“The band has such a great sense of pride and community and closeness,” Schmitt said. “There are still only two feature twirlers. We stand out maybe a little more. But we’re still all part of the band, 330 strong.”
The director of the Marching Virginians David McKee, along with the assistant director, the band and a group of knowledgeable experts are charged with screening the twirlers via video the summer before they come to Virginia Tech. After the initial test, the group sends the finalists a piece of music that the twirlers must perform to in a live audition four weeks later.
“This is a situation where talent matters most,” McKee said. “The ability to perform at a high technical level and take a piece of music, listen to it and interpret it so their movement enhances what they’re trying to do musically.”
The twirlers are given free reign over the routines.
When asked if he felt comfortable giving Bell and Schmidt essentially complete independence when it comes to choreographing McKee responded: You betcha.
“One of the keys with our success with features twirlers is it’s a very independent role,” McKee said. “Here’s the drill, here’s the music, you have your skill set, go do it. These two are very independent. Over the years, the people in this position have welcomed that independence.”
The Marching Virginians have had as many as three feature twirlers and, in some years, none at all.
“They appeal to a very strong contingency out there,” McKee said. “They add just another little bit of ‘wow.’ Because these two perform at such a high level, the ‘wow’ that they add is even at a higher level. These two are really good at finding a moment in the show design to really pop out and there are other moments where they need to get out of the way.”
McKee said he is both impressed by Bell and Schmitt’s high talent level and their outstanding character.
“The skills that these two have are enormous,” McKee said. “It’s great to have people around like that who are multi-dimensional.”
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