packwick

this is the event i'd wanna judge. lower in quantity, higher in quality. like a DCI event, short and sweet. i wouldn't develop my normal migraine maybe lol.

anybody know if twhs world is keeping their normal schedule and attending Dayton again next yr? looking forward to seeing what they look like at close to "max power" w/ that first group of McCullough girls becoming seniors. watching the retreat, looks like only 8 of the 32 world members were seniors this season. i know most of their weapon ppl were juniors and younger. girl doing the front walkover is i think a sophomore. they should start guard programs at the intermediate schools!!! lol. focus on dance!! also i want to see Code Black revived, funnel in the tw girls who are sticking around the Houston area after graduation + other top performers in the area. Code Green!!! lol. Houston needs an IW guard that can last.

also when's the last time IW scores were this low???

aaand they did! gap between tw and arcadia is a liiittle too big but it looks like a lot of it came from movement. i DO see THAT gap very clearly. tw should be bringing in an outside dance master to help further develop those skills. been a weakness for several years now. nevertheless a great season. just a smidge under 95. i prob would have scored them a 95.5 if upstairs. just gotta get cleaner and figure out how to move those 30+ bodies from point A to point B in a way that looks just a liittle bit clearer and less cluttered, while being interesting and musical. a little more variety in the soundtrack would be nice too. last yr did the variety thing better which is prob why their rep scores were higher last yr. take me different places!! congrats to fusion!! was an easy prediction to make that they'd be the next new gold medalist, knowing the team behind the show. SCV round 2 here we come!!

i think fusion just clinched it. we'll see.

mirage makes me wanna wear flannel and go to Michfest LOL.

very happy for tw. it was a great run overall, just some dirt here and there. still think they could be playing the WGI game a little better but i also respect how they just "go for it" as far as having everyone on the floor do hard stuff. really kinda fearless. also cool to see Cyndi's visions start to come to life w/ the next level talent of the performers. poetry indeed. the theme is there for you to dig into, patiently illustrated. it's not spectacle or cutesy sleight-of-hand. it's mature and has the strangeness of good art. but yeah def do something you can get closer to 100% clean next year unless they start to consider difficulty and risk more LOL

welp Fusion in 1st in IW after semis. wasn't even their best run. not at all surprising. stiiill not in love with the soundtrack but the designs in IW this yr are mostly..... yeah... my prediction from last yr for Fusion will prob be right. if not this year, then next unless POC has a banger.

ugh Origins off of 6th by 0.2. so close!! Bowie had a stellar run, Marcus was very strong also. too bad the audio on Flo for SO is 2 seconds ahead of the visual. all the solo tosses were spoiled by the snap sound or lack thereof and audience reaction LOL.

Origins had an absolutely amazing run in semis, such a friggin hard show, the phrases are so dense and quick, just imagining myself trying these combinations across the floor is making me anxious lol. if im judging DA they move up over Juxta. the only big risk for them scorewise is the relative lack of variety in the mood and overall effect but it does fit the theme.

ok good, Carmel up to 5th, 3 points ahead of WC in 9th. a little twilight zone-ish before. tw still in 3rd, 1.1 pts off 2nd, 1.2 pts ahead of tarpon. 3rd's prob where they'll end up in finals, which is fab. wasn't even expecting them to show up at Dayton this yr so it's a pleasant surprise. really a treat. cool to see them develop into a consistent medalist quality group. guard is finally as strong or stronger than the band!!! Lol. think they already very obviously have the talent for gold. designers (designer?) just need to figure out how to frame that talent in a gold medal worthy way. not to say the staging/choreo this year is weak by any stretch of the imagination, it's quite fantastic, esp considering it mostly comes from one person. but once u get to the tippy top of the world class u gotta deal w/ those legendary design teams. breadth of talent and lots of tosses won't get u gold. which really that prob SHOULD be more of a consideration on the sheets, difficulty/risk and whatnot, bc it rewards the actual performers a bit more, but alas it is not, not explicitly anyway lol. variety range and depth do provide a particular challenge of their own.

both Carmel and Tarpon were quite clean. i don't understand Carmel below Warren Central. like.... at all.

3 very exposed drops from tw, two of them the same as prelims (buckling under pressure a bit?), but overall a stronger run! trying to keep in mind they toss 600 times in this show LOL.

see id be a lot more impressed by Paramount's breadth of talent, full ensemble 7s, if they didn't have their pick of the litter during the audition process lol. one of those things that's more impressive to me on the scholastic side bc that talent is built from the ground up. obvi extremely talented performers, still don't dig the design.

yaaaaasss! slaaaaay! i love pleasant surprises!!

3rd place for tw, not bad at all, just need to lock in your performance. im not fully convinced the staging design is strong enough to compete for 2nd but we'll see.

a lot of it was more like timing and person-to-person uniformity issues, a little more subtle. some of the earlier season dirt was still present today. think they've got better runs in em.

strong effort from tw, but def a bit dirtier than i was expecting, esp some of the reworked stuff. unclear staging at times as well. fingers crossed!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fq7Q24IEE4 fusion is quite clean. hmmm....

i can message it to you. there's not much recent on it guard wise. it's mostly for historical band performances, and most of those have leaked onto yt and other drives shortly after me sharing the link w/ ppl a few years ago lol. not surprising.

for those who haven't seen them yet. stoneman douglas!! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dGueUe8tmuw&pp=ygUbU3RvbmVtYW4gZG91Z2xhcyB3Z2kgc3R1YXJ0 mid 80s a weeee bit generous methinks. this page also has a proper high cam of tarpon!!

i calls them likes i sees them. been doin this too long to care about history or anybody else's opinion for that matter LOL. both shows are interesting and effective but arcadia overall has the clearer and more aesthetically appealing staging design, even if thematically it's kinda whatever. Carmel is cleaner atm. both have fairly persistent timing issues upstairs but arcadia has more of them + a higher proportion of obvious errors like drops. nevertheless i suspect design elements will put arcadia on top as long as they can narrow the performance gap a little bit in 3 weeks. obvious split in the captions at their recent contest b/w the what/how. easy to see why.

yaaayy Marcus!! they're really going!! cmoooon gold!! fly fly fly! any medal will be nice for sure. C-ville may be hard to top but theyre not as Teflon as they first seemed, if mideast is accurate. woodlands should be good even for 2nd as long as they can keep w/in 3 pts of Avon lol. crazy that that's the standard this yr. for the record my top two are still avon/woodlands. rarely change my mind unless a unit doesnt improve like normal or looks like it has been entirely replaced by a new and much better guard lol. arcadia will likely make inroads in DA and the vocab half of IA (amazing designers, solid performers), but Avon/woodlands are the two that have the strongest doses of all 3 of the GE holy trinity of emotional, intellectual, and aesthetic effect. however still need to see woodlands from a proper upstairs angle, miiiight not get it until Dayton. grand oaks, 'nother cisd guard, wut wut! lol. kinda buried in the schedule as is normal w/ A class. Oaks is fab, should put up a decent fight for a medal, hopefully they've been working on the staging, think that'll be the biggest hurdle to the podium. love the aesthetic. skills of the performers are prob pretty close to gold medal level. ofc also hoping all 4 of Westlake, Bowie, azle, and flomo make finals.

LOL these college dance routines are pitched at such a furious pace. they're really trying to cram in as many skills as possible, rack up those points. also everything is articulated with a sledgehammer. technically impressive but makes me appreciate the wider dynamic range of winter guards, tho their skills are much more basic. also, also!, funnnny seeing Travis Wall mentioned in the comments as the choreographer for OSU, isn't he canceled for grooming a student or something? making his comeback in the college scene lol. now's wgi's chance to get him on the cheap!! just only have him work with girls!!! he's no Kenneth MacMillan in terms of talent but who is??? gosh im getting excited for ballet again. i can't wait to see Mayerling in May!!!

oh fishers will be fine. i wouldn't worry about them.