By ARCHIE MOUNTAIN
Special to the Eagle Times
NEWPORT — Danielle Cherry made a decision about her future at the age of 10 and when she heads off to college in August her baton will be traveling with her.
And why not? Now 18, Danielle is Newport’s most famous twirler and one of the very best in New Hampshire.
It all started with a single baton and now the Bishop Brady senior can flip four in the air at the same time and make it look easy.
And if practice makes perfect, Danielle’s commitment over the last eight years has paid big dividends. During that period she had just a bit of help from her parents, Dan and Sandy Cherry.
For years her Mom and Dad have transported Danielle to two practice sessions each week in Derry, a 70-mile trip one way. That’s where Danielle grew up twirling with the famous Red Star Twirlers headed by former Newporter Gina Willey Hutchinson.
Every week it was off to practice in Derry on Tuesdays from 5-9 p.m. with a return trip each Saturday for practice that ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
She still plans to do some twirling at DePaul University in Chicago, her next stop. DePaul, one of the Top 20 film schools in the country, has no football program so her opportunity to perform in a sports setting will likely come at basketball games with the cheerleaders and pep band.
Her goal is to become involved in film production and much of her effort at DePaul will focus on academics. As an incentive to stay at the top of her classroom game, Danielle will be zeroing in on her studies
DePaul awarded Danielle a $20,000 academic scholarship that will renew annually as long as she qualifies in the classroom.
Initially, Danielle was looking to head west for her college career at UCLA and then she discovered DePaul, a school of 15,000 students located “right in the middle of Chicago where all the film stuff is done,” she said. DePaul is the only college with two lots at Cinespace in Chicago where all Chicago shows are filmed, Danielle stated.
“DePaul students slide on in and get internships with them,” she continued.
The school also sends students to Los Angeles for one quarter and, “I’d likely stay with them,” Danielle stated looking toward the future.
Danielle has enjoyed plenty of travel with the famous Red Star Twirlers at such events as the presidential inaugural parade in Washington, D.C., and the Rose Bowl parade in Pasadena, Calif.
Before heading off to DePaul, Danielle will be in a group of 10 Red Stars traveling to Paris July 31st to perform at the Disney Paris attraction and also at the Eiffel Tower. The trip is scheduled to cover a full week. The Red Star Twirlers will be the first twirling team to perform at Disney’s Paris location.
To reach the four-baton level, Danielle worked her hardest in the last eight years.
“I was not good, not flexible and my hand-eye coordination was not the best,” she admitted. “I had to work for it.”
Danielle found out early on that a lot of the Red Star girls had trained in dance. “I had to play catch-up for a long time.”
She also spoke of the importance of having the right baton.
They should be the length of your arm, fingertips to shoulder, she revealed. As twirlers grow in size, it becomes necessary to also use longer batons.
Danielle also shared her experiences on what happens when batons are dropped. “If you drop them several times they can lose their balance,” she noted. The baton has a hollow cylinder with rubber tipped ends, she explained.
There are 30 different age groups at the level at which Danielle competes. “The youngest is 3-years-old and the oldest is me (18)” she stated.
In addition to her trips from Newport to Derry over the years, Danielle is very familiar with the road to Concord where she attends Bishop Brady High School. Late in her sophomore year she turned 16 and became the proud operator of “Little Red” a Nissan that has provided her with reliable transportation for the last half of her high school traveling career.
Recently, Danielle competed at Twirlmania International Championship at Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports and became the High School Classic Champion. At the end of March she was awarded the Dorothy Barry Sportsmanship Award for Twirling and is now New Hampshire’s Senior Miss Majorette.
The Sportsmanship Award covered the New England area.
Danielle’s career has not been without its low moment, however. I was never used to “not placing” and thought it might be it but didn’t give up. “I didn’t want to be the girl who gave up because she didn’t get what she wanted,” Danielle said.
With her ESPN victory, Danielle was presented a trophy along with $250.
At 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing 125 pounds, Danielle noted the importance of muscle mass. “The faster you push the speed will determine how much you can pack into three minutes,” she said.
Cutlines
Danielle Cherry
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