Edmonton Energy dance team hold tryouts
By Tanara McLean
Edmonton Sun
March 20, 2011
There was pom pom shaking and hair flips galore.
And it was all in an effort to score a spot on the Edmonton Energy dance team.
“I’m very nervous, but I’m not going to show it,” says Danielle Hill, 18, right before she took the stage to give her best audition.
Hill, along with five other hopefuls, did their best to impress the judges at auditions Sunday afternoon at West Edmonton Mall.
Over the past weeks, the girls have been learning three dances in various styles leading up to Sunday’s dance troupe tryouts for Alberta’s only semi-professional basketball team.
“Obviously, we want girls that know how to dance and have that kind of skill,” says Randi Kondruk, co-founder of the dance team. “But more so than that, it’s the charisma, the personality. It’s getting the word out there about the Energy, and we want that kind of well, energy from the girls.”
This was Round 1 of tryouts, with Round 2 going April 3.
Two by two, the girls took the stage as a panel of judges, including local media and Edmonton Energy players, picked their favourites.
“I want to see something I’ve never seen before,” says Andrew Parker, a player for the Edmonton Energy. “I want to be impressed so that when the fans come out they can see the same thing that I see and have a reason to want to come back in addition to watching us play basketball.”
Although the dance team is in its early stages, it has a respected and experienced director leading the way. Danielle Alasaad has worked with numerous professional dance teams, including the Edmonton Chill and a local university.
“I believe that anytime you’re anywhere, the more energy you have, the more people you have involved, promotions going on, interactions, it makes the team more personable,” she says.
The dance troupe will perform at all home games and are scheduled to take the road for a few of the away games as well.
