The Joint Service Exhibition Drill Competition held this past weekend brought together the service exhibition drill teams.
When Everything Is Emphasized, Nothing Is: The Failure of Constant Intensity in Ceremonial Performance
A recent parade performance by members of the Guardia Civil of Spain highlights a recurring issue in ceremonial presentation: the belief that increased intensity, applied continuously, improves performance.
Una reciente presentación en desfile por parte de la Guardia Civil pone en evidencia un problema recurrente en la ejecución ceremonial: la creencia de que aumentar la intensidad de forma constante mejora el resultado.
Exhibition Drill Is Not Pageantry
In recent decades, military drill teams—particularly those performing exhibition drill—have increasingly adopted visual elements commonly associated with pageantry arts. Audiences often see this overlap and assume the two are functionally equivalent. They are not.
Motivation, Legitimacy, and Instructor Presence in Cadet Drill Programs
“A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.”Napoleon Bonapart Napoleon’s observation remains relevant because it identifies a fundamental truth of military culture: recognition matters. Ribbons, medals, badges, cords, and other uniform distinctions are not superficial. They are visible acknowledgments of effort, competence, and commitment. They communicate, without explanation, that an individual or group has earned …
Phasing and Your Team
I want to take this opportunity to talk about Movement Phasing Phasing for our needs means movement that does not happen at the same time. Probably the easiest way to describe phasing is to talk about heel strikes while marching. See how all three heels will strike the marching surface at three different times? That’s phasing. You are either: In …
The Effective Ripple Line
A ripple line for a military drill team performance is a sequential movement where actions occur in a wave-like (fast or slow, smooth or sharp) progression rather than simultaneously.
Principles of a Visual Performance
The term “visual performance” has different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. For our purposes, we will concentrate on the principles involved in performance based in dance, (marching band) color guard, and military exhibition drill.
Vocabulary and Exhibition Drill
Whether you are a soloist, part of a tandem, tetrad, or larger drill team, understanding and applying the concept of vocabulary in a visual performance is essential.
What is “Audience Engagement”?
What is it that makes a routine grab the audience by the eyeballs and yell at them, “Don’t miss this or you’ll regret it!” Audience engagement, my friends, audience engagement. What is it and how do you get some?
Why We Execute Facing Movements Only at Order
It can be a bit annoying to face and then move to Right/Left Shoulder but there is good reason for it.