in the high school version of that back in the day. We were county champs in football that year but the halftime show got all the screen time when we were on the news.
I went to last year's drum corps championships. 'Twas a great time even though the judges didn't agree with my assessment of who was best.