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 Our show for the 1997 marching season was entitled "Portraits of the Orient", which consists of music representing the sights and sounds of the Far East Asia.
Our introduction to the show was from the movie soundtrack from Heaven and Earth, an Oliver Stone film. The music was written and performed by a "new age" composer Kitaro. Our opener was 'Dance of Penons', which is the first movement of the band composition Three Japanese Dances by Bernard Rogers. This piece is light in nature and provided us opportunities for musicality and exposure.
 Next is a section we called 'War', which we created ourselves. Double tonguing, ethnic drumming pattern patterns, and fast drill dominate this part of the show.
Our ballad, 'Tiger in the Trees' from the movie The Joy Luck Club, followed with delicate sounds and graceful choreography representing the blissful times of life on the landscapes of Japan. 
Our closer was the third movement of Three Japanese Dances and is called 'Dance of the Swords'. This powerful part of the show is a musical mixture of chaos and order portrayed through exchanges of light vs. heavy timbres with varied dynamics throughout the winds and percussion. Finally, we reprise with a moment of Heaven and Earth and then drive it home with another burst of fast tempo.
In retrospect, the band performed extremely well and enjoyed a wonderful experience which ended in Marian capturing their sixth Grand National title in 12 years. The students, parents, staff, and directors worked very hard to create a piece of art. We hope you have a chance to see it.
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