BlazerDancer Auditions Electrify Portland
Sandra Colton
Oregon Live
July 14, 2010
Performing on an NBA dance team is a great opportunity for dancers to work professionally in Portland. Ever wonder what it’s like to audition for the NBA’s Portland BlazerDancers? With the next level comes a responsibility as well. Do you have what it takes to make the 16-girl roster?
I had a chance to talk with some BlazerDancer hopefuls and the Director of the BlazerDancers, Michelle Woodard. Michelle said she and the judges are looking for technique and great performers at the auditions for prospective BlazerDancer team members. Fans rule in the Rose City. “We have over 20,000 fans,” said Michelle. “We want people you can see moving in a crowd and who are really enthusiastic and show a lot of energy and excitement.”
I asked this former BlazerDancer, and now BlazerDancer Director, what girls who want to tryout next year should do to prepare for the audition. Michelle advises dancers to “start preparing early, don’t let the auditions be the first time you’ve danced. If you want it really badly, you have to work toward it. It is not like high school dance team. You need to take adult jazz classes where you’re learning how to move your body a different way. Look at any professional dance team Web site and do your research. Look at the Blazers Web site. Find out what the current members look like. How are they wearing their hair? How do they do their makeup? And come looking like that to the auditions vs. coming in your workout clothes with your hair in a ponytail.”
I also sat down with three BlazerDancer hopefuls: Rea, Cristi and Stephanie.
My first question was for Rea who jokingly said that she is auditioning for the BlazerDancers because she can’t play basketball. A four year member of the BlazerDancers (2006-2010), Rea said, “It’s completely different every year. During the years I’ve been on the team, there have been at least 5 new people on it every year.”
Cristi is auditioning for the third time and has been a BlazerDancer for 2 years. She was excited about the audition process and said, “The most fun I’ve had performing at a game is during overtime because the crowd gets really hot and it makes it all worth while. And of course during the playoffs as well.”
The audition process can be grueling and from what I’ve heard, the auditioning dancers have learned six routines and are in the interview process heading into the final round. Cristi adds, “The most nerve wracking part of auditions is knowing that you have standards set for yourself and so you want to make sure that the one time that you get to do it out on the floor is your best time. You have all all week to practice and only one chance to do each routine on the floor.”
I was also interested to talk to Stephanie who told me it was her first time trying out for the team. I wanted to know what it was like for someone who had never been through the BlazerDancers auditions before and she said, “It has been thrilling, exciting and sweaty! It is really intense but really rewarding. As a new person, there are three cuts before you make it to the finals, so it’s stressful to go through all of that.”
Advice Stephanie would lend to dancers who haven’t been through the process before would be “to come ready and prepared to dance all day. Bring your all, your best, your A-game. You’re there because you want to dance. You’re there because you want to be on the team. So just show that when you go out and perform. Have fun also, because I think that is what has gotten me through so far. You can stress over each little routine between each cut, but once you go perform it for the judges, that’s out the door. Just smile and have a great time.”
I asked Michelle Woodard (BlazerDancer Director) about how many new people make the team and the number of veterans who also make the cut. Michelle stated, “It’s an exciting time of year and a stressful time as well. It is just a lot to make sure you have a great team put together, the right mix of girls who look good performing together and get along well with one another. It is a long season, it gets quite busy and there are periods of time where we see each other every day. We try to get it right. We do want our returners to come back. That really contributes to us having a good team. We also want to have really strong, positive and energetic rookies because they re-energize everybody with their excitement to be on the team. I’m excited for both.”
All three ladies above were raised in Oregon, (Rea in Hillsboro, Ore. and Cristi & Stephanie in Tigard, Ore.) One thing is for sure, all three dancers are ready to bring it to the finals. Selected dancers for the 2010-2011 season will be announced via the Comcast SportsNet NW reality show. Michelle said, “We bring all of the finalists into the Rose Garden. They are then gathered into one of the team locker rooms and then one by one they go in to find out if they have made the team. So it is a visual reveal on television and at the end of the night we’ll all be together as a group for the first time.”
Practice starts in mid-August for the new team. I want to wish them all luck and will showcase the new team photo once they are announced.
