Parenting The Student Athlete

A great video from the Connecticut High School Athletics Association.  This video was shared by the MSHSL last year and is a great reminder about how to encourage your athletes, support coaches, and make a positive experience for everyone.  Winter season tryouts/practices start in 11 days! 

Finding Inspiration: Formations from Drum Corps

Formations and Transitions can be a sticky subject for some teams who perfect dances all year and can’t seem to get that magic “kaleidoscope effect” to take them to the top.  I’ve got some suggestions for new ideas that don’t include a copy and paste of someone else’s idea, and it can be found in drum corps.  I’d suggest checking out something from DCI – Drum Corps International. 

I love all things drum corps when it comes to formations and incorporating musicality into transitioning.  (Something that is an extra edge in dance team if you can think the way they do)  There are endless YouTube videos for drum corps, search for groups like the Cadets, the Blue Devils, and my visual favorite- the Cavaliers.  Look for groups in uniform – that is the easiest way to see what they’re up to. 

Every July there is a great show at TCF Bank Stadium where performances from over 24 groups gives you a chance to soak in some amazing live visual music interpretation.  While not everyone is a band geek deep down – this is not to be missed.  In August, the DCI championships in Indiana are broadcast live in movie theaters where I bring a pen and graph paper to go with my popcorn.  Tickets for this event were $18 and considerably better air-conditioned than the TCF stadium event (it was record heat that day!)

One tip for dealing with drum corps inspiration is to really filter their stuff well.  A lot of the circular or a-symmetrical stuff will not work well on our “field” and some things might not translate to our tempo, but I encourage you to use it as “what can I do with that now?”  I like to take something slow or a-symmetrical and think about how to adapt it by asking a few key questions – “what exactly makes this cool?”, “how can I fit it into a reasonable transition time for dance team?”, and “how can this be translated on a smaller group?”  These kinds of things can help you get past the fact that it’s not cut and paste ready to go. 

If you have trouble seeing it – I’ve posted links to a section from 2010 Santa Clara Vanguard doing a “crunch and pivot” while the outside red colored guard members expand.   (From beginning of the video)  This was used by my Cannon Falls team prior to heading into straightline. (3:05-3:25 in the video) Then Santa Clara goes into a great “diamond spin” that expands an X – that was the inspiration for the opening of the Cannon dance, in a vague sense, since it didn’t translate well to dance team for how LONG it took to complete.  5 formations for dance team from 30 seconds of drum corps video.  And it didn’t appear to be copying anything –rather it had a nice inspiration and we knew it would work because we’d seen the effect before.  The key was to focus on maintaining the effect we liked rather than copying beat for beat.

Have fun and get creative!  There is a wealth of new formations out there – I can’t wait to see what you come up with.  Post links to favorites in the comments:

Vintage Video - Eastview Jazz 2005

Eastview's classic version of "Hotel California" at State 2005.  They tied for 3rd place that year (when you could still do that!) and left us with a memorable dance.  I can't recall if the competition was tough that year or if this dance was a little underrated, but I think this one was a little overlooked.  This was the first time I had seen a version of this song for MN dance teams, and I liked their attempts to play with different versions.  Now this song is often repeated.  The skirts on those costumes were also a fun touch not often used, but I wonder if they were tough to work with, there are moments where they look like they could have gotten in the way.   

While this dance now seems a little long and the level of "clean" isn't remotely up to today's standards - the creativity of visuals still stands out.  With 17 in formation, they used a nice transitional pattern throughout that compliments the opening music especially.  This is just an enjoyable dance more than anything else, a classic for its re-watch-ability! 

Vintage Video - Brainerd Kixters State Champs 1999

By request from a reader we have a classic Brainerd video today!  This is the last time Brainerd won a state championship, with an innovative Irish concept.  Interesting side fact:  These costumes were also worn for jazz that year.  This was also the first year state was at the Barn on the UofM campus.  (Correction:  the tournament was at the U in '95 and '96, then at the Rivercenter, then back to the U before heading to the Xcel) Now it would be far too small for our attendance.  Notice the blue glitter in their hair??  Thats not legal anymore, but was a fun touch back then.  This was also one of the earliest appearances of "jazz pants" for kick.  leggings and skirts were worn by Brainerd the year before this. 

Happy Friday! 
Monday:  Dirty Dog Productions Interview

Vintage Video Review!

This one is a classic, maybe not very vintage (yet), but this is one everyone should watch at some point.  From a coaches perspective, this dance has a subtle mastery of difficulty suited to the group that is rarely achieved in jazz.  They seem to have found a way to just touch that line of what they can do cleanly, without surpassing it from any member of the team, or sacrificing overall difficulty.  This dance is a unique song choice, that adds creativity and interest without alienating those who don't know the tune.  I liked this dance when it won AA in 2007, but I've appreciated it more since then - a mark of a classic in my book!  Enjoy!

My comments:
- These costumes are great.  Clean, simple, flattering.  Satin Stitches made these - they probably still have the sample floating around if you ever get to see it up-close.
- Skill choices are well suited to the group and create a pleasing aesthetic that unifies the feeling of the entire piece.  Great features with the musical cues
-This dance could have gone more creepy considering the lyrics, but I for one am glad they didn't.
- This might be the best group of talent from SLP I've seen in their history at the state tournament.  2009's group might give them a run for their money in head to head comparison however - I'll let popular opinion judge that one
-This song gets stuck in my head.  Unfortunately the speed change they did also plays for me which I could do without.  (Thank goodness there aren't too many chipmunk style speed changes left in mixes anymore!)  The CD is below in case you were wondering where this came from - the MP3 is also posted to listen to or download on the left side of the main page. 

Rochester News Article Sheds Light on Developing Coaching Issues

Read This Link First: Evolution of high school athletics puts coaches in the crosshairs

I'm not sure how I feel about this coming off my tenure at Cannon Falls myself.  I can say that the parents I worked with at CF were some of the most supportive and respectful group I've worked with - they never forgot how far we drove and how hard we worked there.  However, nothing was perfect and there were always a few isolated incidents, as happens anywhere with any sport, but nothing to make me think Cannon Falls is different from any other school in it's quest for the best for its students.  The coaches at CF have endured pay cuts year after year (I make less now than I did my first year of coaching after 2 state championships and 9 years) and often drive from other areas as the town doesn't have the complete resources to fully staff the athletic department with qualified coaches.  I personally never felt there was a legitimate threat to me or my fellow staff if we didn't "win" (whatever that means) - we weren't blamed -- but parents knew we would back it with continuous improvement in coaching techniques, team strategies, and talent development.  This built a trust in the future of the program that is the best job security.   

I think coaches are now getting into trouble if they aren't progressing in their method, more than if they're not progressing in their scores.  Complacent coaching 'cause you've always done it that way very well could have lead to the 7 wins for the CF basketball team last year.  (the dance team had more wins with a greatly reduced schedule) I think AD's should protect their coaches, yes, absolutely - coaches need to be allowed to be in charge and make those important/controversial decisions free from rebuke.  However, its' not unreasonable to expect a top-tier educational experience and training for athletes that has little to do with "winning".  If the educational improvement of the athletes isn't happening, it's ok to examine why and let the school administration make a determination if a change in the program should be made.  The tough part is  - where is that line?  How much say to parents and boosters have?  It's happened already in Minnesota dance team (yup, several years ago in fact) and likely will happen again at other programs. 

The question will be how do we define job performance for underpaid, overworked, basically volunteer coaches that have the precious development of these students in their hands?  Doesn't that statement perhaps isolate the problem?  Why are we allowing something that is seemingly so important to parents be run by someone making less than a minimum wage ?? I don't get my sandwich at Subway from someone at that level of pay to responsibility.  Food for thought. 

Keep the conversation going below

Vintage Video - St. Cloud Tech Kick 1998

Its time for a vintage video review!  This is one of the all time classics.  This one had to be first because it was the reason I fell in love with kick - way back at State '98.  It was my first state tournament and boy did I have no idea what it was "supposed" to look like.  I think the shine of seeing it live has kinda worn off (and when there weren't all the good dances I've seen in the last 13 years to watch) but there won't ever be another dance that was "the one" so I'll always have a special place in my heart for this one.  Comments on the dance:
- Those costumes, while a little strange, are probably my favorite of the "skater skirt" era. 
-they have a sharpness in their shoulder movements that is lacking today - we should bring that back.  But I think we can all live without those "weenie walks" (as my old coach used to call those shoulder hit walking steps)
- the kicks hold up to today's standards I think - nice angles of what is "open" and what is "front"
- wow that transition by hinges out of straightline is actually a lot harder than you would guess...I've seen something like that go wrong more often than not - impressive
- oh yeah, arm breakdown.  Don't see that anymore.  (well, not much anyways)
- this dance is 4:18.  Oh my.  Talk about legs going to fall off...no wonder there was an arm breakdown - you need the rest! 

Classic, Happy Hardcore, Skater Skirts -  need I say more?!

Get the songs from this mix below on Amazon: