West Deer's Annie Rieg twirls her way to the top

Ask 18-year-old Annie Rieg what she does for fun and she’ll answer with a coy smile.

“I dance around under flying metal,” said Rieg, a Deer Lakes graduate and resident of West Deer.

In her freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh, Rieg is a member of the school’s Golden Girls twirling squad, an elite group of athletes who combine gymnastics, rhythmic dancing and impressive baton skills.

“I just love it so much, I want to show everyone what real twirling is,” said Rieg. She is a lead instructor at Twirl Time, situated in a converted church, The Clement, along West Ninth Avenue in Tarentum.

“Some people think of it as being pretty basic, like pictures they see from the 1950s. It is hard — physically and mentally.”

Turns out, the sport requires mastery in body placement, hand-eye coordination, mental agility and confidence.

In the few seconds while the baton flies through the air, Rieg can do a cartwheel and walkover, and spin five times in a circle. When the baton lands, she can roll it, hands-free, around her neck and use it as a spinning accessory in her dance routine.

The 2021 Intermediate National Twirling Champion hails from West Deer. Check ⁦@TribLIVE⁩ for her story. pic.twitter.com/HmuuWLRasg

— TawnyaP (@tawnyatrib) January 26, 2022

Rieg was featured on the twirling squad for juggling three batons at once.

Despite a half-inch diameter shaft, a baton is still 31 inches of metal falling from high above — with force, Rieg said. It hits with a thud, be it on your head or shoulder or back.

“You really have to squeeze that baton,” she said. “I used to freak out all the time during my routines. Now I’m really learning to enjoy the performances.”

Rieg comes by her love of twirling naturally. Her family has 70 years of baton experience, starting with her great-grandmother, Anne Angelo, who founded one of the area’s first drum and baton corps — the Bonnie Lassies in Wilkinsburg.

Rieg’s grandmother, Anne Rita Brash, and mother each competed and won titles in the 1960s and 1980s, respectively.

“Twirling is more than meets the eye,” said Marianne Rieg, Annie’s mom. “Most people don’t realize that it is recognized on an international level and is considered a sport with scholarship opportunities.”

Marianne Rieg owns the Twirl Time studio, where she trains tiny twirlers from ages 4 and older to show their prowess on the dance floor. The studio serves students from 11 school districts across the Alle-Kiski Valley.

Open for eight years, the studio has helped place more than 60 students on high school twirling and dance lines and more than 35 students on college lines.

There are three Twirl Time students who perform with Pitt’s Golden Girls.

A onetime staple of high school bands, twirling has largely been pushed aside for color guard. But the sport remains prestigious at the college level, Marianne Rieg said.

“There is a very big twirling arena in the athletic world,” Marianne Rieg said. “Many twirlers receive wonderful scholarships, college credits and more.”

Annie Rieg has racked up a slew of awards in competitions across the country, despite not having a twirling line in high school to compete with.

Wearing costumes that are custom-designed by a seamstress in England, Rieg was named the Twirling Unlimited intermediate 2021 National Twirling Champion, as well as the state Strut Champion.

Rieg also won the solo event at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic Expo in Columbus, Ohio, in 2020.

A self-described former tomboy, Rieg was previously also a member of the USA Twirling Team, which was scheduled to compete in Holland in 2021, but the trip was cancelled amid the pandemic.

Next up, Rieg is practicing daily for the Miss Majorette of PA contest, scheduled for May at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

She counts her longtime coach, Sherry Vignoli-Parisi, as her secret weapon.

And, Rieg has the perfect rehearsal venue — the high ceilings in The Clement accommodate her 50-foot tosses.

Among her accolades, Rieg said a highlight was marching with the Pitt band in this year’s Peach Bowl when the ACC Champion Panthers took on Michigan State in Atlanta.

“It sounds silly, but I never got to experience performing with a live band, so I always wanted that,” she said.

“This is just such a wholesome sport. I want to compete for years to come and then after that, I’ll instruct. It will always be something I do.”