DCI Spring Training is presented by Digital Performance Gear.
INDIANAPOLIS— As preparations for the 2024 DCI Tour continue, the newest generation of Drum Corps International adjudicators embarked on their journey as part of DCI’s Judge Diversity Initiative.
13 people — eight candidates of the Judge Diversity Initiative, as well as five first-year judges — traveled to DCI’s headquarters in Indianapolis the weekend of June 15, for a training session ahead of the 2024 DCI Summer Tour.
Launched in 2023, the Judge Diversity Initiative’s goal is to reach underrepresented communities and expand DCI’s judging roster through strategic diversity recruitment efforts. This program is an extension of DCI’s mission to foster new opportunities on marching music’s largest stage through intentional collaboration.
“This is an opportunity to bring DCI into the 21st century as far as representing more diversity on the DCI roster, which includes different race, gender and cultural backgrounds,” DCI judge administrator John Phillips said.
Throughout the weekend, participants were guided through various judging simulations that prepared them to critique different marching arts performances. The first step was to teach participants how to deliver commentary on what they were observing, with the second step guiding participants through scoring those performances.
Following their trip to Indianapolis, the Judge Diversity Initiative candidates will now prepare for another intensive training weekend — this time at a DCI regional event. Candidates will travel to either the DCI Southwestern Championship in San Antonio, or the DCI Southeastern Championship in Atlanta, to practice their new skills in a real-world environment.
“The best way to describe it is that this is their initiation into the DCI judging system,” Phillips said. “They’ll be getting hands-on practice being a judge, instead of a simulation.”
Candidates at each regional will have mentors to guide them through the entire process. At the end of the night they’ll be able to compare their own rankings and ratings to the actual adjudicated scores from the event, and break things down with their mentors to continue to sharpen their skills.
The five training attendees who are not a part of the 2024 cohort of the Judge Diversity Initiative will experience their first full year as a DCI judge this season.
“I’m really excited to have them bring fresh, new perspectives and voices to the corps,” Phillips said.
The 2024 DCI Tour is set to kick off Wednesday, June 26 at the DCI Midwest Premiere presented by Fruhauf Uniforms, Inc. in Rockford, Michigan.