Majorette (dancer)
Encyclopedia
A majorette is a person doing choreographed
dance
or movement, primarily baton twirling associated with marching band
s during parade
s. It derives from girls', in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, involvement in drill and gymnastic teams or groups that used apparatuses similar to those found in rhythmic gymnastics
. Majorettes can also twirl knives, fire knives, flags, light-up batons, and fire batons. They do illusions, cartwheels
, and flip
s, and sometimes twirl up to four batons at a time. Majorettes are often confused for cheerleaders, when in fact, baton twirling is more closely related to rhythmic gymnastics rather than cheerleading.
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
or movement, primarily baton twirling associated with marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
s during parade
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
s. It derives from girls', in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, involvement in drill and gymnastic teams or groups that used apparatuses similar to those found in rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which individuals or teams of competitors manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus: rope, clubs, hoop, ball, ribbon and Free . An individual athlete only manipulates 1 apparatus at a time...
. Majorettes can also twirl knives, fire knives, flags, light-up batons, and fire batons. They do illusions, cartwheels
Cartwheel (gymnastics)
In gymnastics, a cartwheel is a sideways rotary movement performed by bringing the hands to the ground while the body inverts and the legs travel over the body, coming down to a standing position.-Terminology:...
, and flip
Flip (acrobatic)
An acrobatic flip is a sequence of body movements in which a person leaps into the air and then rotates one or more times while airborne. Acrobatic flips are performed in acro dance, free running, gymnastics, tricking, and various other activities...
s, and sometimes twirl up to four batons at a time. Majorettes are often confused for cheerleaders, when in fact, baton twirling is more closely related to rhythmic gymnastics rather than cheerleading.
Fictional majorettes
- Jetta Handover (Kath SoucieKath SoucieKatherine Elaine Soucie is an American voice actress. She is sometimes credited as Kath Soucie, Katherine Soucie, Kath Souci, Kath E...
) from the TV series Clifford the Big Red DogClifford the Big Red DogClifford the Big Red Dog is an American children's book series first published in 1963. Written by Norman Bridwell, the series helped establish Scholastic Books as a premier publishing company....
. - Adrian Lee (Francia Raisa) from the TV series The Secret Life of the American TeenagerThe Secret Life of the American TeenagerThe Secret Life of the American Teenager is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton. It first aired on ABC Family on July 1, 2008. The show was renewed for a second season consisting of 24 episodes on February 9, 2009, which began airing on June 22, 2009...
. - Vicky from the horror movie The MajorettesThe MajorettesThe Majorettes is a 1986 horror film. It was filmed at Cornell High School in the Pittsburgh suburb of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. It was directed by S. William Hinzman, who also starred in George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead. It was written and produced by John A. Russo, from his own novel...
. - Sissi Delmas (Jodi ForrestJodi ForrestJodie "Jody" Forrest is an American voice actress currently living in Paris, France. She has voiced Mrs. Pepper from Blues Clues. Trained as a dancer and actor, she is currently best known for voicing Elisabeth "Sissi" Delmas and other characters in the French animated television series Code Lyoko...
) from Code LyokoCode LyokoCode Lyoko is a French animated television series created by Thomas Romain and Tania Palumbo. The series centers on boarding school students Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd who travel to the virtual world of Lyoko to fight against multi-agent computer program XANA with Aelita, a being originally...
(attempted, but Jim kicks her out due to her clumsy movements in XANA Awakens). - Sakura KinomotoSakura Kinomotois a fictional character, the heroine of Clamp's manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. In the English anime adaptation of the series, Cardcaptors, her name is changed to Sakura Avalon. For all Japanese-language productions of the anime , Sakura is voiced by Sakura Tange...
from the anime series Cardcaptor SakuraCardcaptor Sakura, abbreviated as CCS and also known as Cardcaptors, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist group Clamp. The manga was originally serialized monthly in Nakayoshi from the May 1996 until the June 2000 issue, and later published in 12 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha...
. - Maxine Kirkwood, one of Theo Huxtable's love interests from Season 3, Episode 4 of the TV show The Cosby ShowThe Cosby ShowThe Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
. - Bunty Carmichael (Catherine TateCatherine TateCatherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
) from the TV series The Catherine Tate ShowThe Catherine Tate ShowThe Catherine Tate Show is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Aschlin Ditta. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. The Catherine Tate Show airs on BBC Two and is shown worldwide through the BBC...
.