Q. What is basic timeline of where you should be at through out the season... Example: When should you be staging your show, filling in work…
A. Depending on your ultimate goal for the season determines your schedule/timeline. As every program wants to be successful that success is only measured by the goals that the director/staff sets for the program. If you want to finish the season with your full guard and have a large percentage return next season than your schedule/timeline would be different than that of a program that wants to be in the top 3 at every event. That said, those who want to have a season where the team feels proud of their accomplishments and that team is relatively 1st or 2nd year members than you should spread out your schedule through Dec and Jan where you are putting on the minimum amount needed to be on the floor at YOUR first show, meaning if you have 2 minutes of choreography you may be standing in place to music for the rest of the time limit to avoid any penalties. This is really normal where season tend to go on for a very long time. Also, in those 2 minutes some programs have enough quality work that they can sometimes outscore those teams with full 4 minute shows. Also, the learning levels of your team should dictate how quickly you can teach staging and choreography. You may find that you can re-use some of the same work that was taught for the field program where this would speed a few seconds along. On the flip side, if you're looking to be in the top 3 of your class at every competition then you would have mapped out your program in October and began to teach segments in November and start staging in December to be more than 75% by the Christmas break. Those who aim for this will find early success in the beginning of the season but have to keep pushing so as to not peak too early and everyone else passes them by. It's also ok to have gaps in the choreography that can be later filled in as the season progresses.
Q. What is expected at eval and what is expected for the first comp? Meaning what are judges looking for? Clean show, all filled in???
A. Eval show is an opportunity for the designer/staff to put enough of a program out on the floor to get feed back from the panel. The panel should be experienced judges and designers and they would be able to give feedback on what has been presented at that time. There should be an open discussion on the plans/direction of the program to help the panel understand more especially if there are large gaps in the program and should the program not have a concept this would help clear things up. Those groups who have young performers may only have a minute or two of a program to put on the floor and the designer will have to explain the rest. This is fine, just be prepared to have the feedback be limited due to the content being presented. If you give the panel a more substantial program they can offer you lots more information. The panel should not be rewriting your program, they should only be offering you information about how they feel you will do with the program from the amount they see that day. The panel can be blunt and let you know that you may find many challenges through the season should you choose to stay the course you've laid out or that your program will be competitive with the others in the class you're in. Shows will be incomplete for Eval, that's understood. The panel will know how to overlook an incomplete product. If your program is really not working they will give you information that should explain this to you as a designer. Use Eval show to your benefit....you want to know if you got the right show for the right performers and the right class. Ask questions to the panel!
Q.Is there sources/people you can talk to that are non bias that can give you feed back on your show to help you prepare for the first comp. Especially going in for the first season wanting to be successful at any level.
A. Yes, you have many resources around you. Other designers would actually be very helpful, perhaps not those in the same class that you're in but those who have been around for a few years may agree to watch a video emailed to them and they would have a phone call with you to chat about how things look and maybe offer some suggestions on how to work out a strange transition, like always running off to one side to exchange equipment or that you're not musical or that the color of your silk doesn't really work with that music OR that they really think you have a great product and that you have nothing to worry about! Lets face it, we all want to be proud of what we put out there and want our teams to feel good about their performances so being shy or having an ego isn't going to help your program succeed. It's normal to feel nervous or anxious about your 1st performance even if you've been at it for 20 years. Once you give the program to the kids it's in their hands, you have no control of it once they step through the gym doors at the competition. Your job is to prepare them for everything that can happen but it's difficult to know how new, inexperienced performers will handle it, even after 3 shows.
