Laker Girls Auditions Tip Off

Mike Trudell
Lakers.com
July 16, 2011

On Saturday morning at the Toyota Sports Center, more than 400 young ladies from here, there and everywhere gathered with the same, simple dream of becoming a Laker Girl.

The girls came from Los Angeles, from Alaska, from Ohio, and even Australia to show off their skills in front of a group of experienced judges led by Laker Girls Director Lisa Estrada.

“We have a terrific turn out here at auditions, and I’m very excited to go through the process of selecting our 2011-12 Laker Girls team,” said Estrada as things got started. “It’s a long day, but one that we look forward to to find girls that are great technical dancers with a lot of personality and ability to perform.”

The audition process is quite streamlined after years and years of Laker Girls auditions, usually going something like this:

1) Across the Floor: The performing opens with a simple 15-second routine that goes from baseline to baseline on the Lakers’ practice court. Former Laker Girl and choreographer Shannon Steen and Estrada had met earlier in the week to choreograph several routines for the day, and as Estrada and the rest of the judges looked on, Steen taught the routine with the assitance of several other former Laker Girls. The segment gives the judges a pretty good idea of whether or not the girls can dance well enough to advance past the first cut to choreography.

2) First Cut: Of the 400-plus dancers that began the morning, 192 girls remained after the Across the Floor portion. With three girls dancing at the same time, judges would approach and either cut off one’s bracelet (sorry!) or hand out a ticket to advance (congrats!). The 192 are then instructed to gather their resumes and headshot photos while getting a number (1 through 192, naturally).

3) Choreography (Dance 1): With Britney Spears’s “Till the World Ends” blaring in the background, the girls first learned a routine from one of the choreographers, then split up into groups of three to perform the routine in front of the judges. Incidentally, with the 192 being split up in thirds, the judges saw 64 separate threesomes, lasting roughly 43 seconds each. Take out the time between dances when a group shuttled in and out, and you have (literally) 46 straight minutes of Britney playing on repeat.

4) Second Cut: After each girl completed her dance to “Till the World Ends,” she gathered around the perimeter of the practice court to await her fate. Meanwhile, the judges assembled in the media room to tally their marks. Those that scored or performed well enough to move on were then announced by Estrada on the microphone. If one’s number wasn’t called, it meant the day was over, her wristband to be cut. After the final number was called, several young ladies stayed around to either thank Estrada or ask for tips on what might have been, though she’s not the one making the decisions at that point.

“There are so many great girls out there that we just can’t keep, and I get a little bummed when we may miss out on someone,” said Estrada. “But I let my judges make thoses calls, and the system works well. They know exactly what this organization looks for, what I look for in a team member and everything usually works out well.”

5) Choreography (Dance 2): A similar process to the first routine followed, this time with more of a “novelty” style dance to “Mayhem,” performed by the remaining 111 dancers. The routine was designed to draw out more of a fun, performance style from the young ladies to see who had flair and who didn’t, ideally to reveal the best personalities in the group.

6) Third Cut: As with the previous cut, three girls went at once, the judges taking notes, before gathering once again to compare scores. Afterwards, Estrada again grabbed the microphone, cutting the 111 remaining down to 54 dancers.

7) Solo Dances: The girls are informed that they have about 15 minutes to prepare a solo routine to “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO, playing on repeat in the background. Before performing one-by-one, each girl takes a moment to introduce herself to the judges, covering her name, hometown and the reasons why she wants to be a Laker Girl.

8) Final (Saturday) Cut: After a long day of dancing, the 400-plus is whittled down to only 31 (elated) dancers, who could finally breath a sigh of relief and share a smile after a pressure-packed day.

It’s not quite the end of the road, however, as the remaining girls will next go through interviews with Estrada from Monday through Wednesday, and then return for a final audition on Thursday evening. At that point, roughly 22 dancers are expected to become the 2011-12 Laker Girls.