Thunder Struck: The 2011 P-R-O Convention – Part Two

The P-R-O Convention is the premier professional cheerleading and dance convention.  Held annually in Atlanta, Georgia, P-R-O features instructors from NFL, NBA, MLS, and the WPFL.  Professional cheerleading squads and dance teams came from all over the country to attend the two day event.

The staff of All-Pro3 gave James and I complete access to the convention’s events.  In the second part of my article, we continue our coverage of P-R-O with a report on Sunday’s events.

 

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SUNDAY

I decided to start the day off with a hearty breakfast at one of the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel’s dining facilities.  $16.95 and worth every penny.  It was going to be a long day, so eating a full breakfast was the key to having enough energy to keep up with 260 young, vivacious cheerleaders.

I met James near the swimming pool at 8:30 am.  I wanted to try something different this year and had seen photos of the pool area, which featured lush greenery and some very interesting wrought iron work that was reminiscent of the French Quarter in New Orleans.  I thought that might be good location for a shoot and discussed the matter with James.  He spoke with Darlene Clancy the Director of the Jacksonville Axe Maidens and they graciously agreed to pose for us before Sunday’s round of instruction began.

It is not often you get an opportunity to photograph professional cheerleaders in such an environment, so I thought up a couple of ideas that I wanted to try given the chance.  One idea was to bring a ring flash adaptor to try to achieve that high fashion look you see in some fashion magazines.  The black back drop in the grand ballroom would be perfect to try out this new piece of gear and I…failed miserably.  It was too dark and for me to adjust my flash output to compensate, that would use up my limited supply of 36 “AA” batteries and I had an entire day of shooting left, so I scrapped that idea for now.  And to think I lugged that ring flash adapter all the way from Los Angeles and wasted all that space in my carry on luggage.

As it got closer to 9:00 am, the girls started trickling in.  Some girls snapped photographs of themselves with members of other squads, their new found friends.  Some girls stretched out their aching muscles.  And one girl was snacking on a sandwich, her version of a hearty breakfast.

I noticed the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders were changing their footwear from their white high heeled boots to their low heeled, white dancing boots.  Apparently, they wore the high heeled boots, called their appearance boots, from their hotel room to the grand ballroom and then changed into their dancing boots…not being a cheerleader, I found this somewhat amusing…to have brought two sets of white boots…one just for walking about…from their room to the convention center below.  But in all honesty, their appearance boot was quite amazing…or more properly, they looked amazing wearing their high heeled boots.  And they did bring four hot outfits, so I am not complaining.  The Washington Redskins Cheerleaders looked spectacular and they were a personal highlight for me to photograph.

Since most of the girls were flying or driving home this day, they brought their luggage to the grand ballroom and it began look a little like an airport baggage claim.  Now I only bring this up to note that with over 260 girls, it was a little crowded in the grand ballroom and to this you add several large pieces of luggage, this was a hazard in the making.  And I must admit that I did trip over a bag or two while trying to follow the girls as they danced across the floor.

At 9:00 am, the girls began the day with the customary stretching and warm up session.

With muscles stretched and warmed up, the girls were assembled together and the second group dance was taught.  It was a little dance number choreographed to LMFAO song, “Party Rock Anthem” and you can see a video of the performance here.  There were some nice old school moves performed by some nice, new school cheerleaders…new school, as in still in school, college that is.  Though there were some gainfully employed cheerleaders, I am reminded that professional cheerleading is a young girl’s game and most of these dedicated women are college aged girls.  Most impressive, indeed.

 

At 10:00 am, the girls split up into groups for the first breakout session of the day.  In the grand ballroom, Derric Whitfield choreographed a funk routine to the Beyonce song, “Girls Who Run Tha World”.  In room 2, Heather Karberg taught a jazz/pom routine to the Porcelain Black song, “This is What Rock n Roll Looks Like”.  In room 3, Denise Garvey demonstrated a jazz routine to the song, “On the floor”.

Immediately after instruction, the girls gathered in the grand ballroom to showcase the dance routines just learned.

The girls must have been feeling a little fatigued because I noticed that as the day wore on, most off them lost their boots and started dancing in their stocking feet.  It was more than a little warm and moist as the girls danced and pranced about, so one could understand the desire to be more comfortable.  Frankly, I was impressed that they could maintain such a high level of energy and enthusiasm as by this point, the girls had learned a total of 17 routines with 7 more to go before the day would end.

 

At 11:15 am, the instruction continued with the second breakout session of the day.  In the grand ballroom, Stacie Kinder led her group in a country oriented routine to a “Hick Chick/Daisy Duke” remix.  In room 2, Tami Krause choreographed a rock routine to the Jet song, “Get What You Need”.  In room 3, Brandii McCoy demonstrated a funky jazz routine to the song, “I Like That”.  In room 4, there was a demonstration of competitive fitness routines that could be used by professional cheerleaders to stay fit and trim.

After the showcase, we broke for lunch.  It was 12:50 pm and we had 55 minutes to eat and relax for a bit.  James and I chatted with the Georgia Force Cheerleaders during the lunch break.  I “chimped” my photos during a lull in the conversation to see if my settings were giving me the desired effect.  I was beginning to get inconsistent results, which I attributed to my batteries beginning to die.  I had one more set of batteries to power my flash for one more session of dance…I was just crossing my fingers that I would haven’t to scramble for batteries at the last minute…horrors of horrors.

At 1:45 pm, the girls reassembled in the grand ballroom.  A few of the sponsors donated gift bags, which were given out to a few lucky cheerleaders.  Soon it was time for the last breakout session of P-R-O.   In the grand ballroom, Tamara Jenkins demonstrated a funk routine to the song, “Look at Me Now”.  In room 2, Alto Gary and Derric Whitfield led their group in a seasonal routine to the Mariah Carey song, “Oh Santa!”.  In room 3, Tracy Rutledge choreographed a sexy rock routine to the Def Leppard song, “Pour Some Sugar on Me”.  And in room 4, several sideline action routines were demonstrated.

At 3:15 pm, the girls gathered in the grand ballroom for one last time.  There, they showcased what they had just learned.

At the conclusion of the showcase, the instructors called all the girls together to perform the group dance one, last time.  It was a rousing end to an amazing weekend of dance.

As 4:00 o’clock neared, most of the girls made their way out of the grand ballroom.  Some left to catch a ride to the airport.  Some girls made their way to ground transportation to make the drive home.  And a few girls stuck around to video their most recent performances.

James and I chatted for a bit since we rarely get to do so, being on opposite ends of the country.  When the opportunity arose, we snapped a few photographs of some cheerleaders to round out our coverage.  And we said our goodbyes to those cheerleaders that we are acquainted with.  But mostly, we relaxed…we are both getting long in the tooth and photographing cheerleaders is hard work (seriously)…especially for one of us that has tendonitis in his “shooting” shoulder.

At 5:00 pm, I said goodbye to James, as it was his time leave for Hartsfield Airport and make his way back home to Philadelphia.  My flight to Los Angeles wasn’t scheduled until the next day, so I retired to my room to start editing and post processing my photos.

In the end, I would take more than 8,000 photos of more than 260 professional cheerleaders performing 24 routines over the course of two days.  It was a long, tiring and physically demanding weekend of work…and I loved every minute of it!

 

 

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My thanks to the organizers and staff of AllPro 3 for allow me the privilege of covering the 2011 P-R-O Convention.  And a special thanks to all of the cheerleaders who were in attendance for putting up with all the flash photography.  You are an amazing group of young women.