Dear Mr. Higginson, It's me, Delilah's Lawyer...

...I am writing to inform you
there's a third restraining order in effect.
~Hey There Delilah Parody, Stalker. Google it. It's HILARIOUS.

Anyway.

The Marching '97 originally got their name because they formed 12 ranks of 8 plus one drum major, thus totaling 97 people. There is no color guard and no pit. :( Also, they march using a different style than high school's "roll-step" and they don't compete. Instead, they march a new show every home game. AN ENTIRELY NEW SHOW. But they don't have to march or memorize the music - they have it on their...uh, are they called lutes? (they didn't teach me instrument parts/terminology). Also, they don't have original "dots" as we did in high school. Instead, they march in ranks so it's not individualized and thus a lot easier to make and memorize.

In every rank, there's a "lead" and, I kid you not, an "ass". On our marching sheets, which they call here "poop"s (in High school it was our Life), the counts are written along with the moves. However, they are all acronyms which are confusing:

MT is Mark Time
FM is Forward March
FH is FAce Home
SS is Stand Still (ie, no marching)
BM is Backwards March
CPCW is [something] Pivot Counter-Clockwise (it looks pretty cool)
FTL is Follow The Leader
FTA is Follow The Ass
SOB2R is Step Off By 2 to the Right (we use this to form straight diagonal lines)
BMB2R is Backwards March By 2 to the Right (forms a straight line if used after SOB2R)
LF is Left Face
EPL is End Pivot Left (I'm pretty sure it's pivot around the "ass")
RS is Right Spin* (I'll get to this)
AF is About Face
STOMP is ...uh...Stomp. It's the ending with a flourish.

As mentioned, the Marching '97 don't march with "roll-steps". Instead, they "high-step", which looks like military marching. I like it because it's easier than the roll-step, and it's a lot like doing a backwards roll-step with high knees.

They have no pit and no color guard.

Every home game they have a new show and new music. There are two practices per week and a practice the day of the game. They have us go over it a few times per practice so we get the hang of it, but it's actually pretty simple.

Okay. So about that Right Spin*. Another weird quirk the Marching '97 has is that they NEVER turn right. They don't have a Right Face, only a Left Face, About Face and Face Home. Whenever they have to make a right turn, they do a really cool pivot-spin type thing. Basically, they step left, plant right, pivot on right and step again with their left, so it's like an almost-About Face minus about 90 degrees. x) It's really fun and fairly simple to do once you get the hang of it. And it looks really cool when you march because you add an extra flourish to your steps.

Now I have to make another pouch for me so I can hold my stuff. :/

~E