Jeff Fuchs<\/a>. \u201cI think with as much stimuli as we have in our world right now, for college bands, it\u2019s hard to stay fresh and current.\u201d<\/p>\nThese collaborative performances will take place during halftime of three upcoming UNC home football games\u00a0\u2014 Notre Dame on October 7, Virginia on October 14, and the Miami game on October 28 \u2013 and will include\u00a011 student dance groups, eight student vocal groups, the UNC Club Gymnastics team, and one unicyclist.<\/p>\n
Each performance will have its own unique theme. The Notre Dame game halftime show\u00a0will help kick off the university\u2019s \u201cCampaign for Carolina,\u201d the largest fundraising campaign in history by a university in North Carolina and the Southeast. For the Virginia game, the Marching Tar Heels will give fans a cultural experience with a Bollywood-themed performance. Lastly, for homecoming against Miami, the band will put on a circus-themed show.<\/p>\n
Fuchs said he was\u00a0inspired to add new\u00a0elements to the band\u2019s halftime shows\u00a0when former assistant band director Matt McClure resigned last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatt and I had worked together 13 years and talked about this concept many times,\u201d Fuchs said. \u201cWhen he resigned, I wanted to continue the work we had started and honestly, found pursuing this new approach to be very therapeutic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fuchs traveled around the country\u00a0last summer, learning about performance production and reimagining how the band could use the space in Kenan Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent time with producers on Broadway, I spent time with producers at Disney, I went to drum corps guys, [and I] went and saw the new \u2018Blast\u2019 show that\u2019s now touring in Japan\u00a0\u2014 they were doing it in Nashville, so I spent two days with them,\u201d Fuchs said.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0the Notre Dame show, singers and dancers will complement the marching band. The vocal groups involved include the music department\u2019s own Carolina Choir, Chamber Singers, and Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Glee Clubs, in addition to the Achordants, Clef Hangers, Harmonyx, Psalm 100, Tar Heel Voices, and the Tarpeggios. Dance groups that will also take the field include the\u00a0UNC Dance Team, Blank Canvas, the Carolina Style Dance Company, Carolina Vibe, Kamikazi, and O.A.S.I.S.<\/p>\n
For this performance, there will be four dance \u201cstages\u201d set up around Kenan Stadium. As the band plays Daft Punk\u00a0tunes, a different dance group will perform. Throughout the show, a pyrotechnics display will add a visual flourish. The performance will conclude with everyone on and off the field singing the alma mater, enhanced\u00a0by a 20-second fireworks finale.<\/p>\n
Carolina Choir will form\u00a0the core of the vocal ensemble singing\u00a0\u201cCarolina In My Mind\u201d and \u201cHark the Sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was wonderful to put all the singers together from all the different choral ensembles on campus,\u201d said\u00a0UNC\u2019s Director\u00a0of Choral\u00a0Activities\u00a0Susan Klebanow<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s not anything we\u2019ve ever done before. It was thrilling to hear [Carolina In My Mind] sung with so many great voices and with so much enthusiasm [during a recent rehearsal]. I can only imagine it will be all the more thrilling to sing the song on the field with the marching band.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe Bollywood-inspired halftime performance for the Virginia game\u00a0is nothing new for most of the marching band members.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had [the Bollywood show] ready to rock and roll last year for the Virginia Tech game,\u201d Fuchs said. \u201cThen Hurricane Matthew came in and we got six and a half inches of rain during the game, so we put it away. It was so good, we wanted to bring it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Indian dance groups working with the marching band to put on the cultural spectacle will be Bhangra Elite, Tar Heel Raas, and UNC Chalkaa. During the show, the three groups will be split up \u2014\u00a0one facing\u00a0the home\u00a0side of the stadium, one facing the away\u00a0side, and\u00a0one facing the student section.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should be spectacular with their colored costuming,\u201d Fuchs said. \u201cIt should bring quite a different look\u00a0to the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHalftime during the Miami game will feature the last collaborative show of the year for the Marching Tar Heels \u2014 the circus-themed show. The students and clubs involved for this show will include the UNC Club Gymnastics team and the last-minute inclusion of student-unicyclist Ryan Holmes, who Fuchs described as \u201csome dude riding through rehearsal one night.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the circus-themed show, the band will open with\u00a0a classic circus march, \u201cBarnum and Bailey\u2019s Favorite.\u201d Then the members of the gymnastics club will perform high aerials and vaults using two trampolines and a vaulting table on the field. The color guard will use rifles, hula hoops, and beach balls in their part of the performance.<\/p>\n
Long-time fans of the band might remember circus-themed shows around the turn of the century. The Marching Tar Heels performed a similar show back in 1997 and 2001.<\/p>\n
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