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Twirl Mania 2005

TwirlZone recently spoke with Joyce Perrone, contest director of the 10th annual Twirl Mania Championships held February 18th thru Febuary 21st at the Disney Wild World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. The 2005 Twirl Mania event brought together over four thousand twirlers from different leagues to celebrate the sport of twirling. Athletes travel as far as Ireland, England, Scotland, Netherlands and Thailand to take part in the Twirl Mania contest.

Perrone says that there is so much pressure in twirling today that Twirl Mania brings an element of fun to the mix. While this four-day event is filled with competitive twirling, participants, judges and twirling families also have time to enjoy the Disney parks, parades and the excitement of Walt Disney.

The Twirl Mania competition offers an event for everyone, teams and individuals alike. Several featured events include Twirl Mania Gold, Miss Twirl Mania and the Collegiate Classic. Twirl Mania Gold competition challenges twirlers to excel in three different events, freestyle, twirl and 3-baton. The Miss Twirl Mania pageant is open to all divisions and incorporates twirling, strutting and modeling. Collegiate Classic features several top university twirling lines.

Twirl Mania Elite Strut Champions include, Rosalie Stella in the Junior division and Courtney Patterson in the Senior division. Elite Solo Champions include, Alyssa Spencer in the Junior division and Karrissa Wimberley in the Senior division.

Many other winners are honored at elaborate ceremonies throughout the event. The "Mousecar" awards displaying Mickey Mouse on a pastel are presented to highest point winner in each Twirl Mania event division - Novice, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Elite. One thing that makes Twirl Mania unique from other contests is the variety of awards. From Mickey's Mitt to Cinderella's Slipper, each award has a special meaning and keeps the contest interesting.

Twirlers are invited to perform and compete in parades at the Magic Kingdom Park. Friday evening, several twirling teams, advanced and elite soloists performed in the "Spector Magic" night parade. On Saturday afternoon, the Juvenile Parade Competition was held and several teams, novice, beginner and intermediate soloists perform in the "Share a Dream Come True" parade. Later that evening, Junior and Senior teams competed in the final Twirl Mania "Spectro Magic" night parade. The parades add energy to the week and entertain Disney visitors from all over the world.

Another highlight of the week is the appearance of the Twirl Mania Mascot, Twirl Maniac. Twirl Maniac is an 11-foot baton character appearing at award ceremonies and at twirling events dancing to tunes and making twirling fans go wild!

Following the 3-day contest, twirlers are invited to participate in the Twirl Mania athlete's clinic. All levels of twirlers work with top instructors in 40-minute sessions to take home new tricks and twirling sections.

Perrone and her husband Ralph along with many other volunteers have created an enjoyable twirling event for all ages and divisions. Twirl Mania continues to grow every year and keeps participants excited about twirling. Perrone plans to continue to spread the excitement of twirling and share the Disney Twirl Mania experience for years to come.

TwirlZone would like to congratulate all Twirl Mania winners and participants. To see more Twirl Mania results please visit http://www.twirlmania.com and click on the Twirl Mania 2005 Results link.


Author: Michelle Weiss
Information & Photos provided by: Twirl Mania, Joyce Perrone
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