My brother is a member of the Blue Stars Drum & Bugle Corps, which is part of Drum Corps International. There are multiple corps all around the country (and some internationally) with students up to age 22 who come from all over the world to rehearse yearly shows for 6 months before the DCI summer tour begins and they are on the road rehearsing and performing every day for the entire summer. I have attended the DCI finals for two years now and am blown away by the massive scale of these productions and the absolutely incredible precision and artistry and dedication shown by these performers. These performances hold for me something of the sublime - the quality of such beauty and intricacy on such a large scale is nothing less than amazing. The Blue Stars 2009 show was called The Factory and was a story of WWII - although they are not in uniform during this video of a run-through, the idea and movement and feeling are all present:
Another of my favorite corps is Santa Clara Vanguard - their show this year was entitled Ballet for Martha and focused on the lesser-known portions of the famous ballet collaboration between choreographer Martha Graham and quintessential American composer Aaron Copland. The simplicity and majesty of this undeniably American music presents a view of the holy in music that is largely different than my focus has been regarding music and van der Leeuw for much of the semester. There is nothing complex about this - it is a sheer display of majesty and beauty that overwhelms the senses, particularly with the addition of their Martha Graham-inspired colorguard and drill:
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