Star of Indiana

Posted on 24. Aug, 2010 by Raquel in Drum Corps, Music, News

2010 Star of Indiana Alumni Corps

“The name Star of Indiana evokes an image of legend in the minds of many drum corps fans today. This corps, who took the field from 1985-1993, accomplished much in its relatively short existence, making the World Championship Finals in its very first year and winning a Championship in 1991. With groundbreaking programming that many considered ahead of its time, Star of Indiana is a major influence on the drum corps activity as we know it today.

2010 marks the 25th anniversary of the Star of Indiana organization. With the return of the DCI World Championships to Indianapolis, alumni decided to take matters into their own hands and form the Star Alumni, which will perform during World Championship Semifinals, Friday Aug. 13 at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“We have a full field production, so it’s going to be more than the corps moving and playing music,” said Star Alumni Project Manager Amber Sears. “There’s an audio-visual portion, we have props, it’s a full scale production. And we will be playing excerpts from all of the corps’ competitive years, from 1985 all the way through 1993.”

To help fill the ranks of the corps, Sears said Star Alumni draws from members from the original Star of Indiana drum corps, as well as other Star performing groups like Brass Theater, Blast! and ShockWave. They’ve also included what Sears calls “second-generation alumni” who were taught by former Star brass caption head Donnie VanDoren.

It’s no major shock that alumni members grow increasingly excited as the performance draws nearer, not just because of the opportunity to perform as part of the DCI World Championships again, but because of the memories and family bonds that are rekindled.”-By Darcy Wallace (http://www.dci.org/news/view.cfm?news_id=e184cc6d-ef34-45d5-8d54-a92f14e88c92)

Amber Waves

So, I am writing this almost 2 weeks after the Star of Indiana Alumni Corps performance at the DCI Semi-Finals in Indianapolis, IN.  I had a life changing experience in which I received closure from the Star organization and was affected by the sense of family that the Star members shared. The corps arrived in Plainfield, IN on Tuesday Aug 10, 2010 for a week of all day rehearsals culminating in a Friday performance. We rehearsed long hot hours in the hot unrelenting sun in Plainfield, IN. I can’t remember the last time I drank so much water!

Everyone was ultra committed to making it a great performance and it showed in the work ethic and comradery that was displayed every day.  The Star of Indiana was a corps based in Bloomington, IN that competed in the years from 1985-1993. The multi-media show we presented at the DCI Semi-Finals consisted of commentary from significant personnel in the Star organization. There was also video from Star of Indiana’s past marching shows that were shown simultaneously as the Alumni Corps played the corresponding music on the field. The Alumni Corps did not march but the color guard produced a great show with thrown flags and blades. It was a great production! I have yet to see the actual feed that was shown on the online stream but I have seen many bootleg video shots from spectators that were in attendance. It was an incredible week that ended in an amazing way, we received validation from the audience and we were able to play for the new generation of young DCI participants. The last notes I played in the Star of Indiana organization were music played to the “age-outs”. We educated the new generation and showed them that the tradition that Star of Indiana created is still alive and strong. As one recent age-out in our circle exclaimed, “…they do exactly what we do!”

Here are some videos and pictures from the week:

Star with Barry Hudson

Donny Van Doren with Star

2010 Star of Indiana Alumni Corps

Tags: drum corps, news, star of indiana