2014 Parent FAQ’s Source: Drum Corps International with revisions to apply to the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps. (Revised 4/17/14) TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 3 A Message For Parents Understanding Their Reasoning Help Them Pursue Their Dreams About Drum Corps .......................................................................................................................... 3 What is Drum Corps International? What is "Drum Corps"? What's the Difference Between Drum Corps and Marching Bands? What is the Drum Corps International Tour? Values and Education ..................................................................................................................... 4 Is Drum Corps a Good Option for My Son/Daughter? Drum Corps and Education Living Drum Corps Values What's the Relationship Between the Drum Corps and DCI? What’s the cost? ............................................................................................................................. 6 What's the Cost? How Do Corps Raise Money? Why Do Costs Vary Among Corps? Where Does the Money Go? How Do Students Raise Money to Pay Their Fees? So What Does It Really Cost To Participate? On the road ..................................................................................................................................... 8 How Are Corps Members Transported? Where Do Corps Stay While Touring? How are Students Fed at Rehearsal Camps and on Tour? What Insurance Does My Son or Daughter Need? What if Someone is Injured or Gets Sick at a Camp or on Tour? What Kind of Supervision Do Students Have With the Corps? How Can I Stay in Contact With My Son or Daughter While on Tour? How Much Money Does My Son or Daughter Need to Bring? Following the Corps ...................................................................................................................... 10 Where Can We Get News About The Blue Knights? How Can I Find Out About Competitions and Events? How Can I Learn About Events Close to My Home? How Do We Get Tickets to Events? How Can I Find Out the Results of a Competition? Volunteer With Blue Knights ......................................................................................................... 11 Who Can Volunteer To Go On Tour? How Do I Join the Corps On Tour? Where Do We Sleep & Eat? What Are The Benefits of Volunteering On Tour? If I Am Not Able To Come On Tour, How Can I Help? 2 Overview A Message For Parents When your child decides to be part of a Drum Corps International corps, he/she is making a choice that requires a deep personal commitment that will require strength and focus. Facing new levels of responsibility, discipline and self-knowledge, they will gain values that will help them succeed in life. Understanding Their Reasoning Every student has personal reasons for wanting to be part of a Drum Corps International group. Your son or daughter is no different. It may simply be to become a better performer. Alternatively, it could be a way to be with friends. College-level students often view membership in a drum corps as a key rung in their climb to be professional performers or arts educators. For many students, it is a way to challenge themselves to become the best they can be. Help Them Pursue Their Dreams Winning a Drum Corps International championship title ... Performing in front of tens of thousands of people ... Being a better trumpet player ... Being part of a tradition and part of something bigger than oneself ... Becoming the best music teacher ... Having the most extraordinary summer experience of their lives ... Meeting new people ... Learning from the best teachers ... Seeing new places. No matter their dream, being part of a DCI drum corps can help them achieve it, while at the same time providing one of the most intense and rewarding performing arts education experiences available in the world. It's an experience that helps build the performance, education and personal foundation of a lifetime. About Drum Corps What is Drum Corps International? Drum Corps International (DCI), formed in 1972, is the non-profit governing, oversight and sanctioning body for North American drum and bugle corps, whose members are under 22 years of age. DCI is headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., where it maintains a small full-time executive and administrative staff. The organization produces and sanctions competitions and oversees the setting and application of the rules of competition. DCI also trains and assigns adjudicators and schedules corps for participation in competitions. The summer tour ends with the Drum Corps International World Championships held each August in Indianapolis. The week-long series attracts live audiences near 30,000! DCI sanctions two classes of drum corps participation in North America – World Class and Open Class. World Class corps generally have older, more experienced students and tend to achieve levels of excellence commensurate with the experience and skill levels of the students and their instructional staff. Open Class corps tend to be smaller groups, often populated by younger students. Approximately 20 percent of students who participate in an Open Class corps ultimately become part of a World Class corps. Because scholastic music educators view participation in DCI drum corps positively, most World Class groups now process more applicants than positions that are available. This can necessitate an intense, time-consuming off-season audition process. However, most Open Class corps are able to accommodate nearly all students who wish to participate. What is "Drum Corps"? The drum corps activity and the Drum Corps International experience is often classified by fans and participants alike simply as "drum corps." There is not much agreement, however, upon a single definition for the term. Each corps has its own interpretation consistent with its own organization, mission and heritage. Drum Corps International's classification of "drum corps" has evolved over the years, moving from a structured, rules-based definition to an organization- and values-based definition. In addition, the passionate fans and followers of the activity have their own definition that is often personal, deeply held, and reflective of their experience with the drum corps. Tradition and heritage permeate drum corps. Traditions span through instrumentation, style, attitude, uniforms and music. The degree to which today's corps pay homage to their traditions and heritage is the bellows that stokes the passions that truly separate drum corps from marching bands. 3 Here's a fairly straightforward definition of "drum corps" from Wikipedia: A drum and bugle corps is a musical marching unit consisting of brass instruments, percussion instruments and color guard. Drum corps are specialized marching bands. Typically operating as independent organizations (no scholastic affiliation), drum corps perform on-field competitions, parades, festivals and other civic functions. The rules of Drum Corps International set the age limit for drum corps participation at 22, with most participants aged 17-21. Competitive drum corps take part in a summer tour, visiting various cities around the country and participating in competitions. Competitions occur on football fields. Every year, each drum corps prepares a single show, approximately 8–12 minutes in length, and carefully refines this throughout the entire summer tour. This focus on a single show takes advantage of the large amount of time needed to hone and refine a modern drum corps program, with a momentum that continues to build toward the last performance of the season – championships. What's the Difference Between Drum Corps and Marching Bands? Drum corps are a subset of the larger body of marching bands. It is accurate to say that all drum corps are marching bands, but not all marching bands are drum corps. At the macro level, there is little difference between drum corps and marching bands. So what are the specific differences? First, drum corps use only bell-front brass instrumentation – no woodwinds like saxophones, clarinets and flutes. Second, most marching bands (in the United States) are affiliated with schools and are usually inclusive – everyone who wants to participate is accommodated. Drum corps are independent organizations (typically not part of a scholastic institution) and have a membership limit set at 150. Depending on the corps, there may be more potential members than performance spaces available. Hence, drum corps, especially the World Class corps, are exclusive, rather than inclusive. Third, drum corps are self-financing. They rely on fees from participants, Drum Corps International, and traditional development and fundraising activities for their budgets. Scholastic marching bands rely heavily on school budgets (usually public tax revenue) for the bulk of their financial needs. What is the Drum Corps International Tour? Formerly called the "Summer Music Games," the DCI Tour is a series of more than 100 drum corps competitions that take place across the country during June, July and August. These competitions are of two varieties – events Drum Corps International produces (Premier Events) and events sanctioned through DCI's national network of Tour Event Partners (Tour Events). DCI creates the tour schedule, and corps are assigned to events based on availability and travel and logistical