Carrie began taking class baton lessons at the age of 7 with The Dryden Patriots.  After completing one year of class lessons, she began taking private lessons from Christine Myer Radi, director of The Patriots.  Carrie started to compete at National Baton Twirling Association (N.B.T.A.) competitions with great success.  Her instructor, Chris, formed a group of young private students that started competing.  Carrie was included in this group.  Chris named this group The Christals .    Over the course on the next two years, Chris worked hard with the team and eventually promoted them to her elite group of twirlers called The Christinettes.  This was a tremendous honor!  The new configuration of girls in The Christinettes made their premier at Nationals and took home the Large Dance-Twirl World Championship!  Although Carrie liked competing alone, she enjoyed the team aspect of twirling even more.  Her other team members voted her as team captain.  It was also during this time that Chris asked Carrie to assist her in teaching several baton classes for The Dryden Patriots.  Teaching beginning twirlers proved challenging, but Chris saw Carrie's gift for teaching and encouraged her to stick with it.  Carrie continued to teach for The Patriots throughout high school.  In 1993, Chris announced that after 25 years of directing The Patriots she was disbanding the corps.  Although this was a shock to the twirlers in Dryden, Carrie took that opportunity to continue the excellent tradition of baton twirling that Chris had begun.  She formed her own baton corps which she named The Pride Baton Corps.  Who knew that when Carrie began twirling she would have her own corps someday?!  After teaching The Pride for 9 years in Dryden, Carrie took a year off to get married. In the winter of 2004, she started teaching dance-twirl lessons in Trumansburg, NY. The Pride is now based in Trumansburg in the beautiful Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts. Carrie loves teaching her students and is excited to pass her knowledge of baton twirling and dance onto a new generation!

Carrie's Past Twirling Accomplishments

  NYS Advance Solo Champion
   NYS Advance X-Strut Champion
   NYS Advance Queen Champion
   Advance Miss Majorette of NY
  Top 20 in the Miss Majorette of America Pageant
  Team member / Cap't of The Christinettes
   NYS Juvenile, Junior, Senior Dance-Twirl Champion
   NYS Senior Team-Twirl Champion
   World Junior Dance-Twirl Champion
   3 Time NYS Twirler's Hall of Fame Inductee
           (for solo, team, and corps accomplishments)

E-mail Carrie at twirlny@yahoo.com

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