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STAR OF INDIANA | |
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Philip Burton: "Like many others on RAMD, I was stunned the first time I saw Star of Indiana's 1993 show. We all had our reasons, I'm sure - let me share mine. I had always thought (and still do think, with an exception that will be mentioned below) that dance looked stupid in the context of drum corps. However, it seemed that there must be room for some kind of non-drill, non-dance movement that would enhance a drum corps show, and it further seemed that there had been glimpses of it in the Cadets' shows of '88, '89 and '90 (the slow motion block, some of the characterizations in Les Mis, the "footsie" stuff in the Bernstein tribute). Star '93 was the realization of that potential. And it blew my mind." SH: Who brought you to Star in 93? What was your role with them? Were you apprehensive about having a larger role than you had in the past? PB: Jim Mason and Bill Cook offered an aggressive invitation. I was officially named the Visual Director. That meant that all color, line and form was either designed or coordinated by me. However, because I felt an outsider to drum corps, I relied on a strong collaboration with the drill writer Jon Vanderkolf who provided tremendous support and energy. We were a closely bound team. SH: Why was there so much expressive movement in Star's '93 show? PB: The musical arrangement by Jim Prime offered extended sections where not everyone was playing. It was common sense that there were 3 choices when not playing: stand still, march or move. The music dictated what I chose for the movement ensembles, and it was the musical arrangement that powered the movement choices. I was very familiar with the Barber Medea and I had directed the play in 1980 in New York for Signature Theater Company. I also knew Martha Graham's CAVE OF THE HEART, the dance piece done to the Barber music. I never liked the music that much and Martha's dance piece was uninteresting to me. It had NOGUCHI set and prop pieces that were beautiful as sculpture and cumbersome as dance equipment. So I was not head over heels in love with the musical choice from the beginning. Consequently, the dynography (movement) book was pure original creation. There was no plan to do something "experimental" or "new" or "different." We simply chose the music, and after some earnest meetings we agreed that we were more interested in doing what we were driven to do musically rather than pander to tradition. Once that was behind us, we simply got on with the business of interpreting a piece of music on a football field with all its natural limitations. It was pure drum corps in process because that's the only thing the staff understood. I was of value in that my background was in theater, opera and play production, and this gave me a fresh contribution to an otherwise old usual way of working. Mason was always searching for a staff that could find him a different approach from year to year. This was what he wanted Star's signature to be. That unpredictable flexible approach would have served them well had they stayed in DCI. No telling what they would be producing by now. There was also this thing with me that finally after struggling with Cadets, putting in a little bit here and a little bit there, I could do a full out design and put in all the movement that the piece needed. It was not that Cadets did not want my work, it was just that their style seldom needed my contributions, and my "outsider" status never let me be accepted with Cadets staff members as a real player. The Star kids overlooked my newness and just did full out exactly what I told them to do; they trusted me. Vanderkolff and Prime were also very sensitive and attentive to the style that was emerging in the program, and both supported me 100%. Without them, the piece would never have achieved its place in DCI mythology." |
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