2006 Madison Scouts | "Primal Forces"
9th Place, 87.700
"The greatest corps in Madison's history were those that hit the audience on a fundamental level first, striking right to the heart. Instinct and emotion have always played a significant part of memorable Scouts productions." — Madison Scouts Director Sal Salas, 2006
Such was the inspiration behind the Scouts’ production, “Primal Forces,” which set out to explore the power of warrior legend and myth, calling up impressions of the Pre-Columbian Americas.
The corps published in its pre-season publicity materials: “’Primal Forces’ is brains and brawn, perception and emotion, ready to claim a special bond with today's audience.” Salas boldly added, “It’s clear from the show's balance of intellect and muscle that this is the right show, for the right corps, at the right time.”
DCI Hall of Fame member Michael Cesario headed up the design of the production, serving as the program coordinator of the musical and visual staff that included notable names like Colin McNutt (percussion), Scott Boerma and Mark Waymire (brass), and Myron Rosander (visual).
Perhaps most striking when the 2006 Scouts took the field were brand-new Fred J. Miller-designed uniforms by Cesario. Green pants replaced the white pants from the season prior, while a striking all-white top featured the outline of the corps’ iconic fleur-de-lis underneath a red sequined sash with a mirror accent. White gauntlets with red trim and the corps’ familiar white aussie hat updated with a band of red sequins matching the uniform sash completed an unmistakable look. It turned heads early in the season for how different it looked, however, the design was as much rooted in the corps’ historical identity as it was new and distinctive.
“(This uniform design) was so much fun to do, because we were able to get all the tradition of the corps into one small little tight group,” Cesario said. “It was really exciting because we had a great time taking all the things that everybody thinks about — the fleur-de-lis, the red sash, the white jacket — it’s things that we've seen over the course of history, but now we've put it together in a new and fresh way, and we think we've reinvented the uniform.”
The Introduction segment of the production began with the corps forming a winding pathway across the field. Utilizing Isaac Albéniz’s “Feast Day in Seville” from the Spanish composer’s “Iberia” suite for piano, the first sounds from the corps came from a lone percussionist playing a thundering beat on a concert bass drum from the front corner of the football field.
From here the corps introduced the main character of the production, a lone hero played by a color guard member who would make several appearances throughout the production and help drive the storyline. He set the show in motion running down the pathway formed by the brass players as the bass drum line chased while playing a series of fast runs.
The first minute of the production featured a percussion focus, mainly handled by the front ensemble mallet players and timpanist. As the hero emerged from the pathway, he ushered the other color guard members into life, shedding cocoon-like fabric coverings as the brass section formed a wedge on the 50-yard line to make their first powerful statement.
A series of stabbing brass notes set the tone for the next segment, The Hunt, which utilized Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s “Harp Concerto.” The corps underscored the piece with angular drill formations and the continued use of aggressive percussion scoring.
The tempo slowed into the next segment of the production, Reflection, featuring Ennio Morricone's "Gabriel's Oboe," the main theme from the 1986 film, “The Mission,” starring Robert de Niro and Jeremy Irons. It earned Morricone the Golden Globe for best original score in addition to an Academy Award nomination.
A Madison Scouts flugelhorn soloist stepped in for the oboe from the original piece, stationed on the 50-yard line surrounded by tuba players. The 23-member baritone section picked up the melody next and were eventually joined by the full corps in a robust statement of the introspective melody. The brass players were seen in a rolling arc that brought performers several feet ahead of the front sideline near the 30-yard line.
A baritone soloist closed out the ballad as the horn line retreated to the back corner of the field. Here the hero character climbed atop a podium, catching a flag toss and raising his arms into the air.
A reprise of the indigenous beat from a concert bass drum positioned in front of the backfield podium served as a jarring reminder of the aggressiveness of the first half of the production. Scouts designers said that this Invocation segment “called to the heart of a warrior and spoke to a theme of fraternal courage.” The brass players began to deploy from the back corner, moving in a block formation at a brisk pace — four steps to five yards at a time — toward the center of the field.
After a brief drum line interlude and a snaking follow-the-leader formation and other fast-moving geometric maneuvers, the corps transitioned into the final segment. Danza Finale featured another of Ginastera’s popular works, “Malambo'' from the composer’s “Estancia Ballet.”
A flurry of fast notes from the brass section and front ensemble percussion in the up-tempo piece paved the way for a huge pay-off when the brass formed a company front stretching nearly the entire length of the field. Holding the straight line, they marched across the front hash mark with a declaration of triumph and celebration.
The build-up to the final moments of the show featured one of the most interesting visual moments of the entire production. Lines of six corps members at a time began adding onto a moving arc before the formation unfurled into the corps’ trademark fleur-de-lis. Here Madison unleashed the final fury of “Primal Forces” as a striking punctuation mark to the corps’ 2006 campaign.
Making moves in Madison
Just under a half a point behind the Boston Crusaders in the two corps’ first matchup of the 2006 season in Erie, Pennsylvania in July, the Madison Scouts found themselves in the rearview mirror of the New England corps for the majority of the final month on the road to the University of Wisconsin for the DCI World Championships.
The Scouts whittled that small lead down to just 0.075 points less than a week later in “The Cereal City,” Battle Creek, Michigan, and even posted a 1.4-point advantage over Boston the next day in Centerville, Ohio. However, Boston earned a huge win at the important DCI Southwestern Championship in San Antonio and held onto a lead at the first-ever DCI Southeastern Championship in Atlanta late in July. This marked the final time the two corps met before arriving in Wisconsin in August.
In the World Championship Quarterfinals on August 10, Boston put up a final score more than a point ahead of the Scouts, holding leads in the overall General Effect, Visual and Music scoring captions. The next night the Scouts made up ground tying the Crusaders in General Effect, but they still fell 0.825 points behind in 10th place.
Perhaps fueled by their hometown Madison crowd at Camp Randall Stadium, the Scouts pushed 0.375 points ahead of Boston on Finals night, receiving a final score of 87.700. While Boston managed to finish two places ahead of Madison in the Visual caption, Madison’s superior scores in General Effect (two tenths advantage) and Music (just over three tenths advantage) helped push the Midwestern corps into ninth place in the history books.
2006 DCI World Championship Finals awards ceremony