On a cold and rainy day, the talented performers from RCC loaded up their historic old equipment truck and headed out to Valencia HS, to open their historic tenth anniversary season. It’s hard to imagine that 9 competitive seasons have zoomed by, bringing with them a ton of awards, an incredible array of amazing players and a ‘who’s who’ of instructors AND life-long memories! Along the way, the RCC winter percussion program has earned 3 WGI Gold Medals and 8 SCPA Gold Medals, along with many silver medals.

The 10th anniversary season started off with a bang, with the 39 busy college entertainers presenting their show entitled “My Steampunk Heart.” This is a presentation that will send many audience members to their computers to Google the term “steampunk.” Think movies, like “Wild, Wild West” or “Van Helsing” or “Sherlock Holmes.” Or, most recently, there was a steampunk Fame Factory used in the gala opening for the 52nd Grammy Awards telecast, featuring Lady Gaga and Sir Elton John. It’s all about modern ideas, with a salute to the industrial days of gears and levers. Check it out on line – it’s also a fashion term and it’s all about contradiction, and for RCC, that means an important organ – the heart – being operated by internal machinery.

The show parallels what happens to the heart in real life, taking a journey through the various stages of heart history, starting with intense activity, going through ‘arrhythmia,’ then a state of euphoria as the body moves towards the light (on it’s way to another world,) only to be ‘saved’ by defibrillation – a new beginning – all in 6 minutes. Without costumes and without movements 3 & 4 ready yet, the RCC juggernaut rolled in to Orange County, intent on taking the floor with confidence, enjoying every minute of their challenging – often odd metered – presentation. It’s a sophisticated project, filled with flashy effects (tenor feature), daring drill and wonderful interaction between front ensemble and battery that – once finished – will set new standards! Don’t miss it! Plan ahead – catch their act! After all, it’s the 10th!

Sunday, February 7th, 2010 | 12:17 pm