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The One About Twirling Championships
114 Plays4 months ago
Join our hosting panel as they talk about all the National Twirling Championships. From Twirling Unlimited to USTA and even NBTA, we have all the inside scoop you are looking for. Our hosts bring you their stories, plus news, guests, and so much more!
Special Guests
Marissa Pierce - @mpierce11
Kim Jones - @kimberlyelyjones
Meet our Hosts
Jackie Brown - @spintronixguard
Stephen McCarrick - @stephenmccarick
Cindy Barry - @leandermomma
Nicole Younger - @o2bnpjs & @thecookoutcg
Trevor Bailey - @t_pain151
Trish O’Shea - @trishdish1002
Beth Beccone - @bether7189
Chris Rutt - @wildhornbrass1
Cynthia Bernard - @cynthiabern
Ashlee Amos - @famousamossss_
Theo Harrison - @harrisontheo07
Stephanie Click - @stephanieclick
Whitney Stone - @dancerwhit
Justin Surface - @J_dex07
Ashley Tran - @itsashleytran
Jack Goudreau - @goudreau_
Bill Woodward - @remoking100
Emily Nee - @tch.makes.art
Ricardo Robinson-Shinall - @ricardorrobinson
Austin Hall - @Austin_hall10
Jose Montes - @joeymontes57
Bobbey Biddle - @bobbeyboy107
Music provided by leydamusic.com Follow him @josh.leyda
Avatars provided by @tch.makes.art
Featuring
Lexi Duda - Host for On A Water Break In Rhinestones - The Stories of the Twirlers @lexi_duda
Thank you also to @guardcloset
#marchingband #colorguard #dci #podcast #onawaterbreak #wgi #drumline #twirling #nbta #nationalbatontwirlingassociation #USTA #twirlingunlimited #majorette #starsandStripes
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Episode
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, everyone. We're back with another week of exciting rehearsals. This week, we're talking all about baton twirling national championships and plenty of other twirling news. We'll also find out what made Trish say, Your style's never really been my thing, but I will tell you this. I'm starting to like come around on them. And why Ashley said, OK, that is literally nothing in comparison to twirler costumes. Nothing. If they only knew. All this and more, so get out on the field and we'll see you back on the sidelines for this week's episode of On a Water Break. Eight off the Met and go. Welcome to you On a Water Break. The podcast where we talk everything. Marching Arts. Everyone's bringing it. It's time for a water break.
Meet the Hosts and Their Interests
00:00:56
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of Season 2 on a Water Break, the podcast where we talk about everything you and your friends are talking about at rehearsal on a water break. I'm Nicole Younger. We're here in this exciting rehearsal. This week, I just got back from my small stint with the Academy. um I feel like I haven't done this in a really long time, so if I look uncomfortable, it's because I am uncomfortable. um but the Thank you. yeah um But also I'm ready to jump back into this and jump into the world of twirling. I have a bunch of questions. Before we get into that though, let's see who's on the sidelines this week. Ashley?
00:01:38
Speaker
Hey, how's it going? Hey. It's also been a long time since I've been on. It's been like, I don't know, probably a month, maybe more. Right. So I'm really excited to be back on too. So Nat, get back together. Well, not all of us, but yes. It's good to see you back again, though. That's really oh my gosh. And then Trish. Hello. Hello. Hello. You have been the woman about on a water break. You think? I think so. How have you been? Good. Good.
00:02:12
Speaker
Good. Seeing a lot of drum corps shows, I'm sure. Just a lot of all age in open class. um I just haven't seen a lot of ah world class in person yet, but they keep it up on flow, stayed up late and watched flow last night.
Introducing Special Guests: Kim Jones and Marissa Pierce
00:02:28
Speaker
Boy, that was exciting. no That was a big night on slow. Well, this is going to be kind of different from what we've had before, Ashley. So um since the show is about everything twirling and or all things twirling, um we have some very special guests with us. ah First, I would like to introduce Kim Jones. And then we have... And then we have Marissa Pierce.
00:02:59
Speaker
not You guys can always like do a little wave or something too because we put this on YouTube um Since i'm a majority of this is Ashley's expertise too. I'm just gonna let you know and We're gonna give it to her in a moment. However, we want to learn more about both of you So um I'll just go with Marissa first. We do this thing called the 32 count life story. I know we've already talked about this I hope you're ready to go. We'll make faces when you get down to the time but um When we're ready, 32 counts, eight off the Met and then you're in. You ready? You got it. Hopefully I get the Met right. We'll point to you. How about that? I like that. I like it. all it Sounds good. All right, here we go. Now done.
00:03:44
Speaker
I grew up twirling. I have been twirling for 19 years, competitively. I've traveled to six international competitions, four World world Championships, two international cups, and a Grand Prix, winning five gold medals, two silver, and one bronze, representing the United States. I twirled at Michigan State University for the past four years and am a recent graduate. I'm also the 2023 U.S. State Collegiate National Champion, and I twirled with wheat and dance twirl teams for the past seven years. And yeah, that's a little bit about me. Hopefully that was 32 counts, but I love twirling and I'm so excited to be here.
00:04:17
Speaker
That was pretty good. That was pretty on beat. That was like all the counts. She's like, here I go. And that was awesome. All right. And um next we' all i we also have um Kim Jones. Hey, Kim. How are you? Hey. Hey. Good. How are you? Good. So we did catch you up on the 32 count life story. All right. You did. Yes. You think you're ready? um I guess, yeah, sure, let's do it. Just jump in. All right, here we go.
00:04:51
Speaker
and
00:04:54
Speaker
All right. 32 counts. I was born. I started twirling at the age of seven. I dibble dabbled into team twirling as well as solo twirling. I then switched over to color guard. I marched drum corps. I started having lots of babies who then also started twirling and doing drum corps. And I'm back in the twirling world now with my youngest child who is twirling. So I'm hoping I can bring a little bit of like ex-twirler now parent to the twirling world of what's happening. and
00:05:25
Speaker
yeah let's do it let's we got right on it it's I always get so nervous for everyone when they're doing it because I'm just like I want to listen but I'm also counting. so that's hard it's hard your life and thirty pluss right a Black feature, 32 counts. Awesome. Okay. So like I said before, I wanted to make sure that we, you know, um Ashley is heading this because like I said, I have questions and I already
Insights into Baton Twirling Competitions
00:05:54
Speaker
have my list. So um I will go ahead and ah bounce it on over to Ashley for this. Yeah. So there's been a lot happening the past few weeks and and still to happen in the next few weeks in the twirling world. So
00:06:13
Speaker
For those who don't know, july July is pretty much the month of the national championships for multiple organizations within the baton twirling community. so Like, like Color Guard, it's not just WGI, like there's several circuits, like there's local ones, there's like a couple main ones um that a lot of people participate in. um The ones that we're going to be talking about are um Twirling Unlimited, um which is based in Ohio, um and then USTA, which is United States Twirling Association, and then NBTA,
00:06:58
Speaker
which is national baton twirling association. So they all have different rules um and guidelines for each other, but basically from a lay person's point of view, USTA allows gymnastics and BTA doesn't. USTA has a lot of like fundamental elements that they incorporate into their ah competing aspects. And they're called compulsories, so like you have to pass different levels of of compulsories in order to move on to the next level of competition.
00:07:42
Speaker
so I think that's like a real key thing in what makes them unique in their organization. Okay. um And you've got some results, actually. I do. we have there's So last week last week was USTA Nationals and this past weekend was Twirling Unlimited Internationals. So with so like everything is happening all at once.
00:08:14
Speaker
Marissa, was that where you were? but ah Yes, I was at USTA Nationals, but my mom's baton group, Spirit baton, was actually at Twirling Unlimited ah Internationals in Canton. so i've But I've competed there the last, I don't know how many years of my life, um the whole my whole life, I guess. I'm very up to date with what happened there, as well as at USTA, just because it was important to my mom's kids and I was making sure they were on task, you know, you got to make sure they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. So yeah I was at USTA though. um And Kim, where were you? I was at TU. I was out in Canton. Oh, okay. So then like you all can give us like results that came out of all those competitions.
00:08:58
Speaker
Let's get into that.
00:09:15
Speaker
All right, so let's get into the results of all of those competitions that happened. um I guess whoever would like to go first. Actually, Kim, let's go ah with you. Let's see how Twirling Unlimited did. um So Twirling Unlimited was a three-day whirlwind of a lot of solo competition, as well as um I think there was close to about 200 team events that happened on Sunday. 300. yeah Yeah, it was crazy. It's crazy. So we'll get into like the craziness of what a twirling competition entails probably a little later in the conversation. So my youngest daughter, I was there as a parent with my youngest daughter competing. um She did some group stuff as well as solos and duet events. um And so her and her duet partner did walk away with an international title.
00:10:12
Speaker
um so So yes, they did very well. um Her team also was a senior ah champions for their twirl team. So um yeah, it was a successful weekend. She enjoyed herself. I enjoyed myself. I enjoyed watching all the different things. It's crazy though. If you're not you've never experienced a twirling competition, you have to at least go to one once in your life. It is something that you will sit there and wonder how anyone gets to where they need to be in the right time. it is
00:10:54
Speaker
crazy. And Ashley about and Marissa Price both can, you know, talk through that. But it definitely is something that you will never see in any other any other like sporting event or competition, the way that they divide the lanes, you've got to figure out, you know, who's going when it it's it is quite, quite the circus. So yeah so like at Especially at nationals, there's always like different ah different rooms at the venue that's hosting different competitions or different events of the competition. So at TU, there were um three rooms that were holding events going on. The main convention center oh had 15 individual lanes going at one point.
00:11:45
Speaker
So 15 judges, they the tables are placed in the middle of the floor. And this is the same with every other um nationals. NBTA, there's like, ah I don't know, like six different rooms with things going on. The lanes are placed in the middle of the room. And the judges sit in the middle of the room, the twirlers are on both sides of the floor. And there's another room where things are happening as well. So like there's just so many things going on. And especially at TU, there's a lineup posted of what events are happening on which lane and like maybe a rough timeline of what time that they're going to happen. but
00:12:32
Speaker
not everything is always going to work out perfectly as a contest director might think it would work. but Can I just interrupt for just a second because you said I'm picking up on some things but 15 judges And you have someone twirling for each judge. So there's only one judge that's giving a number for each person when they're going, right? Typically, for individual events, there's usually one judge, unless it's like a ah championship or like a grand national event or a pageant event, then there might be two. So when they play music,
00:13:18
Speaker
How does that work? I mean, if
Experiences from Recent Championships
00:13:20
Speaker
you've got 15 people, spinning like you know twirling. So the individuals, the there isn't, well, so there's different events that happen. So there's, we'll start. Well, we don't have to go deeper into this. but' going to get but know that that's kind has question Let's just say by the end of the day, like John Philip Sousa March is ingrained in your brain. It just goes and goes and goes. Okay. Stars and Stripes forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. We'll come back to this. then I'm sorry. Go ahead with your results.
00:13:56
Speaker
Yeah, so we'll just do like a quick rundown of what the main ah individual results were at TU. So there was the Miss TU majorettes, which is um the pageant that they have there, which involves the individual music event, which is where you perform to your own choice of music on the full floor. um You can use one baton or multiple with other novelty and props, if you'd like. um And then there's also the solo portion, which is just one baton in in one lane, and then there's modeling and interview as well. So those um pageant winners were Emery, I'm going to butcher this last name, Musinski in the Tiny Tot Division. So that means ages zero to eight.
00:14:49
Speaker
And then Juliana Feiello in the juvenile division, ages nine to 11. Riley Reed in the junior division, ages 12 to 14. Alana Burke Holder in teenage, ages 15 to 17. And then April Gable won the senior division for 18 and over. And then they also have an international solo championship as well. So that's, the solo portion of that pageant, but just the solo. So they're just being named like the international solo champion of Twirling Unlimited.
00:15:32
Speaker
Some of them are the same people, some of them aren't. um The juvenile, junior, and senior are all the same winners as the pageant winners. So Juliana, Riley, and April all won their um international solo divisions. But Kinsley Duncan won the tiny tot division, and then Maisie Zepeda won the teenage. So that's pretty cool that um some of them won both things. Not always the case. And that's an all day thing that they're there for, those literally all day. Yes. Like 12, well, it wasn't quite 12 hours, maybe 10. Only 10. And BCA is definitely 12 plus hours. So speaking of USTA,
00:16:23
Speaker
ah Marissa, you have some things on that, right? Yeah, absolutely. I had a good time at USTA Nationals. Obviously, I was the reigning collegiate champion, so um I actually got there on the first day of competition. Well, I guess the second, I was there after pre-trials, which is their rhythmic and pre-styles on Tuesday. um So I didn't get to really see those, but I did see the collegiate championships, the IBTF qualifiers, and all the national events, all the grand national finals and collegiate finals. super fun. I got to do a performance and give away the cup, the Miller Cup that I had won. So um it was ah it was a great time. It was very interesting to see um the progress the athletes have really made in a year. I think it's really phenomenal to see people that, you know, if they were 16 last year, how much growth there can really be when you turn 17. And it was it was fun to watch, but it was um definitely first year not competing. And
00:17:20
Speaker
A very different feeling for me, but it was it was enjoyable and I know that if I did the IBTL qualifier it would have been crying. ah They got IBTF got rid of it for the World Championships, not for Nations Cup, but for the World Championships they got rid of the adult division. So if you were an adult, like I would have been considered an adult according to my age if I were competing. um you wipe away the adults and you get put with the seniors. So you're put with the senior age kids and are they are only selecting two from USTA and two from MBTA for the IBTA World Championships. And those divisions were lengthy and full of really, really, really good twirlers in the senior age division. So um that was kind of interesting to see. And obviously the the women and men who qualified are phenomenal twirlers. I mean, you wouldn't expect any less than that. And we'll definitely represent the United States well.
00:18:09
Speaker
And then the grand national champions, I am a collegiate champion, but I can get to the collegiate champion last. Jada, she won strut, Julia won two baton and three baton, Bauer won solo, Carissa won dance role, and um one who won my grand solo was Michaela Schuler. And all five of them are fantastic athletes um and great representatives of each individual event that they do. And they're ah also, they're just really good people, which makes it really great to celebrate. And then Courtney Dalwiler won the collegiate championship, which I'm very excited for her. She obviously went to the University of Missouri, but is a Pennsylvania native with me. So I told her the Miller Cup was coming back home. So it was, yeah, it was good to see the Miller Cup come back to Pennsylvania and um
00:18:53
Speaker
Yeah, so it ah it was a great time. I had so much fun. Last performance ever. I'm officially retired now, but yeah that's like a little rundown of USCI Nationals. It was really, like I said, great to see athletes progress throughout the year, and I haven't gotten to see a lot of my friends since last Nationals, so it was fun. I just want to ask, um, you know, ah I'm pretty sure like going into competition and you get there and you're like, okay, got it. You know, my hair and my makeup, because I've seen the hair and makeup and it is a 10. Okay. Along with the thank you but um and, uh, all the rhinestones and how was it different? Like, I'm pretty sure it was a, Oh gosh. What's it was just a different feeling for you being there this year.
00:19:40
Speaker
Just, I don't know how to describe it without making it sound really weird. I think last year I retired on a high. um I won the national championship. I went to MBTA Nationals. I made the coveted top six in Grand National um out of 97 athletes in the senior race division with some really great twirlers. I made it in a couple world finals. Thank you. And then yeah i went to the world I went to the world championships and I won a gold medal with um We Can Dance World Teams um and Twirl Team and then also I made finals in both solo and through time. which is um a feat in itself. And i've I've gone to a couple world championships where I haven't made finals. So the fact that I made finals um against some really great athletes internationally is something that I'm really proud of. And when I finished last summer, i why would you keep going if you finished all your goals, especially at 21, your body starts to hurt. So going into it this year, that's right. that's right and going into it this year um it was
00:20:34
Speaker
It was weird, I can say, and I was not sad that I wasn't out there. When I got to, I had the honor of putting athletes on for the collegiate prelims and finals, and in the bullpen before they walked out, you're nervous, you're scared, it's you the anticipation is there, you're thinking about it and leading up to it. I don't miss any of that. I really don't. There's no no part of me that would want to take part in that anymore. um But I miss the aspect of going out there and having the opportunity to showcase my school or to showcase myself and on the individual events.
Reflections on Baton Twirling Journey
00:21:07
Speaker
And I think that's what I missed. um I did miss anything else. I did not miss the prep. I did not miss that. If you had a bad routine, what happens? I didn't miss any of that. And I'm sure Ashley might be able to stay to say the same.
00:21:18
Speaker
and It's a very weird feeling and I'm very satisfied and very okay with the fact that I retired and I want to be done and I want to move on to the other side of things and sit on the other side of the table. It was definitely weird. ah and It was weird even like today. I'm at MBTA Nationals and it's like I'm sitting there and i'm like I feel like I should have my modeling gown on and like my hair done and obviously I don't and I'm just sitting there like this is really odd. What am I supposed to do right now? yeah exactly exactly but it's um It's a very rewarding experience, though, knowing that I had the opportunity to do that and watching a lot of the younger kids come and um be able to compete and to really showcase who they are. it's
00:22:01
Speaker
seeing that those those younger ones start to really rise to the occasion and things like that, it's rewarding to know that that's maybe what I looked like back in the day and where I am now and watching them come to this and start to grow up and move on to the next phase of their life. It makes me feel old, but I'm really not that old relative, but ah it's a great experience, just a little sad right now.
00:22:31
Speaker
That is so good to hear though because now I'm putting the two things together as Kim you already know like I come from a world of color guard and and drum corps so hearing the twirling side of it I'm like okay because I know that they can go hand in hand but we're just not too sure. I do have tons of questions to ask and more to get into but right now we're going to go to a commercial.
00:23:06
Speaker
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00:24:18
Speaker
Okay, so we're back and we're still on the sidelines ah with our amazing twirling team. And we wanted to dive deeper into championships. So Ashley, why don't you give us all like a brief tutorial, tell us what's going on. And um you said there's actually two organizations, right? Yeah, so USDA happened last week and NBTA is happening the week that we are recording this. So it started Monday the 15th and it goes to Friday the 19th. So that would will have been over by the time that this is released um and aired.
00:24:56
Speaker
um So congratulations to everyone who has won their titles and competed and all of
Organizational Changes and Admiration for Amache
00:25:06
Speaker
that good stuff. Hope everyone had a fantastic time. There was the IBTF qualifier and um all of that on Monday, which is the qualifier for the world championships that happens in Torino, Italy in 2025. So that was really exciting for some of the teams that qualified on Monday.
00:25:33
Speaker
um And NVTA just um appointed an acting president I think last week or the week before um and they're putting together like a new board of directors so there's like a lot of change happening in the works um so I think everyone is kind of just kind of seeing how things go and hoping for some positive change maybe
00:26:04
Speaker
um
00:26:08
Speaker
um'm I'm intrigued ah to just to see how things are going to play out and maybe have some more like trying to work. um'm sure I'm trying to use my words and right now. ah Well, I mean, here's I've got some questions for you. So um highlights because like usually, again, I don't have anything to put this with except for WGI and um and and drum corps. So what are some standouts that you've seen that you're like, wow, they did some pretty awesome stuff. And you know that is a remember that is a remembering performance. like Awesome. so like From this past week or so?
00:26:59
Speaker
um Yeah, from all of the nationals that have been going on so far. Okay. Yeah. So this past weekend, um i this past weekend I judged poorly unlimited internationals. So um I think I judged, I don't know, i I did so many things. I can't even keep track of what it was. But I watched um Uh, I think it was Miss TU Solo 18 plus or something like that, but I watched Amelia Adams solo. I think she's from Pennsylvania. Is that right? Okay. Yes. She goes to, Oh God.
00:27:40
Speaker
I know the letters, GVSU. Grand Valley State. Grand Valley. I'm like, some reason I was thinking governor. I was like, that's definitely not it. ah But she's the feature twirler there. And I don't really know what I was expecting when I watched her solo, but I was freaking blown away. She did um some kind of like neck throw where she put the baton behind her neck and it went up and around and she did a double illusion under it. I was like, what?
00:28:13
Speaker
what like Normally that's, I don't know, maybe you do like a one spin or something. and no She freaking did it a double illusion. I was not not expecting it at all. wow But like the amount of difficulty that she had in her routine was just insane and ah i I was blown away the entire time. And she had a beautiful smile on her face the entire time as well. I believe that sometimes we'll probably see something like that maybe at WGI next year. Maybe. I don't know.
00:28:48
Speaker
no We should not. I don't know because I mean, I feel like WGI is sorely missing Amache. I mean, there are, I mean, any, it' you know, when Amache was around any time that we've taken groups to WGI and gets back on the bus, who's your favorite? Amache, Amache, Amache. And it's so interesting because, you know, there They're, you know, outside the norm of what we usually see. We don't usually see batons and in winter garden, you know, stuff like that.
00:29:20
Speaker
um but You know, it's just it just brings such another dimension and it's just so exciting. And um are you guys familiar with them at all? I mean, I know they're from Japan, but I mean, as famous as they are to us in the color guard world, is that whole what's going on over there? You know, are are you guys aware? Like, are you guys, you know, is that as popular in your deck of the woods as it is in ours? Or are you familiar with them? I know about Amache, Marissa, do you? No, I don't. But I do know that the Japanese in twirling are some of the best twirlers. So I can tell you that like it's probably correlated. they Exactly. that Not even correlated, they are. Like literally Team Japan put them into Color Guard and like it's people that do Color Guard from Japan, but it's also like
00:30:16
Speaker
team Japan and Vuitton twirling and you put them with those people that do color guard. And that's it. I heard that once upon a time they had like the first and second best in the world. Yes. With them. That's amazing. I'm going to butcher his name. Kasuke Kamana, is that how you say his first name? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He was there in... Well, I went to Debbie Giant and saw them in 2017. And I was like, oh, wait, I know that guy. I've seen him on YouTube. Yeah, he's phenomenal. I mean, he's one of the only people to get a perfect score multiple times at the World Championships. So he is a what you would call expert. um yeah And he he still teaches and coaches and everything like that. He really is. He is one of the best. No doubt about that.
00:31:10
Speaker
Yeah. Well, speaking on like international things, Marisa, tell us a little bit more about like the international twirling circuit. Is that what you call them?
IBTF's Growth and Impressive Performances
00:31:22
Speaker
Yeah. so it's um you know It's ever-changing and evolving. IBTF is not something that's extremely new. um They started putting on Grand Prix back in 2015. That was in Canada. So IBTF is something that's now um taking over with the World Championships Nations Cup, um the Freestyle Championships. it is um It's a great thing for athletes. I had such a great experience in England last year competing in the World Championships. And it really opens the door to um other countries and seeing how they train and in what their athletes are doing. And obviously, great competition always, right? um It's always good having new people coming and competing against. But it opens your doors to new things artistically and new things like, oh, i've I've never seen that before. I'm going to go home and do that with my kids, or you know whether that's a
00:32:09
Speaker
It could be what you're watching is a very elite level team, but what they're actually doing is um things that you could give back to the beginner or intermediate kids is really a lot of the time some of those teams have content restrictions, things like that. It's very different than anything that you've really ever seen, but I really. um love that aspect of it but um you know I think that Team USA and Team Japan are usually the ones that are up there and then you'll get a sprinkle of France and Norway and um all of those teams. um It just depends honestly on who's in the who's in the know and who's in the crowd and who's really good. I know that this year Ali Duda dominated my division and obviously she's from the U.S. she is um she was
00:32:51
Speaker
She wasn't someone people are going to be in solo. She just really has really as a talented person and obviously she's one of my teammates so I could talk about her and Ashley knows her very well too and grew up with her. So, you know, I was like she did she did ah What is it on a water break in rhinestones? That's yeah, Ali's sister Lexi. Oh my god And Lexi dominated for a very long time Savannah Miller dominated but then you have you come in and the Japanese really bring the perspective of what we're doing is where we need to elevate to. And I think the USA did dominate in a couple of events. um A lot of the newer group events that IBTF was experiencing, so major art groups, drilling corps, things like that, um not necessarily maybe like a dance twirl, because Japan has always done that. And obviously they're very good and they're very artistic with it and they're very talented people.
00:33:40
Speaker
Um, but really more like a twirl team where it's too, um, it's like, it's honestly a lot like um a band where you're, you're marching on step and you're, you're constantly moving and you're, there's really no stopping in there for all three minutes. You're going left, right, left, right. And it's to Gloria and it's a very different thing. And although it's. essentially the same thing and you're twirling and you if you guys were watching it you'd be like I see no difference here um like what this looks the same to me it just looks like you're playing the same track over again and you're twirling to it it's very two different things and ah that's something like Japan and other countries honestly if you weren't in an MBTA environment um it really brings that element of MBTA into it and so those are the things that like they've never seen before so it was really cool actually I was on the
00:34:21
Speaker
towards the twirl team that won the world championships, obviously, with Wheaton. And it's really cool to see people react to that. and They've never really seen anything like that. And to be able to have a gold medal in it is also something very special. But to be a catalyst for that and see other countries maybe coming out here in the next world championships next year, um it'll be very fun to watch. And it'll be something to see, really. And um it's it's very interesting. But with the IBT upcoming together with the USTA and MBTA athletes in the United States, it can only create and foster per an environment for growth. So I think that um it's a great thing and I hope that people who are listening to us that are twirlers hopefully if they're young and they get to experience that one day. ah So um I'm going to just and ask
Challenges and Memorable Moments in Competitions
00:35:06
Speaker
another question. So what is like the scariest thing that has happened during a competition? I don't know. I don't know. if There's like a lot of like when people get hurt
00:35:18
Speaker
Um, anytime that's usually scary. I don't know if anyone's majorly got hurt like this year, but like those, like, or when people like fall over or like they're in, they're doing the routines, I would say that's probably the most scary thing. Like, especially when you're watching, it could be any athlete doesn't need to be someone that we know or someone, it could just be like, they simply literally fall. Like, Oh my God, they fell. And then they get back up and they keep going and you're like, wow, if I were doing that, I'd be crying. Like if that was me, I'd be falling on the floor. um But like those kinds of things, I think that's scary. And I'm sure Ashley can say that from a judging perspective, you never want a kid to like go out there and talk. But its it's something that like I think that's scary, um any of that. And like I know that I've experienced watching people like before a grand national solo here at MBTA Nationals like bust their knee and like can't compete for the year. That's what I was going to say. like i like That is horrifying to me that you've absolutely like, you've come here and it's like, you bust your knee on the first day and you're like, Oh my god, like your first day. Yeah, like it's like, and you feel so bad for them. And a lot of them are actually usually a lot of them that I've seen and actually seen their older twirlers. So they're probably in college and they also twirl on the field in the fall. And if you have to have knee surgery, you can't twirl in a month. So it's it's really I think those are some of the scariest moments. Oh,
00:36:36
Speaker
I feel for those people. I can't I always because I always put that towards and I judge during for winter guard season. So there's been a couple of shows like I've seen like ah so and a performer getting paled and they just like roll off or you know yeah they just ah you know go behind a backdrop and it's just like oh wow and then you know you see lots of parents just go back to that corner of the floor and you know gather them up and you know the rest of the team just goes on.
00:37:08
Speaker
It's just really like, it's sad because you see them, you know, getting out on the floor and they're so focused and they're so ready to go and then boom. I just think that that is scary. um Yeah, so, ah yeah, Ashley. where Did you have any um standout performances that happened this year? I think some of my favorites Can I say that favorites as a judge? I'm going to retract favorites. they Stand out. Yeah, that's a good word.
00:37:44
Speaker
um I really liked um my old team, Wheaton, they had their dance twirl to Eleanor Rigby. I loved watching that every single time, every single local competition. mean i they it It changed like every single time that I saw it. And I'm like, oh man, they took the floor section out. I really liked that part. but Just watching it evolve like over the course of the the past few months has just been a beautiful journey to to watch it um change and watch the performers like actually start feeling ah feeling the music and feeling like what they're doing because you know when you first learn whatever the the routine is, whatever the move is, you're like, okay, I have to do this now and I look like a robot.
00:38:39
Speaker
and then like Throughout the months, they're like, oh, I actually can breathe while I do this and I can feel like they can they can show the feeling through their body and they like not just their facial expressions, but like through their all of their movements. so It's just really nice to actually see the development of the feeling and all of that. um as ah As a team, as a whole, it's really hard to get the whole team to buy into that.
00:39:11
Speaker
uh, like same character development. For sure. For sure. Yeah. And then, yeah, totally applies to the color guard world. Um, yeah. And then as far as individuals, I feel like what I remember the most are like freestyles and rhythmics. I really loved Sterling Buzz's rhythmic. to It's to fallen by Alicia Keys. It's so good. She's like so sassy and just like I think she's, I don't know, 15 or something. But yeah, you you'll have to look it up. in Maybe there's a video somewhere. but
00:39:59
Speaker
maybe Maybe her mom will share it. I don't know. Definitely. We'll see. but She just has so much emotion put into it. and like the The baton hits on like all of the right notes and and all of the musical cues, which i sidetrack. I feel like baton choreographers don't hit like the musical cues as often as they should. Oh, like musicality and writing. no yeah
00:40:30
Speaker
e I'd have to watch more to find out. I only watched that one. Was it a perfect score, the 99 that you showed me? but The 10, yeah. Oh, yeah. we I sent ah Savannah Miller's perfect solo to them like last week. yeah Ridiculous, but very good. Yes. What about you, Marissa? Um, I think there were probably two that I could talk about that were, um, I have a team routine and, uh, and, uh, actually a collegiate routine. And the first one I'll talk about was Arian. Hey, she was from the university of Cincinnati and her collegiate routine was so amazing. I don't even know how to like talk about it without being like gushing over her, but she just.
00:41:12
Speaker
a phenomenal twirler. And I believe her, I'm not sure if they posted the video on Facebook, but I'm going to tell her mom she should, because it was that good. And it was just so entertaining. And to see her be able to represent UC's band, which I have an elaborate name, I can't remember the name of, but I can see the letters in my head. But to see her represent them and to really get into it was just so much fun watching her. And then I would say for teens, I can't agree more with I can't agree more with Ashley in the way that team routine routines really do evolve over time. um And I've heard really great things about revolutions from the California. They're a USTA, mainly USP team. And um they did this timepiece that Mark Nash choreographed and Mark Nash was a huge twirling person. in
00:42:00
Speaker
This sport, um, he was a but world champion national multi-time national champion. Like he's amazing His choreography is is phenomenal. Like he's just yes, he's all he's all over youtube You can find him on youtube too. Um, and he did he I know he had a hand in in choreographing some of the revolution stuff because his daughters are on the team and they just were phenomenal like it was every just like you just said musicality and ah how you can hit the beat, and they would do things where they would go down and up, and it would go right to the music. And they would look right even in the eye, they would look right through their eyebrows, like right in the judge's eyes, and it just hit. It would be like, whoa, I love that. It was just so amazing. I don't even know. I can bash about it. But they were still good, and the team working together really interested in the team. It was phenomenal. I give them praise. They were amazing. I think those are my two standout performances.
00:42:56
Speaker
How about you, Kim? Can you think of any standout performances that you want to share with us? Sure,
Praising Top Twirlers and Choreographic Excellence
00:43:02
Speaker
absolutely. I think I'm going to go broad overview, right? Just because the athleticism from like the top twirlers are just phenomenal. The amount of skill that they have, just the tricks that they're being asked to do, it just is amazing. Over the top whirlwind, I would also agree with Marissa. Anything that Mark Nash puts together is just extremely lyrical. It is musical. I actually know him. We marched together with the Blue Devils ah way back then. Yeah, so super nice guy. And yes, everything that he has created, it just is, ah to watch it is, it it brings it to life. The musicality and and just this creativity has been amazing. The performances are always over the top and just something wonderful to see. so
00:43:56
Speaker
Appreciate it. Well, I'm glad we got all of those from you all, your highlights. um We are going to go to a commercial and then we'll be right back.
00:44:20
Speaker
Hey everyone, it's Jeremy and here are your announcements coming from the box. Don't miss all of our bonus content, including On a Water Break in Rhinestones with your host, Lexi Duda, exploring the world of the Twirlers. Don't miss parades and drum majors at Step Off with your host, Jack Goudreau, and Get Lost in Translation with your host, Cynthia Bernard, exploring all the words that confuse all of us in the marching arts all across the world. and go behind the lens with marching arts photographers all across the country with your host, Chris Marr. Plenty more bonus content from On A Water Break, so listen anywhere you get your podcasts. If you want to be on On A Water Break as a guest or you know somebody that would make a great guest for On A Water Break, email us at onawaterbreakpodcastatgmail.com or find us on social media.
00:45:18
Speaker
OK, field staff, take it away. Let's reset. are
00:45:35
Speaker
OK, now it is time for what we like to call what are we doing?
Growing Interest in Twirling
00:45:40
Speaker
um I know that we've already talked to Marissa and Kimberly about what this is. So this is gonna be, what are we doing, twirling edition? I don't know if I can really say anything about this, but maybe I will, because it maybe won't be something that you know about already, so. What are we doing? What are we doing? All right, so let's see here.
00:46:13
Speaker
Trish, I always like to go with you first because it's your voice. It is. I feel like I should be, what are we doing myself? Because I feel like there's this whole world that you guys are exposing me to tonight that I just don't know enough about. So what am I doing not getting more involved in twirling? I mean, it's just. It's just every, you know, I've just been like so captivated by your, you know, your, you know, your comments tonight that I've just been really sucked in. And I've been like, how do I not know about this? I mean, all I know is a machi, you know what I mean? And like, you know, so what am I doing not following twirling?
00:46:56
Speaker
but yeah Awesome. Ashley. Yes, my what are we doing? Um, So it's we've been talking about having nationals that's been like back to back to back to back like within the organization. So luckily this year, they're all like within the same state, sort of. Well, two of them are in Ohio, once in in Indiana. So they're kind of close. but So like they're back to back to back. but
00:47:33
Speaker
What are we doing having them so back to back? The mental load, the physical load, the financial capacity that it is putting on like the parents. And then after after all of the nationals, there's um the World Championships for Rhythmic and Freestyle that's happening in Sweden, literally two weeks, three weeks after um after nationals is over. So it's not even done after this. People can't even get a break after nationals.
00:48:06
Speaker
No, not at all. I can tell you speaking from experience. I mean, there's some kids that started competing last Wednesday or last Tuesday. There are kids that started competing last Tuesday and have competed for eight days straight or seven days straight. And when I say competed, and I mean like hair back, makeup on, you got, you're in the zone. Like you're not, it's not, it's not screw around time. And then, you know, they're going 10 days or 11 days in a row. And then. They have that two week, a lot of them who are doing that, have that two week break and then have to go compete at Worlds. And that's just a lot. So I can say kudos to the coaches for keeping the positive environment around those kids. Cause that, you know, when you're dealing with teenagers, it can get, can get you know, it can get exactly how you would think it would get when you have teenagers. So um kudos to the coaches and the parents and the kids who are doing it. Like I watching them makes me tired. So I can't even imagine living that life.
00:48:57
Speaker
I really hope that at some point, um maybe they're not all jam-packed together. um it a direct I just want to ask this one question. Is it a requirement that they all go to those different competitions? No. OK. Well. I mean, so like this year is a world qualifying year. So if you want to qualify for worlds, then you kind of have to go. Okay, got it. Okay. And ah the worlds, how you qualify for worlds is kind of changing. So like it used to happen every three years, but the past, I don't know, I think since 2018. Correct me if I'm wrong.
00:49:48
Speaker
I think it's started to change to not be every three years, so it's been a little unpredictable since then. what My, what are we doing is, um ah oh why have why haven't I gone to a show with you, Ashley? That's what I wanted. What are we doing with me not doing that? Or, or um what are we doing not rhinestoning something for Nicole? and and We totally can do that.
00:50:23
Speaker
I'll give you my On A Water Break t-shirt. I love that. One of my bandmoms, actually, when I was in Texas, her daughter is a twirler and it still competes. And um she took my jacket and she was like, oh, I can bling this out for you. Brought it back the next day and it was heavier. yeah And I was like, thank you. yeah Have you seen that post where it's like like the um the gymnastic leotards are like that. They have so much rhinestones on them that they weigh a pound. Oh yeah, yeah. Okay, that is literally nothing in comparison to twirler costumes. Nothing. Ooh. If they only lee knew. If they only knew. All right, Marissa, it's your turn. Tell us.
00:51:11
Speaker
Yeah. So, um, there's a lot of things and I feel like if I start talking, I feel like I could talk forever. Oh no, I'm just kidding. Um, no, but I'm, I'm swear to God, I'm kidding. Um, but I would say, um, big things that maybe you guys wouldn't know, but Ashley would understand and even Kim would understand and thank you guys might be able to understand this from the perspective of a color guard perspective. Um, there are a lot of, there's a lot of heavy focus on big tricks right now. um and we're missing everything else that's important. And obviously, I'm not sure how WGI BCI, I'm not sure if that's judged by a score sheet. Twirling is judged by a score sheet in most organizations. You have the score sheet sitting in front of you. And so you have to, for a coaching perspective, you have to fill the score sheet. You have to coach to the score sheet. You have to choreograph to exactly what's on the score sheet, check every box, make sure you're doing everything correctly.
00:52:01
Speaker
and There's a lot of emphasis on big tricks and trying to just do these like wild tricks you see on the internet and and a lot of people post it and are like, oh my god, I just caught, you know, whatever, ah a triple or a quad or whatever. But there's no, there's a lack of emphasis on the smaller things like your roles, your their low contact, like your low flips, things that are below your head. And that's a really important part of building a solo, especially at a beginner, intermediate level. And again, like I said, you guys, it's just like in Color Guard when you're doing the low flips with the rifles or the stuff with the flag. And it's not necessarily you're tossing it, but the actual maneuvering the flag and doing things that you're not just throwing it in the air and doing a million things under it. It's actually maneuvering it and doing harder things with it than just a basic.
00:52:47
Speaker
just a basic spin I guess is really what you would call it. So I think there's a lack of emphasis on those smaller things and really important things when building your solo. So now you're seeing a lot of kids come out in the advanced division who are doing these awesome big tricks but don't have the rest of the scores you filled out because they're only doing those big tricks. So I would say that is something that really gets me going. um and And I could talk about it all day. That's like, it's yeah yeah. It's funny that you say that because that could not be any closer to relevancy in the Color Garden community as well. like ah So um yeah, I feel your pain there. yes Yeah, yeah.
00:53:29
Speaker
Well, all right, so enough with the complaining. Okay, we're gonna go over and just flip it up a bit, and we're gonna do our gush and goes. Great job, everyone. Set your equipment down. Gush and go. You know, you can gush and go about anything that's going on great in your life that you wanna just let people know about. It doesn't have to be twirling related or color guard related. It can just be, hey, this is something that's great that's going on right now. All right, so ah you know what? I'll start. um I just got back from being on tour with the Academy um and had a great time. I did not think that I would actually want to stay longer, but when I got home, I was like, oh, I miss these kids so much. um It was very, very hot. I definitely, um I'm not kidding you when I say I got sunburned, I actually got sunburned. My shoulders are still peeling.
00:54:23
Speaker
But I loved my time. I really liked my time there. Let's see. ah Trish. I'll stay in the drum corps genre. um I stayed up last night and watched DCI Broken Arrow. And it was incredible. It was so great. um ah You know, me, I look at everything from a color guard and visual perspective. um I wish I could but you know do the more of like the music analysis, but it's not really my thing. Um, but, and I mean, color color guard at championships could really be anybody's game this year. I mean, they're all good. I mean, and where I thought, you know, some of them were going to fall. It was a little bit different, you know, from what I thought, but they were all amazing. They were just all amazing. But one shout out I'd like to give.
00:55:14
Speaker
is um ah ah core a cougar core that's not really been my favorite the last couple of years, which is the mandarins. I know all my music friends rave about them. i just Their style's never really been my thing, but I will tell you this. I'm starting to like come around on them because I got to tell you, they hit every single note, everyone. And my gosh, you go, I'm going to give it up to the mandarins tonight. Although although ah my favorite cards, of course, are Crown, Bluecoats, Boston, Blue Devils, all of that. any i I think any one of those four could take it this year. But just that has really grabbed my attention lately. I've been like, they hate every single note.
00:55:59
Speaker
Everyone and it's just really great to see it's what we should all aspire to. All right, Marisa I think there's lots of things I could talk about but I think the Most exciting one is probably being on this podcast because I don't know, you know, as I said, I twirl at Michigan State University Yeah, exactly. That's right. I just Michigan State University, but I was a part I was also part of the Spartan hearts we had last four years and And a lot of my friends are in DCI and the WGI. I have a really good friend, one of the feature twirlers, significant others. He's a trumpet in the Carolina Crown Band. I have a friend in the Austin who's in the color guard. He's phenomenal. And it's so fun listening to you guys talk about these things because I hear about it. And just like you don't understand twirling, I don't understand what you're talking about. I do, to an extent, a very small sliver of your world. And it's so exciting hearing about
00:56:52
Speaker
what you guys talk about in the fact that I'm like, I know these things and I'm listening to you and I feel like, oh my god, I feel like I understand what you're talking about. um And it's it's very much the same. So it definitely it's a really interesting thing. And actually, on fact, the one Michigan State good controller Riley actually did Michigan State's color guard state of the art um and went to Dayton and and did all of that this year. So it's a very exciting there's crossover. So yes, but it's I would say that's my gushing go and it's I love watching bands marching band that's been a part of my life for the last 22 years my mom was a major an advisor so I've been at marching band practice for a very long time and I love the marching band and I don't know how much you guys know about the Spartan Marching brand Band but I could talk about them for days there's an all brass band and they're phenomenal instrumentalists and color garden and
00:57:42
Speaker
I can tell you that the color guard at MSU, I have no idea what they're doing. But man, do they look beautiful. I'm obviously watching this i'm like, y'all are so good. I could not do what you're doing. So I'm going to get props to them. But it's so fun hearing you guys talk about it. And I get to see a lot of these DCI crossovers practicing in like the winter and stuff. i'm like Some of you guys do it over the summer. And then they talk with their like, every day we compete and we sleep in gyms. And I'm like, that sounds like something interesting. But then watching all their progress at the end of the season in August, I love watching those videos and like.
00:58:13
Speaker
It really like, I'm like, oh, y'all are so talented. So and so fun hearing you guys it's so fun hearing you guys talk about it. It's like, i said that's like this I only know this much and you guys know this much. And I'm sure it's the same beat vice versa with twirling. So it's so fun. It's so fun. I love listening to it. I'd say that's my gush and go. Awesome. water Ashley, tell us something about your gush and go. Yeah, so mine is going to be about judging this past weekend. because So I ah only have been a judge for, I don't know, maybe like a year and a half tops. Yeah, so um still I'm still just a baby.
00:58:56
Speaker
so I have just been like trying to figure out my style of judging, if that's like a thing you would you would say. um so Obviously, it's going to be subjective, but it shouldn't be you know like everyone's going to have their own opinions, whatever. But I have made it my personal goal to be as positive as I can be and like uplifting. because i mean it's different
00:59:27
Speaker
like For individual events, these kids actually get handed the score sheet when they get their award or when they go up to the awards table, they get their trophy, whatever. like They read those comments. It doesn't get handed to their coach, it doesn't get handed to director or anything like that. like They see exactly what you write, they see exactly what the score is. So it's like a really personal experience for them. And when you're twirling in front of the judge, you're like six to 10 feet away from them, maybe. So um it's like, it can be a really vulnerable and personal experience for the twirler and the judge. So like, you really have to make a personal connection with them.
01:00:15
Speaker
um So I've been trying to make really positive feedback ah while also giving like constructive criticism. But like just the way that I'm giving my feedback has just been, I don't know, just really positive. But I've had a lot of people, yes.
01:00:38
Speaker
um I've had a lot of people come up to me and like thank me for my comments and they're like, wow, you made my kids day.
Gratitude and Personal Updates
01:00:44
Speaker
Like, this was just so nice the way that you worded this. And um so that's just really made me feel really grateful and humble to have the opportunity and the privilege, truly a privilege to sit on the other side of the table and give back to the the sport that gave me literally everything. My life, actually. Like, literally. Okay, Kim, what's your gushing go? Awesome. Hey, so Ashley, I want to give you confirmation that ah yes, to your judging style, Ashley has actually judged my daughter. um And my daughter's feedback, same love twirling for you when you were sitting on the other side of the table. So keep up the good work and kudos to you.
01:01:35
Speaker
um So yeah, super excited to see people you know with the positivity on the other side of the table. I could go and go about a million things as well. I'm actually getting on a plane to go Louisiana tomorrow ah for my stepdaughter's wedding. She's getting married this weekend, so super excited about that. um And I guess like to keep it back and kick it back into the drum corps world. I marched in the Crossman before I marched in the Blue Devils. And I'm actually participating um in the Crossman alumni drum corps this summer. Yeah, so I will be bringing my body back to the field to perform in India. So super excited about that, looking forward to it. um We've got some camps coming up to finish learning the show. um So although I say I'm super excited, I'm super old now too, so I'm hoping it doesn't kill me.
01:02:34
Speaker
One of our other hosts, Jackie, just did the Blue Stars alumni from Core. So I always think that's a awesome. That's a quick way for me to be like, that's my friend. Right? yeah and So if you're an indie, you know, hey, come and cheer. Come
Closing Remarks and Social Media Promotions
01:02:51
Speaker
and cheer. Hey, it's called Gush and Go, not Gush and Stay. Let's go.
01:02:59
Speaker
Oh, wow. This has been fun. I want to thank everyone for a great rehearsal this week. I want to say thanks to our hosts, Trish and Ashley. um And also thank you to our guest clinicians, Cam Jones and Marissa Pierce. Please tell the folks who are listening where we can find you on social media, um Marissa. You can find me on like every platform ever. No, I'm just kidding. yeah um You can find me on Instagram and mpierce11 on Facebook at Marissa Pierce and I'm also on TikTok. If you want to go watch some twirling videos, MP spirit grow one. So go watch some twirling video. Yeah, exactly. Maybe I'll get some famous TikToks on. No, I'm just kidding. But ah yeah, that's where you can catch me on socials and go give me a follow or friend request me on Facebook, always posting about twirling. so Awesome. And Kim, where can we find you? Same. Facebook or Instagram, Kim Jones. Okay, that's easy. All right, cool.
01:03:56
Speaker
All right, so ah one more thing. Just don't forget that we have a YouTube channel now, and that has many of our interviews but coming out as full video editions. So go and subscribe so you don't miss any of those. And before you close out this podcast um and your listening app, go and subscribe. ah You want to leave a review and share this with your friend. Follow us on social media at onawaterbreak. And we'll see you at the next rehearsal on a water break.
01:04:28
Speaker
The Ona Water Break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lida. To learn more, visit lidamusic.com. And until next time, thanks for tuning in.