Drum Corps Europe
Drum Corps Europe (DCE) is a governing body for all-age drum and bugle corps based in Biddinghuizen, Netherlands. DCE coordinates the European Music Games, including the annual European Championships, in cooperation with strategic partners from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany. DCE also hosts the Dutch Music Games which were previously hosted by the defunct Drum Corps Nederland (DCN).[lower-alpha 1] Also known as European Drum Corps Association (EDCA).
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| Type | Association of Drum and Bugle Corps |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Founded | 2000 |
| No. of corps | 17 (Premier & Junior Class) |
| Chairman | Rob van Koningshoven |
| First champions | West Coast Sound, 2001 |
| Current champions |
|
| Website | drumcorpseurope |
The DCE European Championships have been hosted at Parkstad Limburg Stadion in Kerkrade since 2008. In January 2020, DCE announced it would not organize a Championship event in 2020 due to insufficient corps registrations.[1] Several European drum corps associations, including Drum Corps United Kingdom, jointly announced a substitute championships tentatively scheduled for September 2020.[2]
DCE was reorganized in 2018 following a brief closure in 2017.[3] The European Music Games (EMG) Judging Guide, utilized by other governing bodies within Europe, is developed and published by DCE's adjudicators.
History
DCE was founded in 2000 with the goal of developing the drum corps activity in Europe. Founding members opted to codify as few rules of competition as possible as a means of encouraging growth.[4] The first European Championships were hosted at the Arteveldestadion in Ghent, Belgium on 26 May 2001. West Coast Sound, from Haarlem, was crowned the inaugural European champion.[5]
European Music Games
In 2006, DCE announced it would cooperate with other drum corps associations in Europe to develop a standardized adjudication manual and adjudicator training. The result was the creation of the European Music Games format in 2008.
Affiliates
Reorganization
Following the 2017 European Championships, DCE executives announced the immediate suspension of operations. Reasons given were dwindling personnel, and the fiscal pressure of hosting an international event.[6] In December, a new association was established, the European Drum Corps Association (EDCA), with the intention of replacing DCE.[7] On 23 January 2018, the EDCA received approval to continue operations as Drum Corps Europe.[3]
Prior to the reorganization, DCE operated as a private foundation which limited the ability of participating drum corps to improve the adjudication and competitive attributes of sanctioned events. The new structure, as an association, is similar to other governing bodies in the activity, such as Drum Corps Associates (DCA) in the United States. Participating corps will have a "direct say" in governance and adjudication.[3]
Participating corps
Below is a list of competitors at the most recent European Championships (2018). The list includes Dutch Music Games (DMG) competing corps.
Source: [8]
Premier Class
| Unit | Affiliate | City / Region | Country | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beeches | DCUK | Great Barr | United Kingdom | beechespe |
| Blue Diamonds | DMG | Nienhagen | Germany | — |
| Cadence | DCUK | Guildford | United Kingdom | cadencedrumcorps |
| Inbhear Mór | IMBA | Arklow | Ireland | — |
| Jubal | DMG | Dordrecht | Netherlands | jubal |
| Juliana | DMG | Middelburg | juliana | |
| Jong Holland | DMG | Zwijndrecht | jongholland | |
| Kidsgrove Scouts | DCUK | Kidsgrove | United Kingdom | kidsgrovescouts |
| The Company Performance Ensemble | DCUK | Chesterfield | United Kingdom | theco |
| Spirit of '52 | DMG | Rastede | Germany | showbandrastede |
| Starriders | DMG | Bad Münder | starriders | |
| Stormarn Magic | — | Bad Oldesloe | stormarn-magic | |
| Revolution | DCUK | Queensbury | United Kingdom | revolutionshowcorps |
| The Vikings | IMBA | Tallaght | Ireland | tallaghtyouthband |
Junior Class
| Unit | Affiliate | City / Region | Country | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Diamonds Cadets | DMG | Nienhagen | Germany | — |
| Jong Jubal | DMG | Dordrecht | Netherlands | jubal |
| Johan Friso | DMG | Middelburg | juliana | |
| Rastede Youngstars | — | Rastede | Germany | — |
Inactive corps
| Unit | Affiliate | City / Region | Country | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cadence | DCUK | Guildford | United Kingdom | cadencedrumcorps |
| Calypso | DMG | Zwevegem | Belgium | showbandcalypso |
| The Company | DCUK | Stanfree | United Kingdom | theco |
| Jong Holland Junioren | DMG | Zwijndrecht | Netherlands | jongholland |
| Kaduodal | — | Quiberon | France | kadoudal |
| Millennium | — | Italy | — | |
| West Coast Sound | DCN | Haarlem | Netherlands | — |
Classification and adjudication
Classes available at DCE sanctioned competitions are broadly defined, keeping with the founding ideology of "as few rules as possible".[4] Competitions that utilize DCE's adjudication manual are often billed as "European Music Games" (EMG).
Classes
Premier Class corps are groups who compete at the national, or international, level. There is no age limit for this class.
A Class corps are groups with inexperienced participants.[lower-alpha 2]
Junior Class corps are groups with young participants, and is limited to groups whose participants are no older than sixteen years of age.[9]
Concert Class corps are groups who wish to compete in a concert setting, similar to DCA's mini-corps format.[lower-alpha 3]
Adjudication
DCE's adjudication manual is based on three broad categories: Music, Visual and Effect.[10] Each of the categories are further subdivided into reference criteria, or captions. All sanctioned competitions require nine adjudicators, including an adjudicator responsible for Timing & Penalties.
| Category | Caption | + | Caption | + | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Field Music (20) / 2 | + | Ensemble Music (20) / 2 | = | 30.00 |
| Field Percussion (20) / 2 | |||||
| Visual | Field Visual (20) / 2 | + | Ensemble Visual (20) / 2 | = | 30.00 |
| Color Guard (20) / 2 | |||||
| Effect | Music Effect (20) | + | Visual Effect (20) | = | 40.00 |
| Subtotal | 100.00 | ||||
| Timing & Penalties | - 0.00 | ||||
| Total | 100.00 | ||||
The adjudication manual in use by Drum Corps Associates (DCA) prior to 2001 was adapted for use by DCE. DCA's manual was also adapted for use by Drum Corps United Kingdom (DCUK) and Drum Corps Nederland (DCN) between 2001 and 2004. Each governing body made changes to better reflect the state of competition among their members corps. By 2006, the accumulated changes prevented corps from competing across the continent, as the reference criteria were no longer compatible, nor were the posted scores easily comparable.
In 2006, DCE developed a "European Music Games" adjudication manual, with input from other European governing bodies.[11] The name was inspired by Drum Corps International's "Summer Music Games" moniker.
DCA modified its adjudication manual in 2010, removing the analysis captions, rendering it incompatible with the DCE manual.[12]
Past champions
| Year | Premier Class Open Class (2001–07) |
A Class | Junior Class Cadet Class (2001–07) |
Percussion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 (1st) |
West Coast Sound Netherlands |
Jong Axel Netherlands |
Blue Lions United Kingdom | |
| 2002 (2nd) |
West Coast Sound (2) | Blue Lions (2) [tie] Percussion Theater[upper-alpha 1] Netherlands | ||
| 2003 (3rd) |
Jubal Netherlands |
Northern Star United Kingdom |
Encore Cadets [upper-alpha 2] United Kingdom |
Harpe Davids Netherlands |
| 2004 (4th) |
Beatrix Netherlands |
Strängnäs Sweden |
Jong Beatrix Netherlands |
Rhythm Stars Netherlands |
| 2005 (5th) |
Beatrix (2) | Strängnäs (2) | Jong Beatrix (2) | DreamSpirit Netherlands |
| 2006 (6th) |
Jubal (2) | Jong Jubal Netherlands |
DreamSpirit (2) | |
| 2007 (7th) |
Senators United Kingdom |
Jong Jubal (2) | DreamSpirit (3) | |
| 2008 (8th) |
Senators (2) | Jong Jubal (3) | ||
| 2009 (9th) |
Jubal (3) | Jong Jubal (4) | ||
| 2010 (10th) |
Kidsgrove Scouts United Kingdom |
Johan Friso Netherlands | ||
| 2011 (11th) |
The Company United Kingdom |
Johan Friso (2) | ||
| 2012 (13th) |
The Company (2) | Jong Jubal (5) | ||
| 2013 (14th) |
Jubal (4) | Jong Jubal (6) | ||
| 2014 (15th) |
The Company (3) | Jong Jubal (7) | ||
| 2015 (16th) |
Kidsgrove Scouts (2) | Johan Friso (3) | ||
| 2016 (17th) |
The Company (4) | Jong Jubal (8) | ||
| 2017 (18th) |
The Company (5) | Jong Jubal (9) | ||
| 2018 (19th) |
Jubal (5) | Jong Jubal (10) | ||
| 2019 (20th) |
Kidsgrove Scouts (3) | Jong Jubal (11) | ||
| 2020 (—) |
No championship | No championship |
- Percussion Theater won the 2002 Concert Percussion championship.
- Unclear if "Encore Cadets" was Encore from Sandy, Bedfordshire, or was an unrelated group.
Notes
- Often written as Drum Corps Netherland, or Netherlands, by English speaking fans.
- A Class is available almost exclusively at Dutch Music Games competitions.
- Concert Class is almost exclusively available at the Rasteder Musiktage or the German Open competitions.
References
- "No European Music Games Finals in 2020". Drum Corps Europe. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- "Euro Partners to organise 2020 European Championships :". Drum Corps United Kingdom. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- "EDCA will continue under the name of DCE". drumcorpseurope.org. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- "About Us". drumcorpseurope.org. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- "Scores 2001". drumcorpseurope.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2008. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- "Drum Corps Europe cease operations". www.dcuk.org.uk. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- Schamma, Andy (8 December 2017). "Drum Corps Europe Reborn As EDCA". FloMarching. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- "Scores 2018". drumcorpseurope.org. 29 September 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
- "DCE Contest Manual Version 11.0" (PDF). dcuk.org.uk. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- "Guide to the Judging System 2017" (PDF). www.dcuk.org. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- "European judging fraternity closer to common ground". drumcorpseurope.org. 13 February 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- Hinton, Tim (4 September 2013). "Judging DCA". Marching Roundtable (Podcast). Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- "Ranking EMG 2018". drumcorpseurope.org. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- "Scores and Recaps". www.drumcorpseurope.org. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 21 September 2018.