DCI and MENC Collaborate During Music Education Week

On June 26, as part of MENC's Music Education Week, Drum Corps International (DCI) brought its spectacular "DCI Salutes America" premier event to Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC.

In 2009 MENC and DCI developed a partnership to join forces on projects and initiatives that meet common goals. The organizations collaborate on activities to identify and enhance the benefits of marching music to young people, educators, and the general public. Through its partnership with MENC, DCI is better able to expand and enhance the activities that meet its educational mission.

Both organizations believe music and music education teach skills and qualities essential for the 21st century workforce. Those skills include a passion for excellence, teamwork, self-reliance and leadership.

Here in 2010, that synergy was in place during MENC's Music Education Week, which included the Marching Music Academy that DCI presented for the first time. Academy sessions included health and safety issues, technique, ensemble rehearsals, "What Completion is All About," and arranging skills for ensembles of all sizes. Also introduced were the “Marching Music Standards” being developed by MENC and DCI to support teachers in aligning their entire music program with the existing National Standards.

Academy participants also worked with members of the Phantom Regiment of Rockford, IL, a corps that competed in the "'DCI Salutes America" show. Allowed to be in the middle of the rehearsal, academy participants learned first-hand strategies for effective rehearsal preparation, pacing, blocking and show design, and watched Phantom Regiment members rehearse their "Into the Light" production while preparing for the DCI show that night.

The final piece of the Academy was on marching adjudication presented by the DCI judges for that night. Joe Wilhelm, a band director, from Grove (OK) High School, said he appreciated the opportunity to "score" the corps during a mock adjudication and discuss the results with judges after the event. "The whole workshop was amazing, to see how they put a show together. All of the Marching Academy material was first rate," he said.

After the DCI show and before scores were announced, one of the two 2010 MENC/DCI Excellence In Marching Music Education Awards was presented. The recipient was MENC member Kevin Ford of Tarpon Springs High School, FL. The award was received by MENC member and DCI judge Richard Saucedo in Kevin’s absence. Both Kevin and Richard are members of the MENC/DCI Blue Ribbon Panel helping to develop the Marching Music Standards. The second 2010 Award will be presented during DCI finals week in Indianapolis, IN.

In a close finish at "DCI Salutes America," Phantom Regiment finished second to the show winner, the Bluecoats of North Canton, OH. The Bluecoats performed "Metropolis: The Future is Now" including "160 bpm" from the film Angels and Demons.

DCI corps will continue to hone their routines and compete across the United States all summer as it is still early in the marching season for them. The DCI World Championships will take place August 11-14 in Indianapolis, IN and conclude the 2010 season for these talented participants of “Marching Music’s Major League.”

--Pierre Beelendorf and Roz Fehr, July 30, 2010 © MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Photos by Becky Spray