Baton twirling
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section may require restructuring to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page. This article has been tagged since December 2006. |
Baton Twirling has been a popular activity and sport for many years, and is regarded as a completely different activity to majoretting by baton twirlers, who regard twirling to be a sport.
American twirling organizations include United States Twirling Association [1](USTA), National Baton Twirling Association [2] (NBTA), Twirling Unlimited (TU), Drum Majorettes of America [3] (DMA),[4]World Twirling Assosiation, the UKFM, [United Kingdom Federation Of Majorettes] and more. Two of these organizations hold World Championships. USTA is a member of the WBTF, and NBTA holds its own world championships. The two most prominent organizations are USTA and WBTF.
The sport is popular in many countries including Japan, Australia, Canada, United States, Brazil, South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Spain, Holland, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and the Seychelles. Many of these countries compete at the WBTF World Championships, held in August every year. Many also compete in the NBTA World Championships, held every 3 years in April.
Contents |
[edit] Competitive baton twirling
Drum Majorettes of America is a smaller organization, but very similar to the other organizations. It offers the same events (Solo, Strut, Two Baton, etc.) Along with other competitions, nationals is held annually in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. DMA does not offer a world championship.
The National Baton Twirling association is one organization in competitive baton twirling. Throughout the year there are many local, state, and regionals competitions leading up to Nationals (AYOP: America's Youth on Parade) in South Bend, Indiana at The University of Notre Dame every year and a worlds competition every three years in new locations each time. Events include: For Individuals at nationals- Solo, 2-baton, 3-baton, X-Strut, Rhythmic Twirl, Show Twirl, Modeling, and a three part pageant, Miss Majorette including solo, X-strut, and modeling. For Worlds: Solo, Two Baton, Rhythmic Twirl (freestyle), Strut, Duet, and Team
The World Baton Twirling Federation also hold local, state, regional, and National competitions in the Baton Twirling world every year. Members from over 22 countries come and compete in the World Baton Twirling Championships and the WBTF International Cup, which are known as the most pretigious events in the baton twirling world. The 27th WBTF World Baton Twirling Championships were recently held in Rome, Italy, along with the 2nd WBTF International Cup.
Individual Twirling routines include: Solo, Fancy Best Appearing, Military Best Appearing, Fancy Strut, Military Strut, Basic Box Military Box, Dress modeling, Show routines, Multiple baton solo (two, three) and more.
The World Championships have the following events:
| Freestyle | Senior Women & Men, Junior Women and Men | A solo event accompanied by a compulsory/short programme event |
| Pair | Senior & Junior | Made up of men and/or women |
| Team | 6+ members | Men and women can compete together |
The International Cup Championships have the following events:
| Event | Description | Levels | Age Divisions |
| Solo 1 | one baton solo routine to set music | A and B | Junior, Senior and Adult |
| Solo 2 | second baton solo routine to set music | A and B | Junior, Senior and Adult |
| Solo 3 | third baton solo routine to set music | A and B | Junior, Senior and Adult |
| Team | 6-8 Members | A and B | |
| Group | 9+ Members | A and B |
Since 2005, the two competitions have been run concurrently over a week. In 2009, the competitions will begin running separately, with the International Cup falling on uneven years and the World Championships on even years. New events such as Freestyle and Pairs across different age levels and divisions will then be added to the International Cup, in a manner similar to the current Solo events.
The following cities have previously hosted the competitions:
| 1980 | Seattle | USA |  |
1st World Championships |
| 1981 | Nice | France |  |
|
| 1982 | Tokyo | Japan |  |
|
| 1983 | Milan | Italy |  |
|
| 1984 | Calgary | Canada |  |
|
| 1985 | Frankfurt | Germany |  |
|
| 1986 | Turin | Italy | |
|
| 1987 | Paris | France | |
|
| 1988 | Nagoya | Japan | |
|
| 1989 | Lausanne | Switzerland |  |
|
| 1990 | Texas | USA | |
|
| 1991 | Padova | Italy | |
|
| 1992 | Paris | France | |
|
| 1993 | Den Bosch | Netherlands |  |
|
| 1994 | Toronto | Canada | |
|
| 1995 | Geneva | Switzerland | |
|
| 1996 | Genova | Italy | |
|
| 1997 | Hawaii | USA | |
|
| 1998 | Lyon | France | |
|
| 1999 | Daytona Beach | USA | |
|
| 2000 | Den Bosch | Netherlands | |
|
| 2001 | Villebon sur Yvette | France | |
|
| 2002 | Saskatoon | Canada | |
|
| 2003 | Badalona | Spain |  |
|
| 2004 | Osaka | Japan | |
|
| 2005 | Minnesota/St. Paul | USA | |
1st International Cup begins running concurrently |
| 2006 | Rome | Italy | |
|
| 2007 | Hamilton, Ontario | Canada | |
|
| 2008 | Limerick | Ireland |  |
last year both competitions will run concurrently |
| 2009 | Sydney | Australia |  |
1st lone standing International Cup |
[edit] Famous Baton Twirlers
[edit] Current World Champions (World Baton Twirling Federation)
Senior Women: Chiho Honjo
Senior Men: Toshimichi Sasaki
Junior Men: Keisuke Komada
Junior Women: Tomoe Nisigaki
Team: France
Senior Pair: Japan
Junior Pair: Japan
[edit] Current NBTA World Champions
[edit] Senior Women
Solo- Karrissa Wimberley
Strut- Bobbie-jo Solomon
Freestyle- Danielle VanScoyk
Two Baton- Karrissa Wimberley
[edit] Junior Women
Solo- Danielle Cobb
Strut- Danielle Cobb
Freestyle- Danielle Cobb
Two Baton- Chelsea Russell
[edit] Pre-Teen
Solo- Kristin Scali (USA)
Strut- Melissa Cox (USA)
Freestyle- Kristen Scali (USA)
Two Baton-Kristin Scail (USA)
[edit] Juvenille
Solo- Savannah Miller (US of A)
Strut-Alexa Wisener (USA)
Freestyle- Rebecca Lantz (USA)
Two Baton- Savannah Miller (USA)
[edit] Junior Boys
Solo- Matt Freeman (USA)
Freestyle- Tihomir Bendelja (HR)
Two Baton- Kevin Vaitilingom (FRA)
[edit] Senior Men
Solo- Gerben Helden van (NED)
Freestyle- Cyril Martin (FRA)
Two Baton- Donovan Sarr (USA)
[edit] Famous Champions/Podium Finishers
Annetta Lucero (USA), Stacey Singer (CAN) (Seven Time World Champion: 1985, 1988-1993), Seishi Inagaki (JPN), Mark Nash (USA), Leah Holliday (CAN), Chiharu Tachibana (JPN), Karrissa Wimberley (USA), Jason Lee (USA), Bridgette Bartley (USA), Melissa Marcus (USA)Jennifer Marcus (USA), Hollie Neilson (CAN), Echosaisis Clark (USA), Noriko Takahashi (JPN), Chiara Stefanazzi (ITA),Marci Papadopoulos (USA), Bertrand Royer (FRA),Alysha Depp (USA), Akemi Kimura (JPN), Kellie Donovan (USA), Jenny Hannah (USA), Shuichi Kawazu (JPN), Danielle Cobb (USA), Michelle Smith (CAN), Jenna Jemieff (CAN), Danielle VanScoyk (USA), Bobbie-jo Solomon (USA), Sean Wimberley (USA)Dale White (USA), Cathy Fujimi (USA)
Other Notables: Cindy Goldie (CAN), Elisa Johnson (USA), David Doyne (IRE), Kathy Hewitt (ENG), Jennifer Spooner (AUS), Ilona Van Hogeloon (HOL), Casey Berry (CAN), Angel Escuin (SPN), Chelsea Bissonette (CAN), Xavier Papin (FRA), Brenda Bennett (CAN), Stephanie Hart (CAN)
