On 23 June we went with our friends Ralph and Jan Stone to the town of Rio Rancho, a suburb just northwest of Albuquerque. The event was a Drum Corps competition featuring six groups from Colorado, Arizona, California, Ohio, and Wyoming. If you haven't witnessed this particular American sub-culture, you don't know what you are missing. Each group consists of a marching drum line and a huge brass section (no reeds allowed), a stationary percussion section on the sidelines playing vibraphones, tympani, bells, etc., and a "corps" of dancers, twirlers, and flag-tossers. The music is superb and the band is in a constant swirl of highly choreographed motion, an overwhelming feast for eyes and ears. I would have made videos, but only still pictures were permitted.The members of each drum corps practice 10-12 hours a day for months on end, then travel to various competitions before the national championships in early August. All participants are in their teens and early 20s. The man sitting behind us was an original member of the Blue Knights from Denver, founded in 1958.
http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/DrumCorps#
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