TROUPE HISTORY
Emerald Twirlers was formed on March 5th 2003 in Beccles, by Pauline Major (troupe leader), and her daughter Michelle Mingay (coach/trainer). We have since opened another branch in nearby Lowestoft which opened in July 2004.
Michelle is a qualified coach for the BBTSA, and occasionally Pauline helps out watching the younger or new recruits, making sure they are doing what Michelle has taught them.
Michelle has been twirling since 1981, but has only been registered with the BBTSA since 1989.
THE HISTORY OF BATON TWIRLING
The history of baton twirling is sketchy, most of it coming from guess or hearsay, and its actual origin is unknown.
The most popular guess is related to the colourful Swiss flag-swinging, which came to the USA when the Dutch settled in Pennsylvania.
Another is that it originated at a college in Mississippi. There, shortly after the Civil War (1861 - 1865), the well-known Major Millsaps founded a college. His "lady athletes" were called majorettes, and its possible that this is how the modern-day majorettes got their name.
Major Millsaps
However, we do know that the art of baton twirling is relatively new.
In the 1800's, boys were mostly drum major's (the leader of a band), using a large baton, more commonly known now as a mace, to give signals and commands, to indicate the beat and tempo of the music, and sometimes other impressive gestures and movements.
In 1890, a boy won a prize at a country fair which he gave to his girlfriend. It was a pair of drum major figurines (one male and one female). Somebody saw what a girl might be able to do as well as a boy.
In 1893, at the World's Columbian Exposition, in Chicago, there was a performer called Hudji Cheriff. He was an Arabic gun twirler, and using a rifle, Hudji performed a twirling routine that resembled a baton twirling routine done by a much more recent majorette. It involved two-handed and one-handed twirls and movements that any modern-day twirler might be able to recognize and name.
He was so interesting, that in 1899, Thomas Edison preserved his performance on an early film movie. Hudji was also filmed doing an acrobatic knife juggling routine.
http://www.open-video.org/details.php?videoid=4741&surrogate=fastforward&PHPSESSID=5697aa46689fe6d72e3651253d7aaffc You can use this link to go to the web page that shows Hudji Cheriff doing his gun twirling routine that Thomas Edison captured (the movie is extremely fast and is best viewed by keep pressing the button that looks like | > from the beginning of the clip).
Rifle twirlers and spinners were a definate influence.
In that same era in the theatre, you could have seen performers twirling canes, parasols, and just about anything else. As live theatre came along before movies and tv, these ideas would certainly have influenced some people.
In the late 1800's, cigar smokers could buy a brand called "Drum Major". The brand labels would feature a picture of a drum major, and sometimes a picture of a female drum major.
Some suggested that in the early days, the reason there weren't many female twirlers around was because the batons then were more larger and heavier than present-day batons.
Girls in the late 1800's and early 1900's in drill and gymnastic teams and groups, would use apparatus similar to today's rhythmic gymnastic athletes. the way the girls used the apparatus, could have included twirls and anything else that could be done with a baton. More ideas and more foundation for the modern art of baton twirling.
The name drum-majorette is the name often used for a female drum major. Photos of a parade in Denver, USA, in the very early 1900's include a lady on a horse in front of a marching band. She is identified as possibly being a drum majorette.
That same parade also had an all-female marching band, dressed in ankle-length dresses. There were few such bands like that around at that time, and they'd be sure to include a lady drum major.
In 1927, Ed Clark went off to start a baton-manufacturing company and turned a pool cue into a baton for his daughter Kitty Clark. She was a drum major with a high school band. Girl drum major's were then known as the more feminine term of drum majorettes, which were then shortened to majorettes.
Those terms are still in use today as well as drum major girls, baton twirlers, twirlers, or baton girls. For some people, "drum majorettes" is still the preferred term, and is sometimes shortened to "drummies".
In September of 1927, The Mansfield Fair, Pennsylvania, features performances by juggler Johnnie Reilly. Johnnie was also a drum major and was advertised as "The High-Throwing Baton Juggling King". Advertising for the fair included a picture of him leading a band. One of the Drum Major cigar brand labels actually showed a drum major throwing his baton into the air.
Flag twirling, which was popular in Europe, is another rumour for the origin of baton twirling. It probably played a part for some of the earlier twirlers. Sometimes, flag twirlers still accompany some present-day bands.
All the sticks, knives, flags, poles, and anything else that has ever been twirled, swung, or juggled, has gone into the making of the modern twirling and strutting majorette. Twirling anything that could be twirled, always seemed to be such a natural thing to do.
Twirling is often compared to juggling. Is there really much difference between juggling and twirling? Or is twirling another form of juggling?
In the late 1930's, the majorette made her debut when band directors decided to increase the audience appeal of the marching band by adding a twirler or two.
The role became so popular that high school girls from all over the USA wanted to participate.
Shorter, lighter batons were developed for the rash of female twirlers that were springing up.
Through the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's, more and more girls became majorettes. The involvement of girls and young women made twirling a more graceful, and artistic form of self-expression than it ever had been before.
Increased sports opportunities have led to the decrease in popularity of baton twirling, in the terms of people taking up the sport.
Baton twirling has developed into a sport which combines dance and gymnastic techniques, with the skills of baton twirling for both male and female athletes, given the opportunity to develop a variety of skills.
Twirling competitions can be traced right back to Chicago, in 1935.
Books explaining how to twirl a baton have been published since at least 1930. Cover illustrations on twirling books in the 1940's started showing male and female twirlers together. By the end of the 40's, the covers were showing only female twirlers. Twirling was becoming more of a girl's activity, but not exclusively.
Early twirling teachers were mostly men, but twirling was becoming so female-orientated that some people would think of a male baton teacher as a strange idea.
There are a lot of twirling organizations around the world that have done a lot to promote twirling as the good and worthwhile activity that it is.
Majorettes can now be found strutting and twirling in countries around the world, and have become more popular in some places than where they first started.
A number of major twirling organizations are working towards the goal of introducing baton twirling as an Olympic event. Some twirling enthusiasts question why rhythmic gymnastics, with ball, rope, ribbon, and clubs, has become a popular Olympic event, while baton twirling still has not gained acceptance.
Countries that are part of the World Baton Twirling Federation (WBTF)
Country Hosts for the WBTF
1980 Seattle, USA
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 St. Paul City, Minnesota, USA
2006 Rome, Italy
2007 Unconfirmed
2008 Dublin, Ireland
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