Football culture:
the marching band.
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| After work beer |
A big thing in
football is the marching band. In fact,
I would even go so far as to say it's more important than the game itself. (Fun fact: I was in marching band) This isn't something I've ever really seen
outside of the US, I have only seen it in London when I marched in the New
Year's Day Parade 2006, but all the marching bands were from the US. Marching bands have different levels, but the
goal is the same. You not only have to
be able to play your instrument well, but you have to be able to play it and
move across an often uneven football field as you do it. To make matters more complicated, you have to
play your music from memory. In my
marching band experience, we didn't play arrangements of popular songs, rather
we played symphonies. From memory. I'm talking Dvorak's New World Symphony, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, etc.
Definitely one of my prouder accomplishments considering New World Symphony was the first thing I ever
played on clarinet (the oboe is my primary instrument).
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| Pre-game lunch/dinner. I ate like a fatty. |
So UT marching band
is a whole different game. I'll admit
it, I tried out my first year of college.
I was really banking on my marching skills to make it (recall: clarinet
is not my primary instrument, therefore
my skills are limited). Alas, I did not
make it in the band, which is just as well because by not making it, I
volunteered as an usher at our massive theatre which led to a job backstage,
which led to another job managing events, which led to a great group of friends
and co-workers, which led to an amazing boyfriend, etc. Funny how one thing can change the direction
of your life.
Anyway. This last game featured the alumni band! Essentially, they invite graduated band
members to march like the old days and I saw people that looked like they
graduated last year to some that are probably grandparents. It did bring back a wave of nostalgia and for
a moment I did wish I had made the band solely so I could be an alumni, but
alas. I weighed the pros and cons, and
again, having made the band, I would be down two amazing jobs, amazing friends
and boyfriend. Of course, I wouldn't
have known. Oh well.
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La cultura de fútbol americano: la banda.
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| Current members |
Algo grande en el fútbol americano es la banda. Hasta que yo diría que es más importante que
el juego. (Yo estuve en la banda) No es algo que he visto fuera de los Estados
Unidos, solo le he visto en Londres cuando estuve en el desfile del año nuevo
2006, pero todas las bandas eran estadounidenses. Las bandas tienen diferentes niveles de
dificultad, pero la meta es igual. Se
tiene que no solo poder tocar bien su instrumento, sino se tiene que tocar y
caminar sobre el pasto al mismo tiempo.
Para hacerlo más complicado, se tiene que tocar la música de
memoria. En mi experiencia en la banda,
no tocamos un arreglo de música popular, pero sinfonías. De memoria.
Yo toqué Sinfonía del Nuevo Mundo
de Dvorak, y Shejerazade de
Rimski-Kórsakov, etc. Definitivamente
era una de mis mejores logros porque Sinfonía del Nuevo Mundo era la primera
cosa que toqué en clarinete (el oboe es mi instrumento primario).
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| Current and former members |
Pues la banda en UT es muy intensa.
Yo audicioné para la banda mi primer año de la universidad. Pensé que tendría suficiente talento con la
marcha (de nuevo, el clarinete no es mi
instrumento primario, entonces soy limitada).
Pues no llegué a entrar a la banda, pero está bien porque me permitió
trabajar como voluntaria en el teatro enorme que me permitió encontrar trabajo
detrás del escenario, y otro trabajo como gerente de los eventos, un grupo de
amistades y compañeros, un novio increíble, etc. Es chistoso como una cosa puede cambiar la
dirección de nuestra vida.
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