education, but state director and chief coach of Georgia's Youth on Parade programme, Mr. James Baskett, assured that it can be.

"Twirling can definitely pay for a college education,'' he assured. "The scholarships are phenomenal.'' Last week, Mr. Baskett was in Bermuda under the auspices of Government's Ministry of Community & Cultural Affairs, which wanted majorette groups to improve their creativity, according to a spokesperson.

Specifically, Mr. Baskett's mission was to teach local majorettes the finer points of twirling.

"We are teaching the girls the proper fundamentals and techniques as well as the performance skills needed,'' he explained. "We want to train them to be eligible to come to the United States and be able to walk into any school in America. They want to learn the American style, and that is what we are attempting to do.'' And it seems the scheme met with great success.

"The natural talent here is just as great as you see anywhere in the world.

The ability of Bermudian children is phenomenal. What I accomplished in three afternoons here would probably have taken four to five days in the United States,'' Mr. Baskett enthused.

Part of this the coach attributed to the local children's affinity for dancing.

"Dance and baton twirling complement each other, so with their strong dance background they are learning the twirling very rapidly,'' he explained.

"I have told the girls they have the pattern, they have the desire, and we can give them the skill. By combining all three they are going to excel.'' Mr. Baskett defined twirling as "a correlation of movement involving both the baton and the body''.

"It is movement of the baton co-ordinated with hand, foot and body movement,'' he explained. "Twirling is one of the few really true American arts.'' Like all art forms, twirling has certain techniques and patterns which are fundamental to correctness, and it is these which Mr. Baskett was anxious to put right in order to create a firm foundation on which to build for the future.

"You start with a very, very basic fundamental and build from that. One trick with the baton is called a twirl; two or more is called a series. Series are combined to establish a routine. A routine may be done to music, and it may be done on the march in a parade, or it can be done in one location such as a concert, a fair or a performance arena.'' Mr. Baskett said he saw the same mistakes made here as in Scotland, where he has also trained baton twirlers, and he had no idea how they originated. He also noted that Bermudians favour a high-stepping dance style, which interested him, and since his ultimate goal was to effect an exchange programme between Georgia and local twirlers, learning was a two-way street.

"We want to incorporate their style into our programme,'' Mr. Baskett said, "and the Bermudians are going to incorporate our twirling skills into theirs.

We are learning from them and they are learning from us. When we start an exchange programme I am sure we will be learning more from each other.

Everyone needs to expand their horizons.'' Mr. Baskett began his local training sessions by starting at the top. First, he met with all the majorette leaders and explained his programme, and then worked intensely with them on technique so that they, in turn, could help their charges. Sessions with instructors and students working together then followed, and finally he worked with everyone at the weekend and evaluated their progress. Assisting him in the programme were three Georgia twirling queens -- Jenise Bacon, 18, Heather Wolfe, 15, and Shay Sorrels, 13 -- who performed and demonstrated their winning routines for the benefit of the local girls.

Coupled with the technical training was Mr. Baskett's message about using twirling as a means to gaining a scholarship for further education in the United States.

"I have the largest baton twirling/ education programme in America, and because of our success I am asked to travel throughout the world to establish similar programmes which emulate our success,'' he explained.

This was something which interested the Bermudians very much.

"It is amazing how many of the girls have chosen where they want to go to school,'' he said. "One nine-year-old told me she wants to go to Notre Dame! It is marvellous that they have such high ambitions. And of course, we want to be assured that when they get there, if twirling is going to be their forte, we want them to carry on all the way through school.'' Living proof of that is Mr. Baskett himself, whose interest in twirling began in junior high school and was ultimately parlayed into a college education through an unusual twist on a football scholarship.

"We had a new band leader, Mr. Albert Brogdon, come to the junior high school. He noted my high academic skills and athletic ability and felt I was agile enough to lead the band and twirl. So he persuaded the school to send me to a camp in Indiana and pay my expenses.'' From that moment on, the die was cast for 13-year-old James Baskett. He would go on to win state and national twirling championships, and be inundated with scholarship offers from major colleges -- an achievement he is particularly proud of because he gained a degree at no expense to his family.

"I came from a small Kentucky community where, if it hadn't been for Albert Brogdon I would have graduated form high school and worked in the factory,'' he said. "Instead, I earned a degree in administrative education because I had the feeling that some day I would want to direct a programme like Georgia's Youth on Parade.'' Small wonder then, that the two have remained best friends, and Mr. Brogdon was even best man his protegee's wedding.

Today, Mr. Baskett heads a staff of 30 instructors and supervisors and 100 volunteers at Georgia's Youth on Parade programme, and teaches over 2000 girls each week.

He is fit and works out three times a week at a gymnasium.

"I am permitted to get bald but not lazy,'' he smiled. "I have to keep in condition.'' He has also travelled all over the world conducting programmes similar to the one in Bermuda, and despite his 57 years has not the slightest intention of retiring.

When the day finally does come, however, he will leave a fine legacy. His daughter Dawn is a world champion twirler, instructor and successful beauty contestant, and one of his two sons is a twirling coach in Hawaii. As if that weren't enough, his wife, whom he met in college, was also a champion twirler.

During the course of his career, Mr. Baskett has seen many changes in twirling and has managed to keep pace with them all. For one thing, until the Second World War there were no female twirlers because the batons were solid metal with heavy ball ends. Today, there are almost no male twirlers and the batons are hollow and light with rubber-tipped ends.

Costumes, too, have undergone great changes, particularly in the United States, where the heavy boots, skirts and ornate hats still favoured by Bermudians were replaced many years ago by sneakers and socks, a bathing suit-type costume and tiny crown headpieces -- all of which give the young ladies a more flattering appearance. "Footwork is neater, and marching and manoeuvring are much easier in tennis shoes, and they're also much cheaper,'' Mr. Baskett explained. "A fitted costume, crown and tennis shoes produce a visually neater line which detracts nothing from the overall appearance.

Everywhere I go to do a workshop eventually they change.'' Meanwhile, his Bermuda students will go on perfecting their newly-learned skills for the Bermuda Day parade, when Mr. Baskett will again return as the Ministry's guest to see them in action and assess their performance.

"A little encouragement goes a long way,'' he smiled.

TWIRLING CHAMPS ... Twirling coach Mr. James Baskett and his team of Georgia twirling queens, from left, Shay Sorrells, Jenise Bacon, Melinda Wolfe (chaperone) and Heather Wolfe.