michaelgaines

Aimachi Color Guard will be returning to the WGI World Championships in 2009! Following a successful appearance by the Aimachi Percussion Ensemble at the 2008 WGI World Championships, Aimachi has made the decision to bring their winter guard back to Dayton for 2009! This time, however, there will be some new faces among them. Kiyokazu Sekine, the director of Aimachi, made a remarkable gesture of international friendship. Upon learning that Pride of Cincinnati would be taking a season off, Mr. Sekine graciously offered a home in Japan for a handful of the most recent Pride cast so that they could perform as members of Aimachi for the 2009 season. Mr. Sekine said, " This opportunity will give both Pride and Aimachi a big benefit. By inviting some Pride members to Aimachi, our members can learn many things from them, because the level of their technique and strength is top in the world. On the other hand, the Pride members will learn many cultural differences, and see the beauty of western culture by coming to Japan. We are honored to get this wonderful opportunity." Aimachi and Pride have a long history of friendship. Not only do they have common staff members, but several Aimachi members have performed with Pride of Cincinnati. In fact, with the exception of one season, Pride has been the home to performers from all over Japan every year since 1997. A designer for both Pride and Aimachi, Michael Gaines explained, " This is such a wonderful situation for both organizations. Once they determined the exact number of Aimachi members that would perform, they realized that there would be room to invite a few members of Pride. We made the decision to invite 6 young men who would complement the great passion and joy that are witnessed in a performance by Aimachi. The experience for the guys from Pride will be a once in a lifetime opportunity that will allow them not only to perform with the top winter guard in Asia, but to immerse themselves in the beautiful Japanese culture for a few months. Aimachi has been so wonderful in presenting them with this opportunity. I am excited to see the energy that this combination of performers can bring!" Charlie Gumbert, director of Pride is excited for the Pride members. "I am so grateful that Aimachi is giving some of my kids this remarkable experience. This allows them to continue their performing career during Pride's year off, and experience a different part of the world at the same time. I can't wait to see them at WGI in April!" WGI has been expanding its international presence more and more over the last few years. This is yet another example of how winter guard brings people together from all over the world with a common love of performing. Without WGI, these two groups would never have known each other. Now these passionate performers, from both sides of the Pacific, will be sharing the stage as Aimachi 2009!

We are talking about bringing them over for the 09 season, but nothing is set in stone yet. After the percussion ensemble left Dayton, they went back to Japan, and then left on a performance trip to China. So they've been kind of busy! 2009 is a possibility though. Thanks for the nice words! Michael