MARCHING girls are back with a difference, says coach and former marcher Alison Smith.
“I like the discipline, the respect for others and the focus it brings. It’s all about teamwork – you’re not an individual when you march,” she says.
The new DrillDance isn’t just marching – they incorporate artistic dance too, says Alison.
She says marching as a sport died off in the late 1980s, but in 2012 Marching Australia rebranded as DrillDance Australia. And in 2013 after a 16-year break, ACT Marching Girls reformed as Capital Spirit DrillDance, Canberra’s first DrillDance club.
“With DrillDance Australia the same concept is there – the elegant precision of the traditional marching routines with an emphasis on accuracy of movement, spacing and timing as well as the dignity and deportment of the sport,” says Alison.
“They practice for hours and hours to get it perfect.”
However, she says, DrillDance now incorporates thematic dance and prop drills, which involve a free choice interpretation of a story, theme, dance or pantomime – Alison’s team performs a Spanish bull dance as well as Lonnie Donegan’s “My Old Man’s A Dustman”.
“It’s fun and lighthearted, with echoes of marching,” she says. “It gives coaches and teams freedom in choosing music, formations, handheld and stage props and highlights of the routines.”
Alison coaches the Capital Spirit DrillDance Under 17s juniors team and says she loves the challenges of coaching. Other age groups are Under 8s, Under 12s and Masters (over 30) and the sport is open to males (since the 1990s) and females of all ages and fitness levels.
“If you’re not fit, you’ll get fit quickly!” she says. “Working with teens is fun and it makes it easier that my own daughters are the same age so I can relate to them.”
“We get to travel around NSW for competitions and our focus for the coming season will be competing nationally in April in the Australian Championships at Sydney Olympic Park.”
Marching started in NZ and was introduced to Australia in the 1940s, when a system of scoring was developed so that teams could compete against one another. It was most popular in the ’60s and ’70s, and Alison says she joined in 1985 and was hooked.
“Back when I started there was only really netball and marching as sports options for girls – nowadays, of course, they can choose from anything.”
DrillDance Under 17s team member Amy Smith, 15, says she loves the friendships she has formed with not only her teammates but other competitors from around the country.
“I see the lasting friendships my mother formed from her days as a marching girl and I know that the adventures I’m having with my teammates is creating some wonderful memories,” she says.
“I love how we work as a team and performing together in front of a large crowd is very rewarding.
“With Facebook we all stay in touch across the country and we love being able to travel and meet up in person.”
More information at canberradrilldance.wix.com/capitalspirit, or drilldance.com.au. Email canberradrilldanceclub@outlook.com or call 0439 710988.
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