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, […]
WGIcon 2019 Recap
WGIcon will return in 2021! On Friday, September 6, and Saturday, September 7, 2019, WGI launched the first-ever WGIcon in New Orleans! WGIcon is an educational event for all instructors, designers, technicians, and administrators of Percussion, Winds, and Color Guard groups around the globe. Featuring multiple motivational speakers and a Cirque Du Soleil® workshop, we heard […]
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 […]
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 […]
WGI in Latin America
By Jenny Lyons On May 11, 2019, one month after the final scraps of glittering confetti had been swept up from the UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio, a new chapter of WGI history was being written 3,504 miles away in the BN Arena in San Jose, Costa Rica. Outside, the balmy 85 degree heat hung […]
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 […]
Bellbrook Dads Build Bridges to Support World Guard
By Adam Adkins Being a color guard dad is a year-round job. Even more-so if you’re like Brett Woeste. Brett is effectively in charge of building the props for Bellbrook HS World Guard, a process that begins months before the kids even take the floor for the first rehearsal. For the guard’s 2019 show, “The […]
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 […]
Coronado: San Diego’s Newest Color Guard
By Mai Tran In the northwestern corner of San Diego, California, an 11-member guard rehearses on the blacktops of University City High School, braving wind and sun despite the “indoor” season. Instrumentals from the musical Bridges of Madison County play in the background, as director Greg Humphrey watches, scrutinizing choreography and technique. The inception of […]
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 Balancing Act: Academics & The Marching Arts
By Caroline Meister College students are notorious for living in a constant state of exhaustion and stress. They run from classes, to work, and to extracurriculars with barely any time to breathe in between. As a result, they perfect a necessary balancing act between their various responsibilities. Let’s raise the stakes. Not only are you […]
Norwin HS World Guard Reaches New Heights
By Adam Adkins Earlier in the 2019 season, WGI writer Adam Adkins had the opportunity to chat with Norwin World Guard Director Heather Shrump about Norwin’s unique show—”Out of My Mind”—one which incorporated live vocals from American Idol contestant Aubrey Burchell. With the culmination of Color Guard World Championships in April, Adam caught back up […]
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 […]
Recap of #WGI2019 World Championships
All roads lead here. Congratulations to all performers, directors, volunteers and staff for an amazing 2019 WGI World Championships! With over 350 competing guards and 250 Percussion/Winds groups, WGI’s 2019 World Championships saw a wide variety of spectacular performances. Take a look at the Finals recaps below to reminisce or get a peek at what […]
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 […]
Hall of Fame: William Harty
By Michael Reed Of the many men and women involved in drum and bugle corps and winter guard over the years, relatively few are honored in the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame. Even fewer are in the WGI Hall of Fame. Of those, an even smaller elite group is enshrined in both Halls of […]
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 […]