Once the lights go down in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, it is Ole Miss Feature Twirler Elsie Post’s time to shine — or burn, rather — as she tosses ignited batons high into the air and gracefully leaps, spins and catches the batons, all in an instant.
Within a trio of feature twirlers, Post performs with the Pride of the South Band before football games and at halftime to present a dazzling display of skill, agility and sheer talent to a roaring crowd of fans.
Growing up on the outskirts of Ottawa, Ontario, the Canadian native began baton twirling at age three and continued to fine tune her abilities throughout her adolescent years, dreaming of performing at a collegiate level.
However, due to the lack of twirling programs in Canadian colleges, Post knew she would have to venture into new territory to achieve her goal.
“They don’t have feature twirlers at the schools in Canada,” Post said. “But ever since I was younger, I just knew I wanted to be a twirler when I got into college because I just love performing for people.”
At the World Baton Twirling Federation World Championships in high school, Post met the person who would become her teammate, Natalie Weber, who encouraged her to explore U.S. colleges for the opportunity to continue her passion into her collegiate career.
Because Post’s high school counselors and family were unfamiliar with the admissions process for American colleges, applying to the University of Mississippi proved to be a challenge she had to navigate independently.
Once she was admitted into the university, Post traveled thousands of miles from Canada to Ole Miss to participate in an in-person audition to gain a coveted spot on the Ole Miss Feature Twirlers team.
Joining senior Sydney Spencer and junior Natalie Weber, Post is one of only three twirlers at UM that perform at football and basketball games, parades and competitions across the country.
The freshman exercise science major shared about the treasured friendships she has cultivated with her fellow feature twirlers.
“We’re really close, and we spend most of our time together because we practice every day together,” Post said. “I’m so glad that I met them. They’re probably the people that I’m closest with here on campus just because I get to spend so much time with them.”
Although the feature twirlers are directed by Ole Miss Band Director Randy Dale and Rachel Levetzow, the artistic dancers collaborate to create their own choreography, which sometimes includes a special flare — lighting each end of the batons on fire.
“I’d say it’s definitely dangerous because we soak the batons in a big tub of explosive filled with liquid kerosine, tiki torch fluid and gasoline.” Post said. “You definitely don’t want to get it on yourself because you don’t want to light yourself on fire.”
Twirling is an artistic sport that requires perfect timing and precision with regular batons but even more so with the use of fire.
“It’s funny because we don’t use as much hairspray as we usually do because we don’t want to light our hair on fire, but it’s really no different than regular twirling. It’s just on fire.”
Performing with flames since she was eight, Post shared that although she has not been harmed while at Ole Miss, she endured a minor accident earlier in her career.
“When I was younger, I lit my hair on fire and burned a chunk of my hair off, and it singed it a little bit,” she said.
While dancing with fire may not be a new experience for Post, living in Mississippi has proven to require some adjusting from the Canadian way of life she has grown accustomed to.
“Southern culture and food has definitely been a shock. I love Southern food. I’ve had chicken and waffles and Chick-fil-A,” Post said. “We don’t have Chick-fil-A in Canada.”
As an international student, Post expressed that being away from her family and home country has been difficult, but her parents have been able to visit and see her perform.
“It was a little bit hard because I missed Canadian Thanksgiving, which was a few weeks ago, and there’s also the bowl game during American Thanksgiving, so I don’t get to go home,” Post said. “But my parents came to visit me at the game, so it was nice to see my family.”
After graduating from UM, Post aspires to return to Canada to attend physiotherapy school.
Above all else, Post treasures the moments before football games where she is out on the field as enthusiasm swells in the stadium.
“Everybody gets so excited when we get to be out there and hype up the crowd before the football games,” Post said. “I’m just happy that I get to represent my school and do the sport I’ve loved my whole life.”
More information about the Ole Miss Feature Twirlers can be found on their Instagram.
