Sitting through a day of BOA shows is a mixed bag.  I love the excellence brought to the field, and seeing all the great band students working so hard at something I love.

The downside of a day at BOA is that many of the shows tend to look alike.  This seems to stem from the fact that many of the “up and coming” bands who compete at these shows are using the top bands as models when designing their show.  However, this can tend to reduce a show into a list of “required elements” that these designers think the judges are looking for.

While this allows the band to end up with a competitive show, it also tends to create a “sameness” to the groups.  It stands to reason that if they all have the same basic ingredients in their show, and often happening at a particular time, then the shows will tend to look the same to the audience.

So the challenge for designers, and those of us who want to help them, is to find a way to allow these groups to follow the models set by the most successful groups, and yet STILL put their own style or personality on the show.

When we talked with Michael Cesario recently on an episode of the Marching Roundtable podcast, he explained that the reason that DCI was so much more interesting this year is that the designers STARTED their design conversation with the idea of producing a show that was TRUE to THEIR own group’s style and personality.  Each drum corps has it’s own basic style and look and feel of show, and if the designers start with THIS foremost in their mind, then all decisions that follow will flow FROM this identity.  This keeps them from copying or ending up with a show that is the same as all others.  They will be, by their very nature and approach, unique to that group.

We need to find a way to translate this to the BOA arena.  Certainly many of the top bands have a style and identity that is their own, and we have come to expect a certain kind of music and visual package from them.  Of course, this often stems from the arrangers and drill designers who create the show with their own styles and talents.  But can only the very top groups have their own identity?

It seems that if EVERY band, no matter what level they are operating on, will make a commitment to a style and identity, even if just for this one year (and it changes year to year), then it should follow that the show they create–starting from this place—will have more personality and less “sameness” than others.

Now we just have to see if the judges can find a way to guide these groups toward excellence in performance and design while still allowing them to have an identity.

What do you think?  Can this be done?  Or is the activity just not set up to allow for more variety?  I’d love to hear your opinions.  THANKS!