| What's Baton Twirling ？ | |||||||||
Sports & ArtsBaton Twirling has been seen at parades and festivals, nowadays, it has become one of the popular sports. Baton Twirling as a sport is a physical expression, which is, a combination of twirling technique and art on a gymnasium floor with music. Baton Twirling consists of three categories, which are Aerials, Contact Materials, and Rolls. Aerial is releasing a baton in the air and spinning yourself or and doing gymnastic moves before you caught it. Contact Material is twirling it with hands and fingers around the body, or releasing it close to the body. Roll is rolling it on the part of body, such as arms, shoulders and neck, without being held or caught in the hand. It is difficult to express Baton Twirling as a sport with a word. Go to see The Championships. Go to USTA !
History of Baton Twirling |
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The OriginMany countries, such as Arab or Thailand, has had twirling dances in festivals. Dancers toss or twirl guns, sticks. knives, or torches in those dances. And in Switzerland, flags were used to send signals or signs among high mountains. The tossing twirling of a baton and the use of flags in a parade became popular in the United States of America, and that gave a birth to today's sport Baton Twirling. 
The developement in the USA The most famous and important early twirler is Major C. W. Booth in Chicago. He made performances all over the world and spread Baton Twirling into the public. In 1938, Booth founded All Star Twirling Club and many twirlers joined it. After the World War II started in 1939, the number of women twirlers increased as it did in the baseball. In 1947, National Baton Twirling Association (NBTA) was founded, and in 1951, the first official national contest was held. The United States Twirling Association (USTA) was founded in 1957, and baton twirling has become popular among people in the USA as a sport and a dance.
World Baton Twirling Federation |
| History of W.B.T.F 
In 1977, The World Baton Twirling Federation (WBTF) was organized as the number of baton
twirlers increased in the world. The members of the Board gathered in Paris in 1978 to
prepare for a worldwide meet, and in 1980, the first World Baton Twirling Championship
took place in Seattle, USA. Member Countries of W.B.T.F  AUSTRALIA,
 BELGIUM,
 BRAZIL,
 CANADA,
 CROATIA(New),
 ENGLAND,
 FRANCE,
 GERMANY,
 IRELAND,
 ITALY,
 JAPAN,
 NETHERLANDS,
 NORWAY,
 SCOTLAND,
 SEYCHELLES(New),
 SLOVENIA,
 SOUTH AFRICA(New),
 SPAIN,
 SWEDEN(New),
 SWITZERLAND,
 UNITED STATES of AMERICAWorld Baton Twirling Championships 1980 Seattle, USA 
1981 Nice, France 1982 Tokyo, Japan 1983 Milano, Italy 1984 Calgary, Canada 1985 Frankfurt, Germany 1986 Torino, Italy 1987 Paris, France 1988 Nagoya, Japan 
1989 Lausanne, Switzerland 1990 San Antonio, USA 1991 Padova, Italy 1992 Paris, France 1993 Den Bosch, Netherlands 1994 Toronto, Canada 1995 Geneve, Switzerland 1996 Genova, Italy 
1997 Honolulu, USA 1998 Lyon, France 1999 Daytona Beach, USA 2000 Den Bosch, Netherlands 2001 Paris, France 2002 Saskatoon, Canada --------------------------------------------- 2003 Badarona, Spain 2004 Osaka, Japan The offer of the photograph : Twirlers.Net from, the textbook of PL Women's Junior College Baton course. "Baton Twirling Handbook" Teruko Horiuchi - Koudansha. "Beautiful Baton" Aiko Takayama, Eriko Furuyama - Bunken Shuppan. |
