Scoring high school marching bands performances
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2009
How much weight should props carry in a High school's marching band's performance?
In the article by Eileen Oday " High school band competition enters an age of theatrics
76 trombones just doesn't cut it anymore" she talks about the evolution of High school Marching band competitions into theatrical shows.
""It's not your average half-time show," says Annie Martinez, a spokeswoman for Bands of America in Indianapolis, which sponsors regional and national competitions.
"It's truly pageantry of the arts. Each of the band show tells a story."
The days of bands coming on the field and playing a popular score while drawing intricate patterns on the football fields during half time are quickly going away.
The programs are steadily moving towards shows to the likeness of super bowl half-time performances with stages and costumes and named artists performing a live mini concert for the fans.
The question is, how much weight should be given to a programs Marching performance for props, costumes, expensive equipment over musical performance and marching?
Most people only ever see a high school marching band's performance during the 5 to 10 minutes between halves in a football game. Many high school programs today actually compete locally and nationally much like in the competition portrayed in the movie "Drumline" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303933/ .
What is different about the collegiate level competitions and High school ones is the use of props and costumes. Marching bands members in college are typically seen wearing their military style uniforms with top hats called shakos while flag bearers and rifle/sword squads (color guards) wear a more theatrical type outfit.
Today, some high school programs have nearly half their competition programs in costumes, including drum majors, who have been seen wearing costumes from the movies Zorro, V for Vendetta and the theatrical shows "O" by Cirque Du Soleil.
The question is, in what is called "circuit competitions" for high schools, why is the flash and costs of the props and costumes given more weight during a performance than the mastery of the music and marching?
Many of these high cost programs with the theatrical themes, may play obscure songs not heard by even 1% of the crowd. Often, these are played so poorly (even while they are stationary) that the fans just wonder what is was that they just heard. The majority may recall the pretty colors and overall display of walls, mirrors and balloons, but cannot tell you whether the musicians gave even a minor effort to the music. These types of performances typically are rewarded with the highest marks by the judges during so called Circuit competitions.
On the other hand, programs where emphasis is placed on music selection for a marching band, ability to play the music accurately and skillfully while marching in patterns and moving at a fast pace and the use of props is non-existent, fall the the bottom of the rating scales even though every spectator heard, recognized and even sang along with the performance.
What is the message that is being sent by the judges and organizations hosting and promoting these competitions?
Flash is better than skill? Cost is more valuable than practice, or training?
Notice that Colleges don't make use of theatrical backdrops or stages during their competitions. They use skill and training.
What do you think? Should the use of props during a high school marching band's performance be more important and rewarded more than music and marching ability?
Jw Gmpi
