Orange Walk drum corps gears up for celebrations
With the Costa Maya Festival this week and the September Celebrations just around the corner, the Central Drum Corps of Orange Walk has been practicing all summer to entertain the crowds. Sen-TV of Orange Walk has a profile of the group.
As the September Celebrations draw near the Orange Walk Central Drum Corps starts preparations once again as they have been doing for the past fifteen years. 1984 marked the beginning of one of the best drum corps today in the country.
Leonard Tzul
“Actually from 1984, you could say from 1984 the group consisted of twelve members. Since we the younger guys took over about three years ago we started off the youth group and made it a little bigger, providing more instruments. From there we got a set of drums from the Governor General, about six drums and one base. So that is the reason why we expanded. So our drum corps consists of twenty members, that’s bugle and cymbal.”
Composed originally of only 12 members, the Orange Walk Drum Corps consists of 35 members including the juniors of which a lucky few had enrolled in the first ever drummer’s camp held this summer, Drummers Fever ’99. We spoke to Mr. Leonard Tzul, Coordinator, who told us about the purpose of this two-week summer camp.
Leonard Tzul
“The idea was that every time we parade we noticed that kids came around and started bugging us to play the instrument so we decided that we were gonna give them something in return. So we decided to have a summer camp that would teach them to play drums and in the later run we could recruit them.”
We also spoke with instructors at the camp who told us what the course involved.
Instructor #1
“The first thing that we taught them is to know how to play a drum, how to use a drum and what to do with a drum.”
Instructor #2
“To play snare drum, how to use the drum and how to hold your sticks and other things.”
But the Orange Walk Central Drum Corps just isn’t complete without the female presence. The Majorettes as they call themselves, add flare, grace, style and dynamism to the Orange Walk Central Drum Corps. By the same token the Majorettes are searching for new team members ages twelve to seventeen years. You can look forward to the Orange Walk Central Drum Corps and the Majorettes at Fiestarama, the International Costa Maya Festival in San Pedro and Belize Carnival, September Celebrations and the November 19th Garifuna Settlement Day celebrations in Stann Creek.
Our thanks to Sen-TV for that report.
