Silver Twins take on "novelty" role this fall

Purdue's Silver Twins - Megan and Morgan Von Dielingen - will see their role expand this fall to that of novelty twirlers for the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band.

"I've always been fascinated by the Silver Twin position.  There's no other featured position like it in the country, and it lends itself to so many possibilities as entertaining performers," says Purdue Auxiliary Director Alisha Kuckartz, who announced the change.

Fans can expect to see the twins perform with hoop batons, flag batons and more. "In addition to twirling, Megan and Morgan are national champion cloggers and look forward to demonstrating their talents at dancing as well as with batons, flag batons, hoop batons, and also look forward to doing more outreach into the community," Kuckartz says.

The twins, natives of Seymour , like the idea too.

"We see ourselves as overall entertainers and really appreciate the opportunity to perform together as sisters.  Every position within the band is important, and it's great to have a unique identity," says Morgan VonDielingen. Both Megan and Morgan are juniors majoring in communications.

When Director of Bands Emeritus Al G. Wright created the position in 1960, it was designed for the talents of twins Sharon and Karon Roeske and the focus was on the mirror image novelty presented by twins. The Silver Twins position has evolved in various ways as different women have performed duet style. 

In the 1990s, when the numbers of women pursuing twirling as a sport dropped it became increasingly hard to fill the position with twins, and most often it was filled with two unrelated women interested in duet style. In 2002 no twirlers stepped forward with that specific interest and the position was left vacant.

When Megan and Morgan VonDielingen were selected as Silver Twins at the 2004 twirler auditions, it marked the first time in more than a decade that twins held the spot. While Purdue Bands gives preference to twins, when they are available to audition, it does not close the door on unrelated sets of twirlers who seek the challenge of twirling as a duo.

Auditions for the Silver Twins novelty position are held concurrently with solo twirler auditions for the Golden Girl and Girl in Black in April each year.