Carol Abohatab brings four decades of performing, teaching, and choreographing to WGI, training and choreographing for the Santa Clara Vanguard winter guard for its 11 year tenure, as well as Bluecoats Indoor, San Jose Raiders World guard, and Emerald Marquis. Shes had the opportunity to play with many others, some of which include Northview High School, Arcadia, Mission Viejo, Miamisburg, Palm Desert, as well as Fantasia, Pride, and Opus 10.
Color guard prompted her to further explore dance, and she has spent a significant amount of her time in the activity refining dance techniques, helping to make them a genuine part of color guard choreography. I turn, this has helped make color guard a respected part of the dance world. Carol earned both BS and MFA degrees in Dance Performance, Choreography, and Physical Education. She then formed the Vanguard Dance Company, which allowed aspiring dancers in the color guard world to dance side-by-side with professionals.
Carol has studied with and performed in the works of Janice Garrett, Li Ciao Ping, Joe Goode, Alwin Nikolais, and Murray Louis, and has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in New York City. She currently teaches Modern, Jazz, Choreography, Repertory and Improvisation at San Jose City College, and Yoga and Pilates at Evergreen Valley College. With her solo endeavor, OpenSpacesDance, which is based on gesture, improvisation, and story telling, she has completed four artist- in-residence programs in Italy, and is currently completing her fifth with a site-specific video project for Slow Road, in conjunction with La Macina di San Cresci and the University of Florence.
Carol has been on the WGI Steering Committee since 2009, and has published a dance training video set available on wgi.org.
Rob Billings has been a designer, choreographer, drill writer, teacher, and adjudicator in the pageantry arts for over 25 years. Most notably, Rob served as the guard caption head, drill writer, and choreographer for the Blue Knights Drum Corps 1996-2008, guard designer and choreographer for the Santa Clara Vanguard D&B corps 2010-2011, and the Phantom Regiment, 2012-2014, last summer he spent with the Madison Scouts. Rob is the director and designer for Opus 10 winter guard, and he was the artistic director, and designer for Oracle winter guard. He also serves as the artistic director for OPE dance company in Denver.
Jeff Bridges currently resides in Greenville , South Carolina. He is starting his 40th year as an instructor and designer. He served 4 years as an A and Open class Representative on the advisory board for WGI and the steering committee and currently is a WGI winds judge. He also judges guard, percussion and winds for various circuits around the United States. He also spends time judging marching band for various states where he has judged numerous state Championship events . Jeff also is a designer for many high school bands across the country including the states of Texas, Florida , Mississippi, Illinois, Georgia as well a South Carolina. Producing multiple State Champions and finalist as a designer, instructor or consultant.He proudly serves as the designer and consultant for Somerset Academy marching band and winter guard In Pembroke Pines Florida.
Jeffs drum corps experience as a member was with the Crossmen in the years 1980 and 1981 . He has taught and designed for Florida Wave, The Colts, Spirit of Atlanta, The Troopers and Southwind. While with The Colts from 1990 to 1997 Jeff served as the Visual caption head and designer helping guide the corps to its first DCI finals in 1993. In 2000, Jeff became the director of the Crossmen where he served them for 2 years marking the return of the corps to top 8 in 2001.
Jeff served as President for the South Florida Winter Guard Circuit for 10 years . He currently instructs or consults with winter guards .His time with those units has produced 2 WGI Scholastic A Class champions, A class multiple time Finalist and 3 scholastic Open class multiple time finalist and 1 independent A and Open class finalist at WGI championships and regionals. He proudly has been voted into 3 Hall of Fames with The Colts Drum and Bugle Corps, South Florida Winter Guard Association and most recently with the Florida Marching Band Coalition.
Dean Broadbent is a graduate of Western Connecticut State University. Prior to coming to Flanagan in 2001, Mr. Broadbent taught music at Samuel Staples Elementary School in Easton, Connecticut. He marched from 1990-1992 in the Connecticut Hurricanes senior drum and bugle corps and with the 1993-1996 Cadets of Bergen County. Mr. Broadbent has teaching experience with the 1997 Boston Crusaders, and with the Cadets from 1998 to 2002 (including a year as the Color guard caption head in 2001) and 3 DCI World Championship Titles. Mr. Broadbent returned to the Boston Crusaders from 2004-2006 and has returned to the Cadets in 2009 & 2010. Other color guard teaching experiences include Danbury HS, Connecticut from 1994 to 1998, Norwalk HS, Connecticut from 1998 to 2001, the 2001 St. Anns World bronze medalist, 2002 Braddock Independent as well as the Southern Knights Winter Guard from Brighton, England from 2006 to 2012. Mr. Broadbent currently is working on program coordination for the Colts Drum and Bugle corps for Debuque, Iowa.
Mr. Broadbent has been the Director of Color Guards at Flanagan High School since 2001. Since then, Flanagan has received the Scholastic Open Bronze medal in 2003, State Color Guard Champions in 2004 & 2006 as well as WGI Scholastic World Class Finalist since 2004. They are the South Florida Winter Guard Association Champions for the last 15 consecutive years, longer then any other school in South Florida history. In 2008 & 2012, Flanagan was named the WGI Scholastic World Champions, 2013 & 2015 Scholastic World Silver Medalist and in 2009 and 2011 the WGI Scholastic World Bronze Medalist. Flanagan was also the 2012 recipient of the WGI Scholastic World Fans Favorite Award. Mr. Broadbent currently serves on the South Florida Winter Guard Association Board, SFWGA Judging Administrator, WGI Advisory Board and WGI Board of Directors.
In 2013 Mr. Broadbent was inducted into the South Florida Winter Guard Association Hall of Fame.
Christian Delmotte is the director, designer and choreographer for the Brigadiers Winter Guard and has been since its revitalization in 2011. Under his leadership, they have been WGI finalists 7 out of 8 years, having been rewarded with a WGI Independent Open Bronze medal in 2018 and promoted to the Independent World Class. Some previous accomplishments include being the designer and choreographer for Emanon Winter Guard from 2005-2008 (Independent A class finalists 2005-2006 and Independent Open finalists 2007). Christian has also choreographed, designed, consulted and taught for dozens of scholastic winter guards, marching bands and DCA drum corps in NY, NJ, CT, & PA in his 25 years in the marching arts.
Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, Michael Gaines grew up with the pageantry arts all around him. His career started with his Independent World Class color guard, Escapade, and his alma mater Carroll HS, both from Dayton, OH. Over the years since then, Michael has taught many WGI groups, including Pride of Cincinnati, Aimachi Color Guard, Aimachi Percussion, Aimachi Winds, Carmel HS, Center Grove HS, Miamisburg HS, Choctawhatchee HS, Centerville HS, and many more. Michael was inducted into the WGI Hall of Fame in 2007.
In addition to his work for WGI groups, Michael designs for marching bands around the country, including several Bands of America National Champions, as well as theatrical stage shows such as “Blast! The Music of Disney.”
From 1998 to 2011, Michael was the drill designer and Visual Coordinator for The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps, and served on the design team for all 7 of their Drum Corps InternationalWorld Championship titles. He is currently the Creative Director for Vanguard Music and Performing Arts, as well as Visual Designer for the 2018 Drum Corps International World Champion, Santa Clara Vanguard. In 2011, Michael was inducted into the DCI Hall of Fame.
Michael currently resides in San Francisco, CA.
Shavon Garcia is the founder and current director, designer and a choreographer and instructor for Imbue Winterguard of Modesto, CA. With Imbue, she oversees the program design and artistic vision. She also heads up the movement program from training to choreography. As an equipment choreographer, she has helped establish Imbues noteworthy blend of body and equipment and their unique artistic nuance and style.
Prior to Imbues success as a World Guard, the program existed as an IA unit that received a bronze medal in 2005 (Fever WG). The group ventured through the Open Class, then onto the World Class. Shavons journey with Imbue through each class offers a unique area of expertise navigating through any classification.
Shavon has worked with several successful scholastic teams, most recently in the A Class with Clovis North High School, from 2014 through 2016. She was also a technician for the Beyer High School World Guard from 2002 to 2005, and was the director of the program from 2006 through 2008. Shavon is also familiar with colorguard at the collegiate level, as she served as the Director for the CSU Fresno Colorguard for 6 years.
Shavon has a broad frame of reference working with all types of teams within a variety of roles throughout the past two decades. She has experience and can offer advice to units within any classification or level. She is happy to lend an eye for anything from overall design, to choreography to the finishing touch detail.
In addition, Shavon works with the Blue Devils Colorguard during the summer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and enjoys working in rehabilitation and mindfulness. She has served on her local winterguard circuit board as Vice President for 10 years and she currently serves on the WGI Steering Committee and the WGI Board of Directors. Shavon also has experience as a winter guard adjudicator.
Brian Giddens brings a rich set of instructional experiences in winterguard and the marching arts. Having been actively involved in directing, designing, consulting, choreographing, and instructing for 28 years, Brian has led or collaborated on projects with numerous programs, most notably Chimeras Winterguard (2004 WGI Independent Open Class World Champion and 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 WGI World Class Finalist); Kennesaw Mountain High School (2004 WGI Scholastic A Class World Champion, 2005 WGI Scholastic Open World Champion, 2006 Scholastic World Finalist); Pope High School (2008 WGI Scholastic A Bronze Medalist, 2009 WGI Scholastic Open Bronze Medalist) Georgia State University Winterguard (2014 WGI Independent A Class World Champion) and many others.
Brian is a program, staging, choreographic, visual designer, as well as an adjudicator and consultant for winterguard and marching band programs. He has also been involved in circuit administration for 20 years, currently serving his second term as President of the Board of Directors for the Southern Association for Performance Arts. (SAPA) and his first year of service as the A/Open Representative to the WGI Steering Committee. His involvement over the years has afforded him the opportunity to collaborate, interact with, and learn from, some of the most respected people in the activity. Brian maintains relationships with many of his past collaborators and colleagues today, working to build new relationships, and considers many of his mentors to also be good friends.
His life outside of pageantry consists of his home in Montclair, New Jersey, and the thing about which he is most passionate: being husband to his wife Jennifer of 14 years, and father to his 11 year old daughter McKinley, 8 year old son Maddox and toddler Mays.
Brian Greenleaf joined the Centennial Band Staff as Guard Director in 2005. Prior to coming to CHS, Mr. Greenleaf has been the Color Guard director for the Haltom High School color guard program. The Haltom color guard has been a consistent medalist in the North Texas Color Guard Associations Circuit Championships, as well as a Winter Guard International finalist. Prior to coming to Texas , Mr. Greenleaf was the Color Guard Director for The Union Public Schools in Tulsa , Oklahoma where he administrated and taught over 100 students in grades 6 thru 12.
Mr. Greenleaf has been active in Marching Band, Winter Guard, and Drum and Bugle Corps as a designer, technician, clinician and consultant since 1989. In addition to public school teaching, Mr. Greenleaf has instructed the Suncoast Sound Drum and Bugle Corps, the Black Gold Drum and Bugle Corps, and has served as the caption head for the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps. Mr. Greenleaf also founded the five time WGI finalist. Black Gold Winter Guard from Tulsa , Oklahoma.
Mr. Greenleaf is the past President and 1st Vice President of the Mid-America Performing Arts Association. He is credited with the significant growth in membership and quality of the Association during his presidency. Mr. Greenleaf is also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and Kappa Kappa Psi.
Mr. Greenleaf hasservedon the Executive Board of the North Texas Color Guard Association, as well asthe Winter Guard International Advisory Board andSteering Committee to the executive board.
Louis Hellinger is a lifelong New Jersey resident and has over 25 years of performance, design and instructional experience for winter guard, drum corps, and marching band. Louis has designed, produced and choreographed successful color guard shows that have been competitive on the local and national level.
He began his passion for the color guard activity quite humbly in a local independent guard and drum corps, from his hometown of Bayonne, NJ. Later, he was a member of the renowned Emerald Marquis color guard from Wakefield, Ma. Louis is currently the designer and choreographer for the AMP Winter Guard, from Camden NJ, who was a 2018 World Class Finalist and the 2017 WGI Open Class Champion. Previously he founded the West Orange High School winter guard, where he spent 12 years as the creative director and designer.
Additionally, he has had the privilege to work with a number of wonderful programs over the years, including: Cypress Independent (TX), The Black Watch (NJ), The Blue Knights (CO), Sacred Heart University (CT), The Madison Scouts (WI) and a number of high school marching bands and color guards throughout the NJ area. In addition to all of this competitive experience, Louis has also been a proud member, performer, designer and choreographer for the NY Flaggots for over 20 years.
A native of Virginia, Jennifer Hinshaw has been immersed in dance since the age of three. Childhood ballet, jazz, tap, and baton classes cultivated a love for dance that became Jennifers life work. In May of 2003, Jennifer received her Bachelor of Science in Dance Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Since attaining her Dance Education degree, Jennifer has worked diligently to pass on her passion for dancing. She has founded and directed both the Wake Forest-Rolesville High School Dance Department (2003-2006) and the Avon High School Dance Department (2008 -2016). Currently, she is on staff with the Avon High School Guard program and Lexis Winter Guard.
Jennifer has been involved in the color guard activity since 1995. She has been privileged to work with many outstanding organizations such as Carolina Crown, The Cavaliers, First Flight Winter Guard, Lexis Winter Guard, Carmel, Center Grove, Marcus and Northview.
Jennifer resides in Danville, Indiana with her husband Richard and their three children, McKinley, Coleman and Annalise.
Marc Lentsch is the Director of Winterguards for the Jamestown Public Schools. He also serves as Director of Bands at Persell Middle School and Assistant Director of the 2014 and 2015 State Champion Jamestown Marching Band. His pageantry experience of 25 years includes marching band, drum corps, and winterguard. His drum corps experience includes marching with Jersey Surf and instructing with Teal Sound. As a winterguard director of 14 years, his groups have captured numerous circuit titles as well as the 2013 Scholastic A Silver Medal. He is the founding director of the 2013 Independent A Gold Medalist Luminosa and served as the A & Open representative of the WGI Steering Committee during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Marc received degrees in music education from The Florida State University and University of Delaware. He lives in Jamestown where he directs and instructs all four Jamestown winterguards and designs for one of their JV guards.
Michael Lentz has designed for Winter Guards, Drum & Bugle Corps (DCI World & Open Class & DCA), Indoor Winds, HS Marching Bands and Stage Productions including a show at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Michael has designed WGI Finalist units in all six WGI Classes including 9 WGI Championship Units. Michael recently became a costume designer with a notable design company that produces costumes for all marching pageantry arts.
Michael has been a clinician for numerous indoor & outdoor circuits all over the United States and is currently an independent adjudicator. Michael is a previous adjudicator for DCI & BOA, judging at the DCI World Championships Finals multiple times. Michael was the Education Director and Chief Judge and first President for the Ohio Indoor Performance Association (2007-2017)
Michael has been the Director and Designer of Onyx for the past 30 Years and he loves to travel, design and create with groups all over the United States. Some of these groups include UCF Pegasus World, Emanon World, Winston Churchill HS, Lincoln-Way HS, Marian Catholic HS, South Shore Drill Team, George Mason University, Stonewall Independent, White Sabers Drum & Bugle Corps, Boston Crusaders (Animal Farm) & many more. Michael focuses on concepts, staging & drill design and production.
John Leonard, a native of Chicago, began his dance studies at the North Carolina School of the Arts and received his Bachelors of Arts with honors in dance from Columbia College of Chicago. Leonard continued his dance studies at Arizona State University where he was a graduate student and teaching assistant on scholarship. Leonard has performed with the Cavaliers and Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps, Field of View and Pride of Cincinnati winter guards, Ludwig Dance Theatre, and the national and Japan tours of the Broadway show Blast.
A teacher and choreographer for nearly twenty years, his work has been seen in most of the fifty United States and even abroad in places like Thailand, Indonesia, Italy, and Japan. Mr. Leonard is in his ninth year as director of the Scholastic World Marcus Color Guard program, and has worked with distinguished organizations such as Fred J. Miller Clinics, Phantom Regiment, Santa Clara Vanguard, Crossmen, First Flight, and Field of View. Locally, Leonard served five years on the North Texas Colorguard Association (NTCA) executive Board in various roles such as: Secretary, Vice President of Color Guard, and two years as President. Leonard recently completed a two-year term on the WGI Color Guard Steering Committee as the A/Open representative.
Randy Nelson is a Lifetime Member of the Florida Bandmasters Association after serving as the Director of Bands at Choctawhatchee HS in Fort Walton Beach, FL for 26 years. The Choctawhatchee Guards were 28 time SW Class Finalists. He is a member of the Winter Guard International Hall of Fame and a Past President of the Winter Guard International Board of Directors. Randy is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Florida Marching Band Coalition. He has adjudicated for Bands of America, Winter Guard International, Drum Corps International, ISSMA, CBA and served as Chief Judge for the Western Band Association.
Randy attended Jacksonville State University where he received his degree in Music Education. He is currently a freelance designer and clinician for bands and winter guards residing in Jacksonville, FL.
Tim Pierce has a broad range of experience in design for the visual and performing arts. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Music Education from The University of Southern Mississippi and a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from Mississippi College. He is a former marching member of The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps. His professional career began as a band and choir director in Mississippi and has continued as teacher, consultant and/or adjudicator in twenty-two states. He has judged for Bands of America, The Gulf Coast Judges Association, The New York Federation of Judges and worked thirteen years for Winter Guard International. He has adjudicated show choir, church choir, cheer and dance at the state and regional level since 1979.
Mr. Pierce is the owner of Signature Designs, Inc. He has designed for programs in Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Kentucky. During this time his groups have accumulated twelve state titles, finals placement in BOA regional championships, twelve state indoor color guard titles as well as finals placement in WGI regional and World Championships. Mr. Pierce was program co- ordinator for The Mississippi Lions All-State Marching Band in 2001 and 2002 as well as The U.S. Army All-American Marching Band in 2010 and 2011. He has designed for bands appearing in both The Macys Parade and The Rose Parade. Mr. Pierce has served as Program Consultant for Music City Drum Corps, Visual Co-ordinator for The Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps and Program Co-ordinator for WGI Independent World Class finalist Cypress Independent Color Guard.
Keith Potter began his pageantry career in high school as a saxophone player and drum major for Center Grove High School in Greenwood, IN. After graduation, he became a drum major instructor at FJM clinics and later went on to join the Cadets of Bergen Countyas a member of the color guard from 1991-1993. He also performed with The Pride Of Cincinnati and Escapade winter guards during this same time period.
Once wrapping up his performance career, Keith quickly turned to education and design and has been serving as a color guard or program designer, at some capacity, for over 25 years. His previous design work includes: Carroll High School, Center Grove High School, Avon High School, Carmel High School, The Cadets of Bergen County, The Cavaliers, and Escapade Winter Guard. Most recently, Keith was the Program Designer at Carolina Crown from 2009-2016 and currently works as designer/director at Center Grove High School and on the design team with The Pride of Cincinnati (since 1997).
Potter, a graduate of Indiana University, lives in Indianapolis, IN with his 3 wonderful children and an awesome wife! While maintaining heavy involvement in the pageantry arts, Keith also built a 13-year career in the Architecture and Interior Design industry as an Account Executive in commercial wallcoverings, a Market Development Manager in commercial furniture, and eventually as VP of Architecture and Design Sales for IdeaPaint, based out of Boston, MA. Two years ago, Keith (with family support) decided to make a go of a full time pageantry design business, Keith Potter Design. It has been challenging but rewarding and Keith is now able to focus all of his energy into doing what he loves.
Rosie Queen has been working in pageantry since 1983.
Carmel H.S. 2003- 2019
WGI SO Champion 2007
WGI SW Champion 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017
BOA Grand Nationals Champion 2005, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018
Pride of Cincinnati 1997- present
WGI IW Champion 2001, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2016, 2017
Bluecoats Indoor 2018, 2019
-WGI Flag Fun-damentals , WGI Toss, WGI Technique Class Sabre educational videos
– WGI Spinfest and WGIcon clinician
-Director, Technician, Designer, Producer of top programs around the country
-Equipment/Technical/Training expertise
I have helped many teams in A, Open, and World make their shows better in a variety of ways: more cohesive design, drawing focus more clearly, making performers stronger, ideas to enhance your overall design, pre-season planning, etc.
Christopher Raichle is a native of Boston, Massachusetts where he first became involved in the marching arts as a member of the Boston Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps. A WGI color guard instructor since 1980, he has been a member of the design team at Blessed Sacrament Color Guards from Cambridge, MA since 1986, and is currently a member of their board of directors. Chris has taught numerous Drum Corps,College bands, High School bands, and Winter Color Guards throughout his marching arts career resulting in several national and international titles. Chris is a member of the Massachusetts Judging Association and holds a degree in Architectural Design from the Boston Architectural College. Chris is currently a project manager for the design/build firm Haycon in Boston.
Currently Judging for the following marching arts associations:
DCI – Drum Corps International
WGI – Winter Guard International
DCA – Drum Corps Associates
NESBA – New England Scholastic Band Association
MICCA – Massachusetts Instrumental & Choral Conductors Association
MBDA – Maine Band Directors Association
CGN – Color Guard Netherlands
ISSMA – Indiana State School Music Association
WBA – Western Band Association
Currently Teaching/Consulting the following marching arts groups:
Blessed Sacrament World Guard – Program Director
Blessed Sacrament Open Guard – Consultant
Sensation Performance Ensemble – Consulting
Scott Snell has been involved in the marching arts for the past 34 years as a performer, instructor, designer, clinician and adjudicator. Most notable Scott has been the Program Coordinator for the Shenendehowa Colorguard program located in Clifton Park, NY for the past 22 years. The program at Shen currently has 4 competitive guards with over 60 students, competing at the Regional A, A and World levels. Shen also has an intramural program for 4th graders and a program for students with special needs. During Scott’s time at Shen the Varsity level guard has grown from the A level, through Open class and currently competes at the World Class level. This experience has allowed Scott to see first hand the challenges that accompany growth and how best to tackle those challenges each day. In addition to overseeing the Shen program Scott has sat on the WGI Advisory board 5 times, has been a clinician for NYSSMA, the Mid-York Colorguard Circuit and NYS Federation of Contest Judges, held the position of Vice-President of the Mid-York Colorguard Circuit 2004-2018, President 2018-present and also works as an adjudicator for the NYSFCJ in the captions of Field Visual for marching band and equipment for winterguard. Over the years Scott has reached out to many people in the colorguard community who have been very helpful in regards to a wide range of questions and now is excited and honored to have the opportunity to help others in any manner possible.
Rick is the director and designer of Paramount Winter Guard in Atlanta, GA, the WGI Independent World Class Color Guard he founded in 2011. He has also been the artistic director of the Georgia State University Color Guard since 2012.
In addition to his roles with Paramount and GSU, Rick has designed and choreographed for many prestigious independent and scholastic color guard programs including the Emerald Marquis, Blessed Sacrament Winter Guard, Juxtaposition Winter Guard, The Academy Winter Guard (UK), Chimeras Winter Guard, The Knights (UCF) Winter Guard, Phantom Regiment Winter Guard, Seminole High School, Miamisburg High School, Kennesaw Mountain High School, Kell High School, Greater Johnstown High School, Lassiter High School, Westfield High School, Harrison High School, South Forsyth High School, and River Ridge High School.
Rick has also choreographed and designed for many successful drum corps including the East Coast Jazz, The Cadets, Magic of Orlando, the Crossmen, the Bluecoats, and Phantom Regiment. Rick has most recently designed and choreographed for the Santa Clara Vanguard, where he has spent the last six seasons.
Rick began his life in the pageantry arts in 1992, in the brass section of the Cadets of Bergen County. After graduating from high school, he joined the Emerald Marquis Winterguard in 1995, where he performed for five seasons. He also spent two seasons in thecolorguardof the Blue Devils, and one season with the BrassTheatre(Star of Indiana/”Blast”).
Andy Toth has been an active participant of the marching arts community as a performer, choreographer, judge, and clinician for 25 years. As an internationally recognized choreographer, Andy has been awarded the opportunity to design for numerous drum & bugle corps, marching bands, and winter guards throughout North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. He was a member of the design team and choreographer for The Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps from 1998-2015, and was a marching member for two years prior. In his 20 years with The Cavaliers, Andy and his team led the group to the DCI championship title an unprecidented 5 times between 2000-2006, as well as 4 color guard caption awards. In 1999, Andy had the distinct honor of performing as an original cast member of the Emmy and Tony award-winning production of Blast! in London’s West End. He continued his role on Broadway in New York City until the show’s closure in 2001. Most recently, his work can be seen in the BOA community with such marching band titans as Carmel (Indiana) HS and Ronald Reagan HS and on the drum corps field as visual coordinator for the 2018 DCI champion Santa Clara Vanguard. During the winter months, Andy serves on the WGI Steering Committee as well as designs for Pride of Cincinnati winter guard (20 years from 1999-present) and Carmel (Indiana) High School winter guard (2008-present). A great deal of admiration and gratitude is owed to the teams of artists that Andy has had the priviledge of collaborating with on these projects.
On a personal note, I would like to thank you for your interest in having me work with you and your team. I think the idea of 1 on 1 is invaluable and whether its design, choreography, technique, or simply a person to bounce ideas off of, Im happy to help.
Michael Townsend began his performance career in North Carolina and his performance experience includes, The Cavaliers color guard 1996 2000, The Company 1998 and 1999, Crown guard 2000, and Pride of Cincinnati in 2001. Michael then spent a year as an original member of the first U.S. National tour of Blast!
Michael currently resides in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife and two children, where he is the program coordinator for the Carmel High School Marching Band and a color guard designer for Avon, Carmel, Center Grove, and Northview High School Marching Bands and Winter Guards. He has been choreographing and designing for these programs since 2004, which has resulted in 16 WGI scholastic world-class medals and five BOA grand national championships. In addition to these groups, Michael travels the country as a designer, choreographer, coordinator, and consultant for numerous Marching Bands and Winter Guards. Since 2012, Michael has been a designer at the Pride of Cincinnati WG. In that time Pride has added two world Championships to their impressive history.
During the summer, Michael has been the driving force behind the Carolina Crown Colorguard since 2003. Always a crowd favorite, highlights for Michaels time at Crown include Crown winning the DCI world championships in 2013 and The George Zingali award for best color guard in 2016. As a member of the design team, Michael was the color guard caption head as well as the primary designer and choreographer. For the past three summers Michael has also served as the program coordinator for The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps resulting in their first ever appearance in finals at DCI world championships and some truly memorable shows.
Daniel Wileshas been teaching for over 30 years in the world of pageantry, and has been involved in Drum Corps and Color Guard since as early as he can remember. He resides in Avon, Indiana with his wife Sarah, and their beautiful children Olivia, Aidan and Brennan. Daniel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary English Education from Indiana University. Daniel was a member of the Cavalier Cadets from 1980-1984, and The Cavaliers from 1985-1989.
For the last 20 years, he has been the Visual/Program Coordinator and Color Guard Director for Avon High School. Avon HS is the 2008, 2009, 2010 Bands of America Grand National Champion and has been in the Top 3 since 2007!Avon High School World Guard is the 2009, 2018 & 2019 WGI Scholastic World Champion and has been in the Scholastic World Top 5 since 2002!
Daniel Wiles is the Artistic Director for the Cavaliers drum and bugle corps and has been for the past four years. He helped orchestrate the ascension of the Carolina Crown Drum & Bugle Corps as their visual coordinator from 2003-2008, and assisted in putting The Troopers back in finals as their visual coordinator from 2008-2010. In 2012, Daniel was the Visual coordinator/Drill designer for the Bluecoats. From 2002- 2004, Daniel served as a member of the WGI instructor task force. He has been a member of the WGI Advisory board for over 25 years! In 2019, Daniel was honored to be elected into the WGI Hall of Fame!
Brian Winn, a native of Rock Hill, SC, began his performing experience in the marching arts playing trumpet and performing in his high school winter guard. After graduating, he began his drum corps experience marching in the color guard at the Capital Regiment in 2004. He then went on to perform with the Phantom Regiment in 2006 and 2007, where he aged out. In the winter seasons, Brian performed with tude Winter Guard from 2005-2007 and Phantom Regiment Winter Guard in 2008.
Brian has had the honor of teaching and designing for various programs including East Lincoln High School, The District Independent Winterguard, and Tampa Independent. He is currently the color guard director at Marvin Ridge High School and Etude Winter Guard. Brian also serves as an at-large member of the Executive Board for the Carolina Winter Ensemble Association. Brian taught on the color guard staff for 5 years at the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps where he served as a caption head in 2017. Currently, Brian is a choreographer at the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps.
Brian received his degree in Dance Education from Winthrop University and continues to stay active in the dance community in North Carolina. He has performed professionally with Plexus Dance and Caroline Calouche & Company, where he trained, performed, and taught aerial dance as well as contemporary dance. Additionally, he was cast in Martha Grahams Panorama where he had the honor of working with former Graham dancer, Kim Jones. As a strong advocate for lifelong learning, Brian continues to train with various professional teachers and studios locally.. He spent 9 years teaching dance in the public schools and just finished 7 years of teaching on the dance faculty at Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, NC. Currently, Brian is pursuing his MFA in Dance Choreography at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.