It's Not Just Formations

Last week I got to meet up with a friend who had experience marching. We went to the same college, but came from different high schools with different methodologies behind marching band. My high school was a competitive school while theirs was only for halftime shows.

They told me that formations were whatever they as a student body came up with, and the way to get to each formation was however the students wanted to get there. If it took 20 counts to transition, they marched 20 steps to get there. It worked for what it was, a spectacle for half time.

This got me thinking about the differences between this and a competitive show. I teach at a high school that just this last year had a moment where a block rotated in on itself to form a new block. The way the drill was written created these vertical lines that collapse over into horizontal lines. It was an important moment, with an important method of movement.

Let The Forms Come Second

When first rehearsing that section I let the students test out their paths, seeing how to move from dot to dot. On their first attempt the pathways were very imperfect, having many curves, inconsistent step sizes and dots missed. The second time they got better, and as we kept rehearsing it improved even more and I started seeing the bigger picture.

It's all about effect. When I first saw the students move from the first block into the second block I wasn't in awe by the shapes, but once the paths and step sizes were corrected in created this satisfying effect that not only made the transitions look great but the blocks themselves.

When you're writing drill and you create satisfying transitional moments, you'll elevate your show and increase its production value. Whenever you create a new form ask yourself "How did they get there?" When you start also incorporating connotation of the show's music and theme you'll also add more meaning to your show.

Transitions that look cool also help for memorization. If a student knows they're going into a zipper they'll know what to look for. Teach your students formation terminology and help them understand the bigger picture of the show.