Rehearsals are now underway for the 2009 Black Knights production and already it is looking to be a good year for the corps.
Although there have been some rehearsals over the first couple of months of the year, the corps started full rehearsals from the beginning of April and have been working at a fantastic pace.
The first couple of weekends have been extremely productive with the number of members up, new faces marching their first season with BK and still more enquiries from interested members and staff who are looking to get involved with Black Knights 2009.
April 19th also saw the corps perform in the Gravesend St Georges Day Parade, which was a great opportunity for the corps to showcase their talents to the local community and generate further interest in the corps.
Black Knights never close the door to interested parties and there is still time to be part of BK09 so if you would like more information on how to be part of something special email Rus on info@blackknightsuk.com
New Director for Black Knights 2009
Black Knights Drum and Bugle Corps have this week appointed a new Corps Director. Rus Rogers will be taking over the role following the departure of Ken Mansfield.
Ken made the difficult decision to stand down as corps director following changes in his personal circumstances, which would have made it very difficult to commit his time and effort to running the corps. Rus will be taking over the role with immediate affect.
Rus has been involved in the Marching Band / Drum Corps activity in the UK since 1983 and has been involved in Black Knights since 1994.
His first action was to appoint two other directors to work alongside him, and they take the shape of Steve Muzio and Paul Richards, whom together with Rus have worked for the past year as the Black Knights Development Team.
In that time they have managed to raise the profile of Black Knights both inside and outside the UK marching arts activity, arrange high profile gigs such as the Pasta Hut TV Commercial, Samsung Omnia Internet Commercial, and a performance with Leona Lewis at the opening of the new Westfield Shopping Mall in London. They have also established the BK Kids Music Club, which continues to grow week on week.
Steve will now take on the position of Assistant Corps Director as well as continuing his role as the Youth Development Officer for Black Knights and Paul will continue as the Chairman of the Trustees, but will also now be the Chairman of the new BK Supporters Association.
Over the past year have worked closely together to drive the corps forward. We are very happy with the progress the organisation has made and look forward to ensuring Black Knights continue to offer it’s members great experiences in years to come.
We’d like to thank Ken for his hard work throughout his tenure and wish him and his family well for the future. We look forward to seeing him at rehearsals throughout 2009”
Black Knights Open Westfield in London
Black Knights will be performing in another televised event this week, as they take part in the grand opening of Westfield in London.
Westfield, which opens this Thursday will be the largest in-town shopping and leisure destination in Europe and to celebrate it’s opening a huge opening show has been produced. The show will be kicked off by London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson and will feature fashion shows and performances from celebrities and major recording artists.
The event is to be televised by ITV, BBC and Sky and is the latest in a line of commercial gigs the corps has taken part in this year.
December 2008 Show for 2009
Starting in 2009 the Senior Corps will begin learning their 2009 summer show. This year the music is taken from the hit film “Moulin Rouge”. The music will be arranged by Joe Rodwell through consultation with Rus Rogers and Steve Blakeley.
The Cadet Corps will also begin learning the music for the 2009 summer show. The music for the Cadets will be taken from the “Lion King”.The Kids Club will also be having fun every week with a theme of “Music from around the World!”.
Your Opportunity to Appear with Black Knights
in New Pizza Hut Commercial!!! (August 2008)
Following the success of the Samsung Viral video, which has now had over half a million worldwide hits on YouTube, the Black Knights from Gravesend in Kent are to appear in a new TV commercial for Pizza Hut.
Management from Black Knights today sealed the deal to provide a Drum Corps for the commercial, which is filming over 2 days at the beginning of September.
This is the next in a series of exciting opportunities that the management of the corps have developed for their members, however this time we are opening the opportunity up to other interested parties.
Obviously, members of Black Knights will have first refusal at the available spots in the commercial, however should spots become available we will be happy to include people from other bands or corps. Spots would potentially be available for marching percussion, brass and colour-guard.
So if you are interested in appearing in a TV commercial for Pizza Hut with the Black Knights, we want to hear from you.
You must be available on the following dates :
Saturday 30th August – 1 till 6 at Black Knights HQ in Gravesend, Kent – Rehearsal and Uniform Fitting
Tuesday 2nd September - – 4pm till Midnight – Watford - Filming
Wednesday 3rd September – 4pm till Midnight – Watford - Filming
To register your interest, please email info@blackknightsuk.com with the following details by Monday 25th August.
Name:
Address:
DOB:
Current Corps / Band:
Section of corps:
Instrument(s) Played:
Mobile No:
You must have your own transport, or be able to arrange to get to necessary places by road. Unfortunately, due to legal restrictions we are unable to offer this opportunity to anyone under the age of 16.
We will be contacting people during next week to confirm if additional spots are available and whether we would like for you to attend the rehearsals.Any additional enquiries should be forwarded to info@blackknightsuk.com
Samsung Internet Viral featuring Black Knights now online!!!
The internet advert for Samsung Omnia featuring members of Black Knights is now online.
The video is a spoof unboxing of the product, which the members spent the day filming in studios in London. It was a great experience for the members, certainly a change from your regular drum corps appearance.
Thomas Michael Voss, the Choreographer for the project commented “Having worked with the 'Black Knights' on the Samsung Omnia shoot I have to say: These Guys Rock!
Besides the music and marching I was very impressed by their professionalism, discipline and dedication on and off screen. They were focused, reliable and very funny. It was a great pleasure and experience working with the corps and I only wish there are many more occasions to follow.”
