Like Mother, Like Daughter
By Michael Reed When Suzie Cambron was a clarinetist in the W.A. Berry High School in Hoover, Alabama in the early 1980s, little did she know years later her path would cross again with that of Band Director Steve Simpson, and she would never have imagined one day he would become a valuable influence for […]
A True Underdog Story: Azle High School Winds
By Caroline Meister Azle High School’s motto is: “achieving higher standards.” In their rookie 2018 season, Azle High School Winds won the Scholastic Open class with a score of 94.88, a solid three points ahead of runner-up Mill Creek High School. Needless to say, the group upholds the motto. Azle High School Winds originated in […]
Bluecoats Indoor Brings Sonic Dimension to Performances
Formed in 1966, the Canton, Ohio American Legion Drum and Bugle Corps partnered with the Police Boys Club to start up a new unit. The name “Bluecoats” was born in tribute to the police department’s retired officers as a nod to the designation as a program of the Police Boys Club. Since those humble beginnings, […]
WGI Announces Inaugural Costa Rica Event
WGI Sport of the Arts, the world’s leader in producing indoor marching arts events for color guard, percussion ensembles, and winds groups, today announced the first-ever WGI event in Central America. WGI Costa Rica will take place on Sunday, September 30, at the Olympic Village Desamparados in San Jose, Costa Rica in cooperation with Marching […]
Decade of competition leads to OC Indoor revival
By Kathryn Hardison They say change is a good thing, and that may be true, but it doesn’t come without its challenges. OC Indoor faced hardships this year that pushed the performers to work harder than they ever had before. For this Portland, Oregon-based group, change came just in time for its 10th anniversary of […]
The Standard Definition: Marching Arts
By Caroline Meister According to dicitionary.com, an athlete is a person trained or gifted in exercises involving physical agility and an artist is someone who produces works in any of the arts. When I searched marching arts in the search bar, nothing appeared. There’s no standard definition for the marching arts. That led me to […]
Recap of 2018 World Championships
We had an awesome 2018 WGI World Championships! With a record number of competing units, it was an exciting couple of weeks in Dayton. Take a look at the Finals recaps below to get a peek at what you missed. Color Guard World Championships Finals Scholastic A Independent A Scholastic Open Independent Open Scholastic World […]
Moving with Mama Mia
By Michael Reed On the same floor where guards performed and confetti cannons shot off after the World Class Finale hours before, approximately 500 eager students got up to attend a Master Class with world-renowned choreographer Mia Michaels. After three days of performances and a late night, it would be easy to excuse the young […]
WGI Signs Events in Asia
WGI Sport of the Arts, the world’s leader in producing indoor marching events, today announced a strategic partnership with the Asian Marching Band Confederation. A ceremony signifying the relationship took place at the University of Dayton Arena during the WGI Percussion and Winds World Championships happening this weekend. Also known as “the Marching Arts Power […]
Finals Recap of Color Guard World Championships
We had an awesome 2018 Color Guard World Championships! Take a look at the Finals recaps below for each class. Independent World Paramount (1st – 97.000) brought a unique performance to life. The floor was shades of nude which matched their unique uniforms. With resistance stretch bands incorporated into their uniforms, they beautifully utilized them […]
A New Type of Revolution: WGI Winds
By Caroline Meister The year is 2015. Winter Guard International has just announced a new category of competition, Winds. Fast-forward three years later – the year is 2018. The program has rapidly grown. With 48 Winds ensembles registered for World Championships and 65 groups competing nationwide, my curiosity was peaked. I wanted to know more […]
WGI Welcomes Mia Michaels for “Day After” Class
The WGI World Championships is excited to welcome back world-renowned choreographer and three-time Outstanding Choreography Emmy winner, Mia Michaels. Michaels recently confirmed she will conduct a “Mia Michaels Live” session for the “WGI Day After Educational Series”. This dance master class and motivational session will be held for up to 500 participants beginning at 10am […]
WGI Announces First Philippines Event
WGI Sport of the Arts, the world’s leader in producing indoor marching arts events for color guard, percussion ensembles, and winds groups, today announced that another international event has been added to their 2017-18 event calendar. WGI Philippines will be held June 22-24 in Manila sponsored by the Color Guard Alliance of the Philippines. The […]
Top Moments of 2017
This year was exciting for WGI as an organization. Take a look at the highlights below! # 1 – WGI’s 40th Anniversary 2017 was a special year for WGI as we celebrated our 40th anniversary! World Championships concluded with a Parade of Champions where past World Class Gold Medalists marched onto the floor with current […]
Devoted to the Arts – Marie Czapinski
By Jenny Lyons Over 40 years into its flourishing existence and still growing every year, WGI is the vision of six dreamers come to fruition. These visionaries saw color guard growing far beyond the trappings of the drum corps activity. They wanted to create an organization in which that growth would be made possible and […]
The Professors of Pageantry: Part 2
By Michael Reed Part II In Part I of our feature on collegiate guards, we looked at structuring the guard as a class or extracurricular activity, and methods successful guards use to recruit members. In Part II, we will discuss finding rehearsal facilities, rehearsal scheduling, being part of the local community, and the importance of […]
The Professors of Pageantry: College Guard Directors
By Michael Reed Part I One of the most welcome developments in the activity in the past decade is the growth of college and university-sponsored guards. In the few weeks that units have been able register for the 2018 WGI World Championships, over twenty college groups have already entered with more sure to follow. There […]
Rooted by Music
By Kathryn Hardison A forgotten computer, locked sound cart and held-up prelims performance turned into one of the Duncan family’s favorite memories performing in Inertia Independent Winds. “One of the lowest lows turned into the highest highs,” Ron Duncan, 49, said. The group experienced a time penalty and a rough start to their show when […]
A Center Grove Tradition
By Jenny Lyons On the eve of WGI Finals, Olivia Gooch sat with her mother, Julie, in the upper echelons of the UD Arena and talked about the looming prospect of finals night with giggly excitement. Her bright young eyes, still framed with vivid pink eyeshadow from her semifinals performance, lit up as she looked […]
City of Naperville Celebrates Howard and Victoria Mogil
WGI fans will most likely recognize Howie and Vicki from their longtime service at the WGI World Championships. For over 25 years, they have been raising money for the WGI scholarship fund and volunteering for their local color guard circuit. Their hometown of Naperville, IL honored them this past weekend as the Labor Day Parade […]
