Choreography Services
Whether you need color guard choreography or movement choreographed for your musicians for the field or floor, let our team of experienced choreographers provide you with the digital tools you and your staff need to make your group successful this year! Contact us today to begin building your digital choreography package for your upcoming show!
MARKELL ALLEN
Markell Allen, originally from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, found his passion for Color Guard at a young age and has since grown to be an avid participant in the activity. Marching an array of groups including, Carolina Crown, Boston Crusaders, Etude Winter Guard and Pride of Cincinnati, his experiences have allowed him the chance to learn and grow as a performer and educator in the artform. As an educator, Allen has had the opportunity of teaching a multitude of groups, including many South Carolina high school guards, Indianapolis high school groups, Independent Winter Guards in the SC area and Legends Drum & Bugle Corps.
Allen has recently graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Graphic Design. He hopes his talents will help push the digital identity of the activity to new heights and create opportunities for more interpersonal interactions within our programs. Currently, he is a co-director of the River Bluff High School Guards, standing Guard Designer for Legends Drum & Bugle Corps and does design and choreography throughout the MIdwest and East Coast.
JEN BARTON
Jen Barton, a native of Greenwood, IN, just retired from the color guard director position at Rouse HS in Leander, TX, and is on movement & visual staff at the Music City Drum & Bugle Corps, and was recently the color guard coordinator at James Bowie HS in Austin, TX. This follows a 20-year career in the Carolinas, Georgia and Texas working with numerous scholastic and independent performing ensembles, including Byrnes HS, Origins Winter Guard, The Cast Winter Guard, Etude Winter Guard, Pacific Crest Drum Corps, Spirit of Atlanta Drum Corps and Phantom Regiment Drum Corps.. In addition, Jen is a freelance choreographer and consultant throughout the country - working both in-person and virtually to provide choreography and other design services.
As a performer, Jen has appeared with Santa Clara Vanguard and Northeast Independent (FL) Winter Guard. She has also performed with the Florida State University Marching Chiefs, ad astra per ASPERA Winter Guard, and CrownGUARD, as well as numerous band and orchestra ensembles in Indiana and Florida.
Jen earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Instrumental Music Education from The Florida State University in 2004, where she studied flute with Stephanie Jutt and Eva Amsler. She participated in Marching Chiefs, Concert and Symphonic Bands, Harmonie Chamber Ensemble, Tau Beta Sigma, Golden Key and Phi Eta Sigma honor societies.
Jen also serves nationally as a fall and winter adjudicator and has served previously on the Task Force, Classification and Education Committees for Texas Color Guard Circuit (TCGC). She lives in Spartanburg, SC and works at New Groove Artisan Brewery as Events, Merchandise, and Membership Coordinator.
Ricky Belz
Ricky Belz is from St. Augustine, Florida where he started his performing career with Nease High School. Currently, he is the director of the Color Guard and Winter Guard teams at Creekside High School. He has previously worked with programs within North Florida such as Nease HS, Oakleaf HS, and St. Augustine HS. Before taking on the role as director Ricky marched for UCF Pegasus Winter guard for 3 seasons from 2016-2018.
As a director, Ricky enjoys having the opportunity to teach and mentor young adults that have a passion for the “sport of the arts”. He hopes that he can leave a lasting impression within the local circuit through his visual and artistic style! It is his dream one day to evolve the activity into new directions creatively and visually.
ARIEL CARDENAS
Ariel is a native of Miami, Fla., whose interest in the marching arts began as a French horn/mellophone player. Ariel performed with DCI’s Magic of Orlando, Cavaliers (as part of the 2001 DCI World Class Gold Medalist corps), and the Alliance of Miami winter guard.
As an educator, Ariel spent 11 years as the guard director at Cypress Bay High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Under his direction, Cypress Bay Became a WGI World Championships finalist once in Scholastic A and three times in Scholastic Open, while also earning the WGI Fans' Favorite award two times in a row!
In 2014, Ariel relocated to Charleston, SC, to be the assistant director with the Summerville High School Color Guard where they became the 2014 State 5A marching band champions, 2015 silver medalists and a 2016 Scholastic Open Class finalist. In 2017 he accepted a part-time teaching position with the White Knoll High School color guard. He then became the director in 2018. Under his direction the fall and winter programs were two-time SCBDA 4A State Silver Medalists and a 2 WGI Scholastic A regional finalist.
In 2021 Ariel took over as Director of Color Guards at Lexington High School and led the team to becoming finalist at WGI World Championships.
GARRISON HILTON
Garrison Hilton is the former Director of Dance at River Bluff High School. In addition to teaching dance, he also served as the director of the color guard/winter guard programs and the competitive River Bluff Dance Company. Under his direction, his groups have gained recognition on a state and national level, including his winter guard programs circuit/state championships, multiple regional finals appearances, and an appearance in the 2022 world championship finals. His dance company earned numerous awards over the last few years, including three top studio awards at various competitions.
Before coming to River Bluff High School, Hilton was one of the dance educators at Pleasant Hill Middle School in Lexington, SC, and was the director of the color guard at White Knoll High School for nine and a half years. Under his direction, his guards won numerous overall champion trophies and were named winter guard circuit or state champions numerous times. In addition to being an educator, he constantly continues to better himself by continuing to perform. Over the last ten years, he has performed with numerous WGI, DCI, and DCA corps, including Capital Regiment Drum Corps, Carolina Crown Drum Corps, Etude WG, Phantom Regiment Winterguard, and CrownGUARD.
He obtained B.A. in Dance Education with K-12 certification from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC, and has most recently earned his M.A. in Dance Education from the University of South Carolina at Greensboro.
Aaron KAva
Aaron began his color guard career as a Freshman at Georgia State University for the 2016 Winter, Fall 2016, and Winter 2017 seasons. Immediately following, Aaron became a member of the Atlanta CV Drum and Bugle Corps in 2017, 2019 and 2021, where he was a part of the color guard when they won the High Color Guard award in his first two seasons. The winter of 2018 was his first season as a part of Divenire Youth Performing Arts family as a staff member, then as a member for 2019, and on staff again for 2020.
Aaron is now the Co-Director of Divenire’s Independent A Winter Guard, a 2 time WGI World Championship Finalist. He was also the director of the Thompson High School Color Guard, a 3 time WGI Virtual Finalist, 3 time SCGC Champion, 2 time Alabama State Champion, and WGI World Championship Finalist in Scholastic A. Aaron now serves as one of the Color Guard Directors for Pope High School in Marietta, GA as well as choreographing and teaching at programs and universities across the southeast.
Billy Pacifico
Billy Pacifico is an active educator and choreographer currently living in Suwanee, Georgia. He is proud to be the new Co-program coordinator and choreographer for the University of South Carolina Colorguard. He is also currently the Artistic Director for Edge Independent in Atlanta, Georgia. Billy has been on staff with the Divenire Winterguard out of Birmingham, Alamaba for three seasons now and continues to work with their program.
Billy is the previous director of Collins Hill High School. Under his direction Collins Hill HS was a WGI Scholastic A Class Finalist, a WGI Scholastic Open Class Finalist, and SAPA State Champions in 2010 & 2011. Other programs Billy is know for working with include Mill Creek HS(WGI SA and Open class Finalist), Paramount A (WGI IA World Champion), and Paramount Open (WGI IO Finalist) and Thompson HS (WGI SA Finalist). Billy has also choreographed for Stoneman Douglas HS Open (WGI SO Silver Medalist), Stoneman Douglas World (WGI SW Finalist & BOA Atlanta Super Regional Finalist), Gainesville Independent Open (WGI Finalist), Fahrenheit World, Alliance of Miami World, Greater Johnstown (NY) Open, Western HS, Coral Glades HS, and many more.
As a performer Billy is an alumni of The Cavalier Drum and Bugle corps in 2002. For his indoor experience Billy was accepted as a member of The Alliance of Miami Winter Guard. His membership at Alliance began during high school at the age of 15 and continued through his age out in 2002.
Julia Wakser
As an educator, Julia Wakser has spent 8 years working with various colorguard and winterguard programs throughout the Midlands of South Carolina. Currently, Julia lives in Lexington, South Carolina, working as Color Guard Director at Lexington High School. Under her direction, the Color Guard and Winter Guard groups have gained recognition on multiple occasions, on the state and national level, including circuit championships and multiple regional finals appearances. In 2022 she led the team as Assistant to the Color Guard Director, Ariel Cardenas, in WGI World Championships Finals.
Before coming to Lexington High School, Julia spent five years teaching the Color Guard at White Knoll High School, assisting the Color Guard Director Ariel Cardenas. Under their direction, the color guard and winterguard programs won numerous awards, receiving two-time SCBDA 4A State Silver Medalists and 2 WGI Scholastic A regional finalists spots.
In addition to her experience as an educator, Julia performed with The District Presented by Etude in 2018 in the show entitled “Woodwork,” earning the WGI Fans' Favorite award in the 2018 WGI World Championship Finals. In high school, Julia performed with The Bands of Wando in the colorguard and winterguard programs, earning first place at every state championship for which it has competed (2015, 17) and placed at BOA Grand Nationals Finals in each appearance (2014-7th, 2016-8th).
Julia received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications and her Master of Mass Communications from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. She hopes to continue spreading her passion for the arts and education in each of the programs she works with.