Educating the Military Drill World
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.
The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency does a meticulous job reflected in their mission statement: “Provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the nation.” An extraordinary mission. The Missions The Recovery Mission – Long before a team is selected to roam a foreign countryside and climb rocky terrain, government-to-government talks take place, locations …
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 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?
There seems to be confusion on the announcements or commands to present and post the colors. Let’s iron that out.
The issue is that the service drill and ceremonies manuals do not specifically state that a color guard must be covered (wear their headgear: hats, helmets, or berets) all the time when presenting the colors. In this article, I go over the standards of being covered and when we can remove the cover.
This information affects all bases overseas for all services. A Little History For decades the conventional wisdom has been that when we are overseas, we are told that when we are on US soil (the base, an American cemetery, etc.), the US is on the right and as soon as you step onto foreign soil (outside the gate), you have …
There is the idea that the POW/MIA hat table or Missing Man ceremony should be brought outside for any remembrance ceremony.
This message is for all adults involved in cadet programs. It’s time to take a hard look at ourselves and confront some uncomfortable truths.
The correlation between dance, other performance activities, and unarmed/armed military exhibition drill (UXD/AXD) is strong, as these disciplines emphasize precision, rhythm, coordination, and expression.