Not many high schoolers can say they’ve traveled the world, let alone performed in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin, Ireland, all over Italy and in front of a College World Series audience here in Omaha, but the Gretna East Twirling Team has done it all.
Aside from traveling the globe to showcase their skills, returning member Junior Ellisyn Barker and new members Melanie Benak, Maya Wilmeth and Carson Burton, completed another accomplishment this year. The team grew from one member to four. A feat that’s almost as satisfying as representing the U.S. on a world stage.
“I kind of knew since freshman year that there’d be some people coming up at some point,” Barker said. “I was just excited to have other people to do it with because I had done it with the two twirlers who were at Gretna, and that was fun. So I was excited to have my own team too.”
The team does not have an official Gretna East coach. Instead, they practice as needed with private trainers at their studio, Stepper-ettes Baton & Dance.
“It’s definitely weird, because we have to kind of figure out stuff for ourselves,” Barker said. “We don’t have set stuff that we need to do.”
All four have been members of that studio for many years, but each came to twirling for different reasons.
“My mom introduced me to twirling because she used to twirl when she was about my age,” Benak said. “And then that kind of started my love for twirling. Me and my mom would practice together in our driveway and stuff. And then I just really liked to twirl.”
For Burton, the path was less clear.
“I went to a camp when I was, like, 10, cause there are summer day camps,” Burton said. “I did one of those, and I just really liked it. Then my mom signed me up for a few classes, and I was actually going to quit my second year. And then my mom was like, ‘You should just go to Nationals.’ So I went to the national team, and I loved it.”
Wilmeth and Benak performed at the World Baton Twirling Championships in Italy last summer. Wilmeth performed in the World Majorette Division and placed second for their routine “Jail” and first for their routine “Mario.”
“It was very different than nationals,” Wilmeth said. “It was really cool to see all the teams because you’re all talking different languages, but you could still interact with the people and understand them.”
But all have extensive experience performing in front of crowds, including at Gretna East events. For some, being in front of a crowd can be nerve-racking, but for the girls, their fear is worth it.
“Once you get out there and everyone is cheering for you, you feel a lot better knowing everyone is excited to watch you and they want to see your team,” Wilmeth said. “They want to see you twirl.”
Burton echoed her feelings.
“I’m terrified the whole time,” she said. “I’m so scared I’m going to drop the baton, but even if I do, I want to finish the routine. And I still feel really good about myself.”
And for Barker, getting to perform in front of a Gretna audience means something more.
“We get to show everyone, kind of what it is,” she said. “When there are little girls at the football and some pep rallies and stuff, they get very excited to see it. So it’s kind of fun to show everyone like, ‘this is a thing people can do that’s great.’”
