Nuclear Cowboyz gear up for freestyle motocross at IZOD Center
By Anthony Stoeckert
NewJerseyNewsRoom.com
25 February 2010

Ronnie Faisst has a lot on his mind when he’s riding in the motocross extravaganza Nuclear Cowboyz. He has to do his tricks, be in the right spot at the right time and coordinate with other dirt bike riders.

Oh, and one other thing.

“There are girls out there dancing, you need to make sure you don’t run over a dancer,” he says.

Nuclear Cowboyz — coming to the IZOD Center Feb. 26-27 — is a choreographed freestyle motocross show featuring dirt bike tricks, pyrotechnics, music and those dancers (knowns as the Nuclear Cowgirls). As Faisst explains it, traditional motocross involves dirt bike riders racing. In freestyle motocross riders perform individually and are judged, based on execution, the difficulty of jumps, and other factors.

“So it’s not about going fast — it’s about how many jumps you can get in and what tricks you can do with the jumps,” he says.

Faisst grew up in Mays Landing and started riding dirt bikes when he was 8 years old. “We had five acres where I grew up and we had a little place to ride in the backyard,” he says. “And there was a gravel pit up the street from my house so I’d ride there.”

He rode at motocross tracks in Englishtown and New Egypt and in Pennsylvania and upstate New York. He turned pro in 1995 and moved to California in 1997. He’s gone on to compete in the X Games and Gravity Games — winning a bronze medal performance at the 2006 Winter X Games. Nuclear Cowboyz is a change for him because it’s so tightly choreographed.

“It’s a big, big show, a great show for entertainment,” he says. “It’s never been done here in America and to bring our sport and put it in a choreographed show, if you want to see a freestyle show, this is the best one to see.”

Those dancers Faisst steers his bike away from are the Nuclear Cowgirls, whose ranks include Adar Wellington, who grew up in Cherry Hill and studied dance at Rutgers. Ms. Wellington describes the show’s story as “Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ on bikes” with two gangs competing against each other on dirt bikes.

“The guys are incredible, they do tricks that are phenomenal,” Wellington says. “I’ve been doing this with them a couple of months and it never gets old for me. It’s explosive, these guys are fearless, they do the craziest stunts on these bikes.”

Being a Nuclear Cowgirl means dancing in dirt amidst all the special effects and dirt bike riders. Ms. Wellington, who was captain of the New Jersey Nets Dancers before moving out to Los Angeles, says she wasn’t exactly sure as to what she was auditioning for on her Nuclear Cowgirl tryout.

“We didn’t know what we were getting into until we already made it,” she says. “Once it was explained to us, we still didn’t really get it until we were actually in the arena with the motorcycle guys and we actually saw them doing what they do. It wasn’t clear until we were actually in it. It’s definitely one of the most interesting jobs I have to put on my resume.”

She’s particularly excited about coming to New Jersey and having her family see the show. She promises audiences will be on their edge of the seats throughout the action.

“I’m nervous the entire time, my jaw is clenched the entire show,” she says. “And when the show’s over, I let out a deep breath, it’s pretty scary.”

By Scott Cronick
Atlantic City Press

Jen Raftery may have the coolest part-time job ever.

Like most 20-year-old college students, the Ocean City native goes to her classes and does plenty of studying as a communications major at Pace University in New York City.

But when she boards the bus to New Jersey for work, it’s to perform in front of thousands of people as a member of the New Jersey Nets dance team.

Raftery, whose parents, Thomas and Suzanne, reside in Ocean City, did some acting and singing in high school and took dance lessons at The Dance Place of Ocean City. After getting the performance bug, she decided to audition for the New York Knicks two years ago, but she wasn’t chosen.

She did, however, become a member of the dance team for the former New York Titans in the National Lacrosse League. So when NBA dance tryouts came around again, she auditioned for the Nets’ team, competing against 300 other women and securing one of 15 spots on the team.

“There is some intense competition,” said Raftery, the youngest member on the team who wants to work in the broadcast business after graduation, possibly as a casting director. “I absolutely love it. It’s like nothing I’ve ever done before. The dancing is fun, but it’s also extremely challenging. Between school and this, it’s a little overwhelming. But I would do it if I didn’t get paid. The money helps, though, It’s sure better than being a waitress or something like that.”

[Nets Dancers]

(It’s been almost two weeks since I took these photos. I’m always playing catch-up)

I was originally going up for the Lakers-Nets game on December 18th. But then two feet of snow fell and my car was blocked in by even higher piles of snow. I was better off anyway. Kimberlee Garris, NETS Entertainment Manager, told me that after the game it took her 2 hours just to go from the Izod Center to Manhattan.

So, I went with a backup plan and visited on December 30th when the Nets hosted their cross-Hudson the New York Knicks.

By terms of the credential, I can only go out on the court to shoot the entertainers, so I spent most of the time under the stands, where the Dancers and Stunters were preparing.

I arrived about 5pm as the Nets Dancers and Team Hype began rehearsals.

But many of the Nets Dancers had already put in a long day. They had been at the Izod Center since 8am teaching hundreds of girls at the Nets Dance Clinic.

Nets Dancer Captain Jessica choreographed the routine. DVDs were sent to local dance studios, where the girls practiced their moves. At the clinic they worked on their formations and positioning. And then had the opportunity to perform for the fans just before the game started.

Entertainers circle up before going on to perform.

Just one of the many uniforms the Nets Dancers changed into and out of during the night.

This is Kayte, a member of the Nets stunt team: Team Hype. She cheered at the University of Delaware for three years. Now she’s studying for the CPA exam. She also is partner in Stunners Entertainment, a performance cheerleading company.

Nets Entertainment Manager Kimberlee Garris with Nets Dance Coach Trixia (pronounced Tricia). Trixia danced for the Knicks and the Nets. She earned her PharmD from Rutgers (a six-year program) and now works in the pharmaceutical industry.

Getting ready for the burrito toss. Those aren’t really burritos. They are t-shirts with free burrito coupons.

The Dunking Divas! (and another uniform change!) At halftime members of the Nets Dancers and Team Hype performed all sorts of wild dunks for the fans. Some of the Dunkers will travel to Dallas and perform at the NBA All-Star Game next month.

The guys of Team Hype.

Nets Dancers Captain Laura encourage the crowd in the 4th quarter.

It’s been a bit of struggle for the basketball team this season, so the Dancers haven’t had many chances to come out for a post-game celebratory dance. But on this night fortune smiled and the Nets defeated the Knicks.

And to top off an wonderful evening, the Nets Dancers sent me home with their hot off the presses 2009-10 poster!

[Nets Dancers Gallery]

[Nets Dancers Official Website]

The New Jersey Nets website has been updated with profiles and bio photos for the Nets Dancers. Click here to learn all about the team.

From Atlantic City Luxury Magazine

The New Jersey Nets darling dancer has been mesmerizing stadiums full of basketball fans for the past three years

Anyone who’s been to a major sporting event can recall the thunderous-road of the crowd; that strange almost electric feeling that floats with a frenzy and connects every spectator to one another, only working to make our chanting cheers louder, stronger and more primal. Like with any enchantment, there are typically a few figures that lead the bunch, stirring the crucible accordingly, and ensuring that the members of the audience are not only having the time of their lives, but that a similar sort of vigor is invoked in the tame that as about the court the grace of sudden death.

Chrisna Iannelli is on such siren. The New Jersey Nets darling dancer has been mesmerizing stadiums full of basketball fans for the last three years, bringing almost twenty years of dancing to the court. Do not be confused - Iannelli is not just another pretty face. She is a celebrity in the making.

“I’ve been dancing since I was five years old,” being the Allentown, Pennsylvania native. “I started at Dolly Haltzman Dance Academy where I was strictly ballet and tap. I took ballet at Muhlenberg College and the Ballet Guild in Bethlehem. And then I got into jazz and hip hop in elementary school and middle school through the East Coast Dance Connection in Allentown. I would dance to anything that would come on. We have home videos where I will just not get away from the camera! I was constantly putting on a show. I would make my cousins-no, I would teach my cousins a dance and put in a show at all our Christmas parties.”

After a season-long stint with the Philadelphia 76ers after high school, Iannelli transplanted to New York City where she signed with the prestigious Clear Talent Group. Within a short amount of time, the dancer was soon seen on Saturday Night Live, 20 Rock and a Timbaland music video. She also auditioned for the New Jersey Nets, made the team and has been with them for the past two years.

“It’s all very exciting,” continues the young star on the rise. “I want to continue to grow in the entertainment industry, wherever that leads me. It’s had to think about what’s going to happen in the future, tomorrow, or five years from now. The whole thing is, this goal that I’ve had for my entire life-it’s been reached. I wanted to be an NBA Dancer, I wanted to signed to a dance agency in New York City, I wanted to be in music videos, commercials and magazine and that’s all happening right now or has happened. So I just want to keep going forward with it. I’m just so in the moment right now that I can’t even think about the future. I want to keep on this path.”

[Nets Dancers on Facebook]

From Nets.com

Hi family, friends and Nets fans,

Each day in South Korea is more amazing than the last! Today we performed at our first NBA Generations vs. KBL game in Seoul. The minute we stepped onto the court, our Korean fans went crazy. They loved our high-energy performance to “Proud Mary.” After getting such an overwhelming response, we were pumped to show them our dunking skills.

Right before entering the court, we circled up to remind each other how blessed we are to be here, and then we did a song and dance ritual to get us amped up. Our dunk show was CRAZY! It couldn’t have gone better. One Dunking Diva after another nailed their individual tricks and slammed the ball into the hoop.

The crowd went wild, especially for our more advanced dunks, which included a few passes and then a grand finale of Melody dunking over Cecilia — who was sitting on Siobhan’s shoulders! Our last performance of the game was a new hip-hop routine to Ciara’s song “Work.” The song says, “You better work” and that’s exactly what we did!

After the game, we came onto the court to take a few photos. When the fans saw us posed for our cameras, they came flying down the stairs to take our pictures. Parents were handing off their babies to us, and we were so grateful to be able to capture this moment on film. It was an emotional experience for all six of us and Sly to see how much the fans loved us. Words can’t even express our thoughts and feelings about today. I can speak for all of us when I say it’s something we’ll never forget.

After dinner we had some free time, so we went out to see more of Seoul. We took the subway, and it was the cleanest and most advanced subway system we’ve seen in our lives. We went to the N Seoul Tower, which was located all the way on top of a mountain.
[Nets Dancer Jess]

When our cable car got to the top, we went to one of the most romantic places in all of Korea. There were thousands of locks locked in pairs on the trees and fences to represent love for a significant other. Our last stop was the top of the tower overlooking the entire city. The view was beautiful.

After a long day we headed back to the hotel to prepare for tomorrow. We’re so excited to perform again, but this time in Incheon. Be sure to check back soon for our next blog. We are having so much fun, but we miss all of our family, friends and Nets fans.

See you soon!
Jess

Nets Dancers blog here.

Video of the Net Dancers Dunking Divas here.

We probably don’t have many readers in the 6-13 age bracket, but if you know a kid who loves to dance you might want to consider telling them about this:

Auditions for the NETS Kids dance team will be held Tuesday, August 4 at the NETS Practice Facility, 390 Murray Hill Parkway, East Rutherford, NJ. The NETS Kids are presented by LTJ Arthur, the apparel retailer.

Registration will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the auditions will start at 6:00 p.m.

The NETS are seeking boys and girls ages 6-13 with at least two years of technical dance training. Dancers will be asked to demonstrate their ability to learn and perform choreography. Tumbling and break-dancing skills are a plus, but not required. Participants should wear dance attire and non-marking sneakers or dance shoes. One parent must be present at registration to sign a participation waiver.

In advance of the auditions, the NETS will host a NETS Kids Audition Prep Class on Monday, August 3. The class will be held from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at the NETS Practice Facility. Participants will learn actual NETS Kids choreography from the NETS Dancers and receive audition tips from NETS Kids Coach Debra Bisignano and NETS Entertainment Manager Kimberlee Garris. Call 201-635-3147 to register.

I was fortunate enough to watch the NETS Kids in action earlier this year, and I believe the correct technical term to describe them is “really, really good!”

[Complete Audition Info]

[Official NETS Kids Website]

Auditions for the 2009-10 Honeybees are underway. Hornets.com has lots of photos (click here) from the first rounds of competition, and headshots (click here) of the girls who made it through semis. The final audition is on Sunday at 5pm, so stay tuned to find out who made it through to the end.

The Final Auditions for the 2009-10 NJ Nets Dancers took place Monday night at the Nets Practice Facility in East Rutherford.
Continue reading Nets Dancers Final Auditions

Monday night at the Nets Practice facility in East Rutherford, the 2009-10 Nets Dancers were selected. Nets Entertainment Manager Kimberlee Garris described the auditions as the most competitive, and the decisions the most difficult yet.

There are thirteen members of the 2008-09 Nets on the new squad. Of the remaining three: Marla is former Nets Dancer who won the fan voting contest in 2005, Jen is a NY Titans Siren and Terrie danced for the NJ Ironmen and the NJ Devils last season.

Photos from Final Auditions coming later this week.