Tim Newburn returns to Phantom Regiment to head up a four-person choreography team in 2015.
The team, which will work under the guidance of visual coordinator Jude Boughton, also includes Phillip Traini, who returns for his fourth season on the Regiment color guard staff, as well as Justin Sullivan and Curtis Uhlemann.
Newburn previously was a guard choreographer with the corps from 2000 to 2002. More recently, he had been program coordinator for Blue Knights for several seasons. He is also the founder and director of Cypress Independent Winter Guard, which has been a WGI Independent World Class finalist since its inaugural season in 2010.
”I am so honored to be returning to Phantom Regiment”, said Newburn, who is the color guard director, program coordinator and drill writer for both Langham Creek and Cypress Ranch high schools in Houston. ”I have such fond memories of my previous tenure and am excited to continue learning from this exceptional collection of artists and professional educators.”
Joining Newburn to do the choreography are Traini, Sullivan and Uhlemann.
Traini has been with Phantom Regiment as a designer since 2012. He has many years of teaching experience including Cheshire High School 2001-09, St. Johns winter guard 2003, Trumbull High School 2009-present, Alter Ego 2009-present and Boston Crusaders 2005. Trainis marching experience includes both Connecticut Hurricanes and then 5 years as a member of the Cadets color guard, where he was guard captain his age-out year. He has marched with St. Anns, Blessed Sacrament and Alter Ego winter guards.
Sullivan is the color guard director at Cedar Park High School and the assistant director at Round Rock High School. He previously worked at Santa Fe and Nease high schools in his home state of Florida. In addition, he was on Spirit of Atlantas guard staff from 2011 to 2013. Sullivan also was the director and head designer for River City Independent, an Independent A and Open guard from Jacksonville, Fla. He is an alumnus of both Spirit of Atlanta and Cavaliers as well as Northeast Independent Winter Guard. He serves on the color guard task force for the Texas Color Guard Circuit.
Uhlemann is a dancer who grew up in New York and has been performing and choreographing around the world. He has a bachelors degree in modern dance/dance science and injury prevention from Brockport College. Focusing mainly on choreography, he has studied with Susannah Newman, a former dancer with José Limón Company, and designer and costumer Peter Garrow. While at Brockport, he received a full scholarship to the American Dance Festival at Duke University.
He previously worked for Cadets and is one of the creators of ARCOS Dance, where he is the artistic director. Uhlemann and his co-directors at ARCOS were recently awarded residency at three prestigious programs for the 2014-15 season: Playa Fellowship in Oregon, UCROSS Foundation in Wyoming and Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska.
”Jude, John (Leonard, the guard caption head) and I have all been friends for many years and have all had previous experiences at Phantom Regiment,” said Newburn, who serves on the WGI Board of Directors. “It is so exciting to finally all be under the same roof at the same time.”