From an Americanos press release:
The Americanos enjoyed a very successful December camp in the Menasha/Appleton/Neenah, Wis., area from Dec. 27 to 29. All sections of the corps rehearsed movement and playing fundamentals. A full brass line and two drum lines enabled the corps to ensemble their opener, "Da Le Yaleo." Staff and members are very excited about the potential the corps holds in the upcoming season.
Program coordinator Michael Fogarty said, "I am excited about the high level of talent of the kids and the great amount of progress were able to make in two days. I am also excited about our staff. We're generally a young staff, but we are all talented, experienced, and very excited about what we do. I'm confident that it will be a turning-point summer for the Americanos."
The corps hopes to march up to 50 brass players. Positions are still available in brass, percussion and guard.
The Americanos' 2004 show is loosely based on rhythms inherent to different dance and music styles in Latin American communities, including son, rhumba, bembe, merenge, songo, samba and musica axe. The opener is Santana's "Da Le Yaleo." The middle production will include Arturo Sandoval's "Rhythm of Our World" and Tommy Olivencia's "Aha Uhum." The corps will close with Daniela Mercury's "Sol de Liberdate."
Corps rehearsals and other information can be found at canos.org. The next camp is from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 in Cudahy, Wis., at Cudahy High School.
To attract new pools of prospective members, brass caption head and band director Janelle Ewing is hosting a Texas Americanos Brass and Guard camp at her high school on Feb. 28 and 29. Please email her at AmericanosBrass@aol.com for more information.
The Americanos' baritone line.