Ungl | Ultimate Cheerleaders

Twin Falls Woman Joins Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

By James

It seems to happen when people least expect it, the way famous starlets go from being just a girl who waits tables on the weekends to becoming a sort of celebrity, seemingly overnight.

A modern-day Cinderella story, perhaps, but Nicole Bulcher will tell you it was a lot of work made easy by what she attributes to being right where she needed to be.

A graduate of Twin Falls High School and the University of Idaho, the 23-year-old has the ambition to become an international human rights lawyer but along the way she has made a few stops. One in Malta for a study abroad experience, a few weeks in Los Angeles taking dance lessons and most recently back in Twin Falls where she was working as a barista for Java Jungle, waitressing at Canyon Crest and substituting teaching for the Twin Falls School District, all while studying for the LSAT and looking at law schools.

But then she got a whole new break and put her school dreams on hold to do something that requires a whole new kind of workload as one of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders (DCC).

Bulcher and one of her best friends from U of I made the trip to Texas along with more than 500 other hopefuls for two weeks of spring auditions and three demanding elimination rounds. Forty-four women were chosen to attend the eight-week training camp of fitness conditioning, daily rehearsals and dance training. On July 22, Bulcher was chosen to join the elite group of 34 women who get to wear the famous blue and white, star-studded uniforms.

“I still don’t think any of it is real,” Bulcher said. “Maybe when I run out on the field for the first time or maybe when we start signing autographs, I am not sure when it will hit me.”

The whirlwind trip has left her very thankful for all of the help her strangers-turned-friends have given her. When she found out she needed to stay longer than originally planned, she faced the issue of not having a car on hand or a place to stay. One of the returning veterans, Meredith Oden, took Bulcher under her wing and helped her find a family to stay with while she was in the training camp.

“I felt like the kid from The Blind Side,” Bulcher said, laughing when she described the first time she met the family. “I was expecting a normal lunch but they took us to the Ritz-Carlton, I’ve never eaten such a beautiful lunch!”

Bulcher has been exposed to more than just the Ritz. CMT’s fifth season of Making the Team, a show about the DCC will be putting her on air for a few interviews and shots of the girls trying out.

Texas, Bulcher said, is a whole new culture for her.

“I love Texas. They have big hair down here and everyone is really conservative,” Bulcher said. “I’ve already started picking up the word y’all. It’s just so much easier to say.”

The rigor of being a cheerleader has just started for America’s Sweethearts. Bulcher said the rule of thumb for the girls is to “look good in their uniform and be healthy.”

Between staying fit and working at a middle school as an ESL teacher’s assistant during the day and cheer practices at night, it is sure to be a busy season for the curly-haired beauty who has taken dance lessons since she was three.

Bulcher was the captain and choreographer for the U of I’s dance team and taught hip-hop lessons for the University’s wellness classes.

“The biggest part of preparing for this was when I took dance lessons in LA,” Bulcher said. “Dancing for U of I helped me to be a stronger person and mentally tough.”

And if there is one thing Bulcher wants people to know about her new role?

“People don’t realize what standards the DCC adhere to,” she said. “We are a very professional, classy organization. It’s different than other teams, many of the women are engaged or married and most of the girls are Christians. They are beautiful women. I am really excited for this.”

2010 Ben-Gals Earn Their Stripes at Audition Finals

By Midwest Dave

On Sunday, May 16th, an enthusiastic crowd of families, friends, and fans filled The Syndicate in Newport, Kentucky to experience the finals for the 2010 Cincinnati Ben-Gals try-outs. This is the second year that the Ben-Gals have brought their finals out to the public as a special event. Seventy candidates remained for this elite squad, and the final squad was announced this week. The finals was a gala event, co-hosted by local TV weather guy Steve Raleigh and former Ben-Gal Melissa Scalia. This was the end of a long process of workshops and earlier rounds of try-outs. In late March and early April, prior to the start of auditions, four three-hour workshops were held to help prepare the candidates. The first auditions were held in mid-April, and then those who made it through this preliminary round were required to attend five workshops. Semi-finals were held on May 9th which produced the elite group of dancers that participated in the finals.

Harmony at morning practice

Although the public festivities began in the early afternoon, it was an early morning for the Ben-Gal candidates. Candidates arrived at 8 am for a morning of rehearsals and preparation. As coach John Wooden said, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail,” and the morning practices provided great learning experiences for all of the contestants. During the rehearsals, one of the veterans experienced a “wardrobe malfunction,” but made one of the greatest catches in organization history, surpassing anything Trumpy, Collinsworth, or Ocho Cinco ever did on the field. While holding up her top with one hand, she completed the routine perfectly to the rousing applause of her peers. However, lesson learned to the squad finalists: safety pins, safety pins, safety pins.

Rehearsing the dance routine

A key part of the finals was a dance routine performed in pairs on stage. Although this was an individual event, it was noted for the candidates during the morning that the most successful performances were those in which the dancers kept an eye out for the other for proper spacing and timing. It was amazing to watch the transformation from morning practice to afternoon performances. The little glitches and kinks in the morning seemed to be smoothed over in the afternoon with both practice and the adrenaline from the lights, judges, and fans.

All of the dancers auditioned to the same song, Christina Aguilera’s “Not Myself Tonight.” During the morning rehearsals, that song was played over and over again. For the finalists, they had spent a week practicing to that song. Although this was a competition for precious squad spots, there was a supportive air of camaraderie among the finalists. During Sunny’s morning practice routine, she earned oohs, ahs, and applause for sticking a move with a high degree of difficulty. Rather than cut-throat, the atmosphere was more of finalists bonding, while raising each other up to perform their best.

Sunny's dance moves were too fast to be captured by photos, so here she is in bathing suit finals

Veteran Ben-Gal Teresha was instrumental in providing access to UltimateCheerleaders.com to this event. Teresha works in the hospitality industry and she certainly puts the “hospitable” in “hospitality.” We appreciate the time and effort she put in to getting access for us! During the morning practices, she was dancing, smiling, and laughing like the most relaxed person on the planet. When she said she was “SO nervous”, I told her that she seemed more relaxed than anyone. Teresha said that she might be the goofiest one, not the most relaxed. Either way, she makes everything and everyone around her a bit less nervous when her fun spirit springs forth.

Teresha shines in swimsuit finals

The morning featured practice time for the three main activities in the afternoon: the opening number, dance routines performed by a pair of dancers, and bathing suit modeling. Scores from the interviews and skill set evaluations were compiled the previous week at the semi-finals and added to scores from dancing and modeling at the finals.

Rehearsing the big opening number

Morning practice for the swimsuit modeling

In the morning, Head Captain Tara lead the practice session. Tara is one of our superstar pro dancers for so many reasons: this will be her ninth season on the squad; Pro Bowl squad selection; competitor on the NFL Network’s cheerleader competition; completing her Ph.D. in cancer biology at University of Cincinnati; and co-author of a paper in the prestigious journal Nature Genetics. During a brief respite between morning practice and the start of the show, Tara took time to fill me in on all the things swirling around in this busy time. This is the time of year when fans of the squads find out if some of their favorites are coming back, and Tara said this year’s decision was down to the wire. In her busy life, there is a lot going on but that being part of the Ben-Gals is fun, and keeps her energized and definitely never bored.

Continue reading 2010 Ben-Gals Earn Their Stripes at Audition Finals

Mystery Gorillas With Mireya Mayor Premieres April 5th

By James

mireya Congo’s western lowland gorillas have long been the subject of legends. Seemingly able to vanish into the jungle, they were rarely glimpsed by outsiders. Then, in 2006, researchers discovered a population of more than 100,000 in an area long off limits due to an unrelenting armed conflict. But poaching and the threats posed by logging and deadly diseases are putting this gorilla stronghold at risk. Now, National Geographic Emerging Explorer. primatologist, and former Miami Dolphins Cheerleader Mireya Mayor ventures deep into the heart of the forest to observe the culture and behavior of these mysterious great apes and help to protect these intelligent and endangered creatures.

Trek with Mireya to places where humans seldom wander and see what it takes to get ahead in the gorillas’ complex society. Enter a community where sexual politics, daily routines and dining etiquette are shaped by both brains and brawn. Mireya gets hair-raisingly close to a 350-pound gorilla patriarch and his family, then visits a gorilla gathering spot as hotly contested as any singles bar at happy hour. Mireya also observes the community of gorillas that includes the first great ape ever documented using a tool.

Access to wild gorillas is the only way we can truly understand the ways of one of man’s closest relatives. As Mystery Gorillas reveals, the key to their survival is the forest that has protected them throughout the ages. “This Eden has become their safe haven,” Mireya says, “If we can preserve this forest itself, they might just have a shot.”

[Mystery Gorillas at NationalGeographic.com]

[MireyaMayor.com]

From cheerleader to explorer?

By Sasha

fmr-mdc-mireya-mayor

By Melissa Farenish
For The Daily Item
January 28, 2010

WILLIAMSPORT — How does a girl go from NFL cheerleader to National Geographic explorer? Mireya Mayor made the transition more than 10 years ago when she took an anthropology course at the University of Miami.

“I fell in love with it,” she said.

Mayor, an English and philosophy double major, joined the Miami Dolphins cheering squad because she liked to dance. Her Cuban mother, who Mayor calls “my role model,” expected her to become a teacher or nurse after college.

Instead, Mayor chose to chase monkeys and gorillas in the jungle.

“My anthropology professor talked about her experiences chasing monkeys in the jungle, and that fascinated me,” Mayor said.

Soon, she was reading about primatologists like Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall. Once Mayor watched the Fossey biography “Gorillas in the Mist,” there was no turning back — she wanted be the next Fossey or Goodall.

“They were my role models,” Mayor said. “I wanted to be biggest achievement is the discovery of the world’s smallest primate.

Like most discoveries, “it was completely by accident,” Mayor said. The creatures she caught in Madagascar didn’t fit the description of lemurs in her reference books. After a series of genetic testing, she announced the discovery in 2004 and earned her place as a top anthropologist.

mireya-mayor-mouse-lemur

Last summer, Mayor was on the History Channel show “Expedition Africa: Stanley & Livingstone” The show stars four explorers who follow in the footsteps of journalist Henry Morton Stanley’s 1871 trek through Tanzania wilderness to find world-renowned explorer Dr. David Livingstone. That meant they had no GPS, no maps, and no tents.

The “essence of that place is still the same,” according to Mayor. The danger of predators such as lions and crocodiles and diseases like malaria is still there. Each of the explorers was sick at least once. One explorer, Benedict Allen of England, contracted malaria.

The rest of the group had to decide whether to leave him to die or continue their trek with him. Thankfully, Allen pulled through and was able to finish the exploration.

Mayor will speak about her experiences at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31 at the Community Arts Center, 220 W. Fourth St., as part of the National Geographic speaker series. Tickets cost $5 for students,range from $20 to $25 for the general public and are available by calling (800) 432-9382. Bring this article to the box office the day of the show for an adult ticket for $10.

UNGL Virginia Swarm Cheerleaders

By James

swarm1
Congratulations to the newest member of the Virginia Swarm Dance Team, who were selected at Saturday’s auditions.

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Line Captains Cassie and Whitney

Director Trisha Hart is still looking for more dancers for her team. Interested parties should check out the UNGL Website. The UNGL season is scheduled to kickoff in March.