The Athlicians: Presenting Marching Band as High Performance Sport

Coakley and Donnelly (2009) argue that sports are “contested” activities – that is, what is considered to be a “sport” depends on who or what is doing the defining. In 2008, I worked closely with photographer Jan Rose as she documented the preparations and performances of the five-time World Champion Calgary Stampede Marching Showband before and during the internationally renowned Calgary Stampede. For my presentation, I would like to show the 8-minute photo essay (of music, images and a few captions) that she prepared from this work, entitled For the Band, and discuss how it reflects both the literal and metaphorical embodiment of musicians as athletes and marching band as high performance sport.