All along, the goal was to do it in five years.
The Battalion was founded as an Open Class corps in 2016, based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Its founders set forth a plan to, by the corps’ fifth anniversary, complete a full tour culminating at the DCI World Championships in Indiana.
Make no mistake, that goal was accomplished. The Battalion, in its fifth year of 2020, had established plans, and set those plans fully in motion, to make its long-awaited pilgrimage to Indianapolis.
But when it came to finally execute that mission, the world had other plans.
View The Battalion's 2022 DCI Tour Schedule
“It took a little bit of reset to be like, ‘We're not going to make this goal, because of circumstances that were outside of our control,’” director Katherine Steinacker said. “For me, it was most devastating for the membership — those students who had signed up, who had stuck with us since the beginning, and who were set to age out at Championships with The Battalion for the first time. That was really heartbreaking and challenging for us.”
The Utah corps, though, never lost sight of its ultimate objective.
READ: Fifth-year goal realized for rapidly-growing Battalion
It’s been two years since auditions began for what would have been The Battalion’s inaugural trip to the DCI World Championships, and those two years have seen the corps focus its efforts on stability and sustainability, all in pursuit of realizing its dreams on the other side of the shutdown.
And that’s the plan. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, The Battalion will be at the DCI World Championships, marking their first appearance, as well as the first appearance by any corps from Utah at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“We’re super excited,” Steinacker said. “We've been building and working toward this. We've had a lot of staff consistency over the past seven years of our existence, and to all reach this milestone … we're super excited to go.”
It’ll also be at the DCI Open Class World Championships in Marion, Indiana, where the Utah corps will finally have the chance to add a final placement to its ledger of competitive successes in years one (2016) through four (2019) — a span that saw the group increase its season-ending tally by more than thirty points, while also increasing its touring capacity from five events to 11.
Beyond the score sheets, The Battalion also stretched its limits in 2018 and 2019 with an extra week-long swing through California, an increase upon the previous two years’ schedules, which included appearances specifically in the Rocky Mountain region.
Steinacker noted there’s certainly a learning curve in terms of getting back to the intricacies of summer operations, but a brief stretch of 2021 performances provided an opportunity for The Battalion to get their touring legs back.
Last summer, the Utah corps appeared at six events, all in their home state, over the span of eight days.
“When we were planning (the 2021 tour), we didn't realize how critical it would be for us,” Steinacker said. “And I think just being able to tour and remember how to do that was important, getting to train a group of students that hasn't done a tour. We're still here, we're doing this, it kind of set the foundation for us heading into this next summer.”
The Utah corps’ 2022 tour, in full, will feature a similar length to its 2019 edition; it’ll just head in a different direction. The Battalion is set to perform in at least 10 events starting July 13 in Ogden, Utah before eventually trekking toward and through the midwestern United States.
There have been plenty of moving parts involved in preparation for the 2022 season, but Steinacker credited the support and collaboration of the drum corps community for plenty of help along the way.
“I think this community of drum corps and directors has been really great as well,” she said. “A lot of groups in this area, and even across the country, have been really helpful in sharing historical knowledge. What does this tour look like? Where should we go? Where are the best stops in all these cities that we're going to go to that we haven't been to yet? How does World Championships week work? How does all of this work?”
“We’re fortunate that there's a lot of information sharing happening among directors to help us really maximize on that experience, and to make it the best that we can for the students who are going to go with us,” she added.
What a great weekend and wrap to our clinics. We hope to see everyone again at one of our January auditions in CO and UT! https://www.battalioncorps.org/enlist 📸: Donny Helvey
Posted by The Battalion Drum & Bugle Corps on Sunday, December 12, 2021
Support from and involvement among Battalion alumni has also been a key component of the 2022 puzzle. At the corps' recent “BEX” educational audition experience clinics, a variety of alumni made appearances both as participants and as volunteers.
As Steinacker noted, those alumni are among the hundreds of people who have played a role in carrying The Battalion to the accomplishment of their original goal in 2020, and now to the realization of that goal in 2022.
“They’re super excited,” she said. “They’re part of this legacy.”