Spirit aims for deeper dive with 2024's "Creatures"

In the early planning stages of Spirit of Atlanta’s 2024 production, co-program coordinator Matt Filosa stumbled upon eye-catching cover art in one of his playlists.

The artwork in question? That of “Creatures,” an album by Rone, a French composer and producer.

“There was this really cool head, in this monochromatic black and white look,” he said, describing the cover.

Filosa’s discovery of Rone’s unique album cover led him down a rabbit hole of artwork by Lili Wood, a French artist.

“I dug in a little bit more and looked at her art,” he said, “and there was a ton more art that went with that album.”

Out of Filosa’s research, Spirit of Atlanta’s 2024 production was born.

Audition for Spirit of Atlanta in 2024

“Creatures,” the corps’ program for the upcoming season, invites audience members into the world of the creatures, in all the various forms they may fill throughout a person’s life.

“The word, ‘creature,’ invokes all of these things through our lives, like how we think about creatures as kids and then adults,” Filosa said. “With the more overarching concept of your imagination and how, as you get older, your imagination changes, there are just so many layers to that.”

“I think that we, as a design team, found it really intriguing, because there were so many avenues that we could go with it,” added co-program coordinator Sal Salas.

As the show seeks to develop and unpack the concept of creatures, it will follow a series of chapters.

The opening chapter, “Awakening,” will bring the world of creatures to life. From there, “Frolic” allows performers and audience members to explore their surroundings. “Nightmares” and “Night Sailing” will unpack a darker, more dream-oriented side of the program, before the corps closes with movements titled “Mischief” and “Entwined.”

 

“(Battery percussion arranger Adam Wiencken’s) idea was to split it up into chapters, because it almost feels like your life story,” Filosa said. “It’s like a story, thinking about creatures and your imagination throughout your life.”

“Like an onion, this show has so many layers,” he added. “You’ll be able to watch it many times and find new things.”

Among many goals, Spirit’s 2024 program is intended to take the corps in a more “mature” direction, and “Creatures” is intended to make that clear from the get-go.

“One of the goals from the design team was that, without a single note being played, you saw the set, you saw the field, you heard the concept, and you already knew Spirit of Atlanta was taking a step forward,” Filosa said.

After a successful 2023 season that saw the corps return to the DCI Tour after a year off and post a strong competitive showing, Spirit of Atlanta’s creative team saw this year as an opportunity to drive the corps into newly-charted territory.

“Spirit of Atlanta has always been a very accessible drum corps,” corps director Chris Moore said. “It's always been something that the fans could kind of latch onto. This is that same type of vibe, but it has a much higher intellectual level.”

Moore noted that, wholeheartedly, he believes Spirit’s group of performers for 2024 can match the “step up” taken by the corps’ designers.

“It's just another notch up from an intellectual and sophistication level for where we want the drum corps to be,” he added. “We feel like we're on a really good track to have a very strong performing unit this summer. They'll be able to perform whatever these awesome designers write for them.”

Designers noted plans to keep the show’s music selections “under wraps” as the show continues to be developed, but weren’t afraid to hint at what fans can expect from the corps’ repertoire.

The key word, according to Filosa, is “cinematic.” He noted “Hereditary,” “Hellboy,” and the “Fantastic Beasts” movies as current films that will inspire the soundtrack for Spirit’s 2024 production.

“The emotional range is so diverse,” he said. “It's very hip, very current.”

Filosa noted, though, that Spirit also has plans to lean on the corps’ jazz-infused roots in the 2024 season, incorporating music by Duke Ellington.

“Jazz is a big part of Spirit’s history,” Filosa said. “We didn't try to just put it in there for fan service. It actually has a purpose, and it's probably going to be one of the best parts of our show.”

“I think the design team understands that our history is still really important,” he added. “And that's going to be really cool from a musical standpoint to get that homage back to one of our past chapters this year and have it fit so well into what we're trying to do.”

Visually-speaking, Spirit of Atlanta’s creative team promised a very expansive stage of large props.

Through creative costuming as well, the corps plans to use its performers to characterize the many forms taken, and emotions invoked, by creatures of all shapes and sizes.

From a costuming standpoint, it's going to be new, and it's going to be fresh,” Salas said. “You're not necessarily going to have an ugly creature. There’s beauty in creatures as well. We may have an exotic creature or different looks to the performers.”

“That's another area where we're taking it into a new direction,” he added. “Costuming that you haven't probably seen on the field before.”

And ultimately, Spirit’s design team believes that audience members are in for a big surprise when the “Creatures” take the field.

“I think it’s definitely,” Filosa said, “the biggest thing we've ever done on the football field.”

View Spirit of Atlanta's 2024 DCI Tour Schedule