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
