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Bent Leg Vs. Straight Leg: A Series By Dan Schack, Part 2

Bent Leg Vs. Straight Leg: A Series By Dan Schack, Part 2

Dan Schack uses his experience in the marching arts to take an analytical look at the pros and cons of straight leg vs bent leg marching techniques.

Dec 19, 2018 by Dan Schack
Bent Leg Vs. Straight Leg: A Series By Dan Schack, Part 2
Dan Schack is the Battery Coordinator/Choreographer of Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps and the Creative Director of George Mason University Indoor Drumline. Outside of his musical endeavors, Dan is pursuing a Ph.D. in English at the University of Delaware.

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Dan Schack is the Battery Coordinator/Choreographer of Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps and the Creative Director of George Mason University Indoor Drumline. Outside of his musical endeavors, Dan is pursuing a Ph.D. in English at the University of Delaware.

In this series of articles, I will attempt to negotiate and demystify some of the similarities and differences between the straight and bent leg marching styles. I will also provide some of my ideas as to which style is easier to perform, teach, and implement, and why one style may be preferable over the other. 

It is my hope that these pieces can generate useful discussion as to which style is best suited for any one individual program, as I weigh the costs and benefits of each. Furthermore, I hope to enlighten readers to the potential of teaching a more hybrid, flexible approach that does not have to rely on one essential concept, but instead may borrow from either end of the visual technique spectrum. 

This, I think, is the key to being a progressive and relevant visual mind.

Full Bent Leg Vs. Straight Leg Series by Dan Schack:

Part 1 - Introduction & Geographical Significance

Part 2 - Aesthetic & Articulation

Part 3 - Pitfalls/Accessibility/Training & Top-Down Perspective & Conclusion

Visual Aesthetic

The most obvious difference between these two marching styles is the look. There is something seriously bold about the long lines created in the straight leg marching style. 

Maybe it evokes something primal in us, conjuring images of militaries marching into battle, relentless and unforgiving. The straight leg look also is meant to provide height and 3-dimensionality off of the field. This can really help propel the overall performance of the individual. 

“Standing tall” is a daily colloquialism everyone knows and understands, and there is no surprise that this metaphor about confidence transfers onto the marching field. 

The arguable cleanliness created by the straight leg technique is also a serious positive; The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps drew attention to this iconic look with their maroon stripe running down the otherwise white leg. The marching style was a huge contributor to their visual effect and success.

On the other hand, a bent leg marching style has a lot to offer in terms of look. 

Stylistically, the low, squatted position can really fit some themes and concepts much better than straight leg. There is an oddity to the style that can make it particularly effective when it is surrounded by the right show. Bent leg technique, because of its mechanics, makes for an overall much smoother look.

The main issue with straight leg is when people teaching the technique demand that students go “as high” on their platforms as possible. You will get a very staggered, unnatural look to the body, and students frequently struggle to maintain that height consistently. What is produced is an inconsistent vertical height in the body, and for younger students, this is especially obvious in initiations and at the stab/close. 

For the bent leg technique, though, this is not a problem.

Because every direction of the bent leg style relies on “resisting the roll-down,” or rolling through the fattest part of the foot from the point of articulation to the next step, the body remains in a fluid vertical orientation, mediated through the ankle. 

In any direction you move, you are encouraged to use resistance through the step (as dictated by the tempo, of course), and this ultimately makes for fluidity in all directions, and in and out of a halt. 

Overall, while straight leg creates much clearer lines and is more easy to achieve aesthetically, bent leg relies on a much more natural approach that allows a certain fluidity that I personally argue is unachievable through the straight leg style.

Articulation

This is something the straight and bent leg styles actually share that is more similar than meets the eye. On the forward march, the back edge of the heel is used as the primary point of articulation, or what should contact the ground simultaneously with the metronome. 

What differs is after this point of contact; for bent leg, you roll all the way through until the front of your foot is at a ninety-degree angle with the ground. This image of the foot at ninety degrees, and subsequently the knee sticking out pretty aggressively, is where the “bicycle” term originated. 

As far as I am concerned, the knees are merely mechanical and are not stressed as needing to look any specific way. The leg shape is merely a byproduct of the foot rolling to its correct angle.

From here, the two styles diverge erratically. 

For the backward march in the bent leg style, you articulate on the tip of the toe and roll all the way through until the heel contacts the ground. For straight leg, most people define the front third of the food, or the platform, as the point of articulation. I myself teach this as the point of contact but have incorporated the slight roll down through the foot, though not all the way to the heel.

Crab stepping is also very different for the two styles. For straight leg, the point of articulation is similar to what I described above for the backward march. For bent leg, though, you are supposed to articulate on the outside of the foot—let’s call it the pinky and ring toe—and roll all the way through the foot. This action, which is mostly isolated to the foot and ankle, is what sends the knees flying in all different angles.

So to reiterate: while these two styles share some similarities with articulation, there are actually pretty hefty differences, and these differences actually tell you exactly why the leg shape looks so drastically different between the two styles. 

The more you know.


Continue reading Part 3: Pitfalls/Accessibility/Training & Top-Down Perspective & Conclusion...