Clippers Spirit Auditions: Day 1 Recap
Clippers.com
7/11/2011
Auditioning can be an exhaustive process. It takes a certain something to put yourself out there in front of a group of your peers in a competitive environment. It’s never easy to willingly volunteer yourself to be judged. The whole process can be downright nerve-racking. To get through it, you’ve got to have some kind of spirit.
As it turns out, the 200 ladies who attended the tryouts for the Los Angeles Clippers Spirit Dance Team had just that. Girls from all over the country came to Redondo Beach with big smiles on, anxious to have their shot at dancing for an NBA team.
“I’m just really looking forward to the experience,” said Shannon, a first time tryout attendee. “I’m hoping to gain knowledge about this industry and go very far.”
Ultimately, all the ladies in attendance – both rookies and members of last year’s team – aimed to pull down one of the 16 available spots.
“I’m excited to see everyone come out and try and be a part of this team,” said Brittany, the longest tenured Spirit Dancer. “All of us veterans just want to come back and get our spots back.”
The competition was fierce, but it was easily explainable. Outside of having the best seats in the house for games, being a member of the team has a ton of other benefits. The Spirit travel all over the world to make appearances (this Summer the squad went to China), and the notoriety and prestige of the position has launched many successful careers, both in and out of dancing.
But it certainly isn’t easy to gain that highly sought after opportunity. Potential team members were asked to memorize and perform complicated dance routines with little time to practice, and that was just the beginning of their day. Those lucky enough to pass the initial dancing tests were asked to do a formal sit-down type interview, and then finally, one last audition.
“It takes dedication,” said Anasheh, a member of last year’s team. “I don’t think people really know how hard it is to dance for an NBA team. It’s a lot of hard work.”
While the tryout process is definitely tough on the girls, it can be even harder on the judges. Narrowing down 200 talented dancers to the best 16 isn’t always easy.
“This is an extremely difficult process,” said Audrea Harris, the Spirit Dance Team Coordinator. “There are so many beautiful and talented ladies auditioning for the 2011-12 Clippers Spirit this year. I want to select the absolute best team, so I have the assistance and input of 14 other judges throughout a three round process. We definitely have our work cut out for us.”
Although there’s a lot of judges on the panel, they’re all looking for the same thing.
“We’re looking for great dancers and performers,” Harris said. “We’re also looking for well-spoken ladies that would make amazing ambassadors for the Clippers organization. We’re looking for the full package.”
Rest assured though, with the girls giving it their all and the judges making sure they select the best of the best, the Los Angeles Clippers 2011-2012 Spirit Dance Team looks to be one of the finest in years.
“I can’t wait to see the final product,” Harris said. “Any of these finalists would make incredible Clippers Spirit members…but there are only 16 spots.”
We’ll see who makes the final squad when the Clippers 2011-12 Spirit Dance Team is announced later on this week.
