Need some advice

[Batonmom]

I'm not sure why baton twirlers are not utilized in field shows. I would love to understand how they are seen by an auxillary judges. High School band directors have said that a feature twirler "distracts" from a band, yet some colleges will offer scholarships to twirlers. If anyone has any helpful advice, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks and good luck on the up coming season!

[cgtchr02]

i've had baton twirlers on my teams in the past, sometimes it works for a show, other times it does not. on one team, my twirler was a member of the guard and was featured as "the witch" in a Wizard of Oz show...it made sense to highlight the twirler at that moment. most shows are not designed to highlight an individual in that fashion. also, the "distraction" comment is made because many twirlers have a different style of marching/dance as the band/guard/drill team. many twirlers wear costumes that do not coordinate with the above. but mostly, baton routines rarely coordinate their routines / drill with the guard/dance team or visual impacts of the band. if you want your student to perform, your best bet is to have him/her rehearse with the guard/dance team and learn their marching and dance techniques. communicate with the band director...let him/her know that your student is willing to coordinate work with the guard/dance team. maybe it would be a good idea for your student to join the guard/dance team and then in the future ask if your student can perform one tune as a twirler. if the director refuses, ask if your student can perform for football games only, not in competitions. hope this helps...good luck.[/quote]

[saberblade6]

Many current high school marching band design their shows like drum and bugle corps. Drum corps do not utilize baton twirlers.

Colleges do utilize baton twirlers because they do not compete. Watching a baton twirler at half time is great.

To some outdoor pageantry fans, it's not so great especially when themes and concepts of shows are part of the design.