18th
Some Thoughts on the Baton Twirling
So, it was mostly chaos yesterday at the AYOP event. Girls in sparkly costumes everywhere. Amazing little portable dressing tents lined up in all the walkways. Team names like Utopia, the Stepperettes, Julie’s Silver Something-or-other. It made me remember our main rivals in the twirling world when I was a member of the now-defunct Sparklettes: Daphne’s Dolls. They won everything. I remember one year they wore little sexy cowboy costumes and did some sort of country-western routine.
Anyway, we eventually found the Show Twirl competition, which took place in a dumpy auxiliary gym in the basement of the Joyce Center. Here, girls (and one boy) used props, multiple batons, and kicky music themes. Some were terrible. Some were great dancers but not particularly giften twirlers. Some were amazing twirlers but had terrible footwork. It was all very fascinating. One girl in the age-18 category did a fascinating jungle-themed routine that seemed to get inside the minds of the rest of the contestants, who all followed with badly-conceived, badly-performed routines, despite the fact that she wasn’t a necessarily gifted twirler. The one male twirler, competing in the age-17 category, was an insanely talented twirler, doing moves that no one else was trying, rolling the batons across his body in intriguing ways. And no props, which was refreshing.
So overall, it was weird and quiet. Evan and I were the only non-family spectators at the Show Twirl event, which made us feel a bit pervy and exclusive at the same time.
YES, BETH, WE OWNED THAT FUCKIN’ CLUB.
W/ FOTOS AND MY OWN TAKE TO FOLLOW.
