Revolution

**Revolution** Drum & Bugle Corps is a Junior Drum Corps based in San Antonio, Texas.

## History

Revolution Drum & Bugle Corps was founded to serve the musical youth in San Antonio and surrounding areas with a summer activity filled with positive reinforcement, musical instruction, and leadership building skills. John Rodriguez, native San Antonian, founded this non-profit organization in 1999 as a musical exhibition group. Interest in the program increased rapidly, thrusting Revolution out of humble beginnings to becoming a DCI contender.

During the 2000 summer tour, the corps first appeared on the drum corps scene by successfully participating in the DCI Summer Music Games "Texas Tour".

In 2001, Revolution began with the goal of a limited competition tour, but based on the caliber of members and their desire to achieve, pushed them all the way to a 9th place finish in Division III at DCI World Championships in Buffalo, NY.

Revolution came out with Celestial Mysticisms in 2002, featuring the music of Ballet Sacra and Montage to capture the DCI World Championship for Division III. Without the support of other DCI member organizations, volunteer instructors, sponsors and the dedication and selfless support of the people of San Antonio, Revolution would not have exceeded our 2002 programming goals.

In 2003, Revolution continued to grow with record attendance at audition camp with hundreds of young people tried out what has become "Texas' Corps". The show, Explorations, was a journey of thought-provoking human emotions that pushed the members to their limits. It was truly a summer that few will forget where Revolution took 7th place in its first-ever appearance in Division II.

The year 2004 was marked with many challenges with the eventual decision to go inactive just before tour. The decision to not tour was made in the best interests of the members and the organization's future by the Revolution Board of Directors.

Under the new direction of GM Kuzma in 2005, Revolution came back with a new look, including new uniforms, a new staff, and a general re-interpretation of the corps' traditions. Their show, Self-Portrait: Expression of Emotions contains five movements, representing the different emotions that "fire deep down in our hearts." Contemplation is pulled from James Newton Howard's soundtrack of Signs, using The Hand of Fate Part 2, while Trepidation uses the main title and various other clashing parts. Part 3, Confrontation, and Part 4, Resolution, are both pulled from the Waterworld movie soundtrack. Their show ends with an encore presentation of The Hand of Fate Part 2, with Brittany Hanley as the mellophone soloist.

Many consider Revolution as a great comeback story, as their inactive status from 2004 slowed the organization down substantially. By the beginning of the 2005 summer, however, the corps was the largest in Division 3, and rose to 4th place in Division III Finals.

In 2006, the drum corps achieved several milestones, most notably producing a DCI I&E Champion oboe/clarinet soloist as well as a trombone Silver Medal soloist. The show production of Bulgarian Celebration featured folk and dance music as well as an artistry complementing this historic European nation. Selections included: Kaval Sviri, Zajeni Se Ghiouro, Sednalo E Dos, Atmadja Duma Strachilu and Svatba. The addition of sponsor SuperC valve oil company played a role in the horn line taking the High Brass caption at the DCI Division III World Championship where the corps placed 2nd. The corps also took 1st place in the Best Visual Performance caption, was selected as the Most Improved Drum Corps for Division III and Drum Major Traci Finch was selected as the Division III Drum Major of the Year.

## Traditions

Previous to the corps inactive status, the hornline had a rubix cube affectionately known as "Ruby." The season would begin with the mixed up rubix cube, representing the show. As the season progressed, the hornline worked on both the show and the rubix cube, eventually ending the season with all pieces of the show and Ruby into perfect place.

In 2002, the color guard stole Ruby from the hornline. As a joke, the color guard bought another rubix cube and broke it into pieces. The pieces were put on necklaces for the guard to wear. Ruby was eventually returned to the hornline. The guard continues to wear necklaces with pieces of a rubix cube.

Previous to 2005, the corps self-implemented rules regarding the member jackets. As a show of respect for the corps, the jackets were to never touch the ground, never be worn during rehearsal, and always folded neatly. As well, the corps last day of rehearsal was reserved for "section appreciation day." This is where the corps members would march a basics block with different equipment, often learning to appreciate the advantages of their own instrument or weapon.

Beginning in 2005, the corps reserves their underwear runthrough until the last day of rehearsal, where the entire corps is required to strip down to variously decorated underwear and boxers. The hornline uses the word BAM through great length, but the meaning and origin of the word is unknown to anyone else.

## External Links

* www.revolutionypa.org official web site