Detroit Pistons dance trio from Flint area balance life with busting moves as NBA entertainers

Kylee Visser

Eric Woodyard
Mlive.com
October 30, 2013

[Photo Gallery]

AUBURN HILLS, MI – Professional basketball players aren’t the only athletes who arrive at the Palace of Auburn Hills on game nights to perform. A day in the life of a Detroit Pistons dancer can be just as stressful as those of the NBA guys.

It’s a career choice in which glamor matches talent, with the women constantly under scrutiny for their appearance and for their ability to rock a crowd by busting dope moves. It’s lights, camera, action when these 21 women arrive early for rehearsals to dance in front of up to 22,076 fans in one of the NBA’s largest arenas.

Sasha Cole, Kylee Visser and Nichole Josey are three Pistons dancers from the Flint area.

They balance the tough dancer lifestyle with normal, day-to-day activities such as going to school but most people don’t recognize that. A successful NBA dancer possesses more than good looks. The same regimen and execution that is required of the Pistons to compete on the hardwood is also expected of the dancers to entertain ticket holders at halftimes and through timeouts.

“It makes me mad when people say that we’re not athletes, because we have to stretch and I’ve been to the chiropractor because I have arthritis in my knee,” said Flint native Sasha Cole, captain of the Pistons Dance Team. “We have to work out, we train hard and we put in just as much practice and time as the basketball players. We’re good at what we’re good at and they’re good at what they’re good at. There’s some things that we do that they could never do and vice versa. I consider the dance team a sport, for sure.”

Cole, 22, lives in Flint and is heading into her third season with the Pistons, her fifth in the NBA.

She worked in California with the Sacramento Kings for two years before returning to Michigan to dance for the Pistons in 2011. As team captain, Cole is the leader who bears the bulk of responsibility, but likes to keep the mood light. She also keeps a flexible enough schedule to mentor any girls that may need advice, including Visser and Josey, both rookies this season.

“Sasha came from the Kings, so she already had that little flavor from Cali. Definitely since she’s came on our team we do have a lot of different ways of putting things,” said Detroit Pistons dance director Natalie Miramontes. “I know she’s advanced and she’s one of my best dancers, for sure. She gives 100 percent every single time she’s at practice and she’s my role model as a dancer to everybody. I kind of compare everybody to her, which is hard when she’s out there because she’s very powerful and that’s why her nickname’s ‘Fierce.'”

A typical work week for Cole, Visser, Josey and the other girls is different.

Visser and Josey are both senior college students, but Cole dedicates the majority of her time to dancing and chilling with her dog, when she’s not serving at a sports bar.

Visser, 22, graduated from Kearsley High School in 2009 and now attends Oakland University where she’s working toward a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in public relations. Josey, 21, is a 2010 Flint Powers grad who is expected to graduate from the University of Michigan-Flint in May with a communication degree and a focus in media. Although the NBA season is in its early stages, both rookies have been taken aback by the amount of time that this job requires. The job description didn’t do it any justice.

“The most surprising thing for me is just really how much work really goes into it,” said Josey. “A lot of the fans probably just see us on the court and see us making it look effortless but really we’re practicing a lot and they aren’t aware of all of the back work.”

The pay isn’t enormous but the girls don’t mind grinding it out in the long rehearsals at least three times per week to perfect dance routines for Pistons home games, with maximum exposure. On game days, the girls sit on the sidelines and never stop moving. They’re constantly smiling, tossing gifts, performing at least twice during timeouts and at halftime on some nights with the Palace’s celebrity guests.

Visser doesn’t mind sacrificing study time to fulfill her lifelong dream and makes the short commute from her spot in Rochester to Auburn Hills. She began learning a variety of different dance styles at a young age in the Academy Day La Danse studio in Davison and has always dreamed of working with the Pistons ever since.

“I actually was on the (Detroit) Shock’s dance team, the Shock Wave, back in the day when I was in high school in the year they won the WNBA championship,” Visser said. “(Flint native) Deanna Nolan was my favorite player. We used to practice with the Pistons dance team then and I’ve always came to their clinics as a child, so I’ve been dancing since I was 3 and after going to the clinics and practices it was always a dream for me to do this.”

With so much access to the NBA players on a regular basis, it’s hard to imagine that the girls are able to resist the opportunity to date some of the league’s top stars but Cole, Visser and Josey don’t get star-struck by the ballers. They never mix business with pleasure. In the dance world, that’s a complete no-no – plus it’s in their contracts to refrain from going out with the fellas.

“They’re like coworkers and almost like brothers because we know so much about them,” Cole explained. “We see them and we even know what shoes they wear. It’s just like any job. You don’t mingle with your work and it’s the same here. We’re so busy that we don’t even have regular boyfriends, period.”
The local Flint-area dancers are a piece of the big puzzle composed of 18- to 25-year old women that’s becoming one of the NBA’s most exciting young squads. The future looks bright.

“This team is a lot different style than any other NBA team,” Miramontes said. “We get away with a lot more. We get to do the hip-hop and the diversity of things and other teams aren’t as versatile. This team is free to do whatever we want and that’s why I love this team.”

Meet hockey’s human zambonis


By David Satriano
New York Post
October 31, 2013

[Photo Gallery]

When John Tavares skates in on a breakaway and roofs a goal top shelf at Nassau Coliseum, he has the Ice Girls to thank.

The 12 women who make up the Islanders Ice Girls team ensure the ice is clean of snow and debris every game, so Tavares and his teammates have a clear surface on which to play.

“As a team, we’re required to clean the ice three times a period in 90 seconds or less,” said Ashleen, who has been an Ice Girl for three seasons. “Ninety seconds may seem like a very long time, however when you’re clearing the ice, having to go around players and refs, making sure you do not miss anything, it can get a little hectic.”

The work the Ice Girls do can’t be seen on TV, but from the stands on Long Island, it becomes clear see how good they are at their craft, even sweeping the ice in synchronization. So how does one become an Ice Girl?

“Most of our audition is on ice,” said Christi, a five-year Ice Girl veteran. “Our coach, Linda, will ask us to do crossovers, T-stops, lunges, spirals, and those types of things, then there’s an interview before you go back on the ice and skate with the [Islanders] flags and some of the shovels.

“About six years ago in December, I came to an Islanders game with my friends and I saw all the ice girls on the ice. They were playing games with the fans and they wore Christmas outfits, and I thought it looked like so much fun that I decided then I wanted to do it.”

In addition to cleaning the ice, the Ice Girls take part in activities during the game around the Coliseum and make approximately 200 appearances throughout the community each year.

“You might see us running around selling raffle tickets, making appearances, doing fan interactions, making announcements on the jumbotron,” Ashleen said. “My favorite part is dancing and getting the crowd into the game.”

There were a fair share of quiet nights at the Coliseum prior to last season. But the Islanders’ resurgence and playoff appearance last spring made it a happening place to be with sellout crowds of more than 16,000.

“My favorite memory was last year when we were about to get into the playoffs, just feeling the stadium shaking from everyone cheering for the Islanders and feeling all of the fans energy,” Christi said. “It was such an exciting feeling and to get to be a part of that was something amazing.”

The troupe started 13 years ago, when the NHL mandated ice-removal personnel know how to skate. Since then, the Ice Girls have become almost as popular as the Islanders themselves. Fans take pictures with them and sometimes ask for autographs.

“Back in 2001, we started with four girls. That year, we struggled just to get four girls who could skate and make the time commitment and be a part of the team — and now as we’re in our 13th year, we have 12 girls on the squad,” said Tim Beach, vice president of Game Operations and Events. “And now when we have our auditions during the summer, we’re happy to say that we actually have to turn away really good skaters and really the program has evolved.

“To this day, we get calls from other teams asking us: ‘Who makes the uniforms for you guys?’ and ‘How do you do this with the girls? How do you get them to participate in this?’ ” Beach said. “Our program has become a model throughout the NHL.”

And the Ice Girls are much more than pretty faces. Christi is finishing her final year of law school and does voiceover work for a radio station. Ashleen is getting her Master’s in special education, a certification in American sign language, and works for a physical therapist and in a school district.

Both are also avid hockey fans — they root for the Islanders, of course — which makes this a dream job.

“My favorite memory was my first game,” Ashleen said. ”As a New York Islanders fan my whole life, being able to apply my skating and work with the team I had supported since I was young…stepping onto the ice for the first time was a surreal feeling and it really showed the joy I knew I was going to have from this job.”

Happy Halloween!

Allen American Ice Angels
Allen American Ice Angels
NY Jets Flight Crew
NY Jets Flight Crew
Dallas Mavericks Dancers
Dallas Mavericks Dancers
Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders
Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders
Seattle Sea Gals
Seattle Sea Gals
Oakland Raiderettes
Oakland Raiderettes
Carolina Panthers TopCats
Carolina Panthers TopCats

Falcons Cheerleader Kristen Has Secret Talent

Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader Kristen J. is used to performing in front of the Georgia Dome crowd, but the second-year veteran grew up performing an entirely different talent: opera singing.

By Daniela Duron
AtlantaFalcons.com

Watching Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader Kristen J. show off her cheerleading skills in front of thousands at the Georgia Dome, you’d think she’s been performing exactly that her entire life.

But Kristen, a second year veteran with the Falcons, actually grew up performing an entirely different talent: opera singing.

Like many other girls, Kristen took dance classes, such as ballet, jazz and hip-hop, as a six-year old. But her mom, a classically trained soprano, also heard the strong potential in her daughter’s voice. Kristen then started taking voice lessons and participated in a children’s choir, and eventually attended an arts-focused magnet school.

Her singing has led her to perform at multiple events throughout the country, including UGA athletic events along with Carnegie Hall and Niagara Falls.

Although growing up she enjoyed singing, she kept her passion for dance and decided to try out for her high school cheer team – despite having no previous experience with cheerleading.

“I didn’t really know what to expect,” she said. “I knew I could dance but I couldn’t tumble. I made the freshman team, worked hard in the gym, acquired the skills I needed and made varsity the very next year.”

Once she was involved with cheering and singing, she found it difficult at times to do both because as a singer she was taught not to yell, but as a cheerleader it was her job to get the crowd excited by doing just that.

“It was really hard finding a ‘happy medium’ between the two,” said Kristen. “My mother and choir director were both continuously telling me to stop cheering because it was going to ruin my voice, but I have always believed that there’s always a way to do all the things you love, so I continued to sing and cheer throughout my high school career.”

Kristen, who is also a full-time student at UGA majoring in Sport Management, also teaches at Greater Atlanta Christian School’s School of Ballet. She hopes to follow in her mother’s footsteps and open a studio as well as coaching a dance team one day.

“It’s such a joy to have the opportunity to educate such wonderful young girls and show them the power of dance and the way to use their talents to make a positive impact in today’s society,” she said.

Kristen also admits that her secret dream is to some day try out for a talent competition show, and also hopes to one day show off her singing to the same crowd at the Georgia Dome who’s accustomed to her dancing.

“My next goal is to sing the National Anthem at an Atlanta Falcons game,” she said. “That would be amazing!”

[Kristen at AtlantaFalcons.com]

Bucs Cheerleaders Costume Contest

This year, your favorite Buccaneers cheerleaders are helping  celebrate Halloween by competing in their very first Buccaneers Cheerleaders Halloween Group Costume Contest! Led by othe four captains, Ashlee, Cassie, Kasey and Kendell, the squad was split up into groups and instructed to come up with their idea for the best group costume.

“The ladies are thrilled to be participating in the team’s Halloween-themed efforts and went all out in coordinating their group costumes,” said Cheerleading Manager Melissa Fitzgerald. “I am always amazed at how innovative they can be. Hopefully, the fans have a chance to see the squad’s fun and competitive side, as they look to earn their votes for Best Group Costume.”

Check out all the photos here.

Hurry, you’ve only got till Friday to vote.

The good, the bad, and the scary! Halloween tales from the Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders

The Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders annual Halloween costume game is not only a favorite event for the Titans Cheerleaders, but memories of a couple of TTC rookies demonstrate it can be inspiring for aspiring cheerleaders when they attended games when they were younger. “This game is when I thought, ‘I HAVE TO BE ONE OF THOSE,’ because (alumni TTC) Kerry was a police officer, and she is my role model!” rookie Brittni recalled. “I had to try out for Titans. Later Kerry was my UCA director; I always thought she was the coolest in the world. She could be the President!”

Rookie Hannah also shared her memories of Halloween games from her youth. “This is my favorite game!” Hannah exclaimed. “I have a picture when I was younger with Erica in her Halloween costume. And I had braces and was really awkward, I was in like 7th grade.”

Zombie T-Rac still finds a way to get in the way of the Cheerleaders

Before the game, the Titans Cheerleaders recalled some of their own childhood Halloween memories. Katy explained her neighborhood’s “Boo-ing” that would occur each October. “You take a sack of candy, with a big BOO note, that you have been booed by ghouls and goblins,” Katy explained. Kind of like a chain letter filled with candy, the Boo would be anonymously left at the front door after ringing the door bell, and the note would say to BOO three others the same way. “So when the doorbell would ring, you would wonder if you would be ‘booed,’” Katy explained.

Stormi recalled a year her mom forgot to get her a costume, so ingenious mom took the previous year’s princess costume, combined it with the year before that’s mouse costume, and, voila, “Princess Mouse” costume was born!

UltimateCheerleaders asked the Titans Cheerleaders to answer these Halloween-related questions:

– Favorite Childhood costume; and did you want to wear it other places than just Halloween?

– Favorite type of treat to find in your treat bag?

LEAST Favorite type of treat to find in your treat bag?

– Memorable time someone played a trick to scare you (or you scared someone else)

– Most irrational fear (or, a room filled with ____ would make me shriek louder than LP Field after a Titans TD)

Now, there must be some regional differences in candy formulae. Some Titans Cheerleaders listed Milk Duds as their least favorite treat. Well, they must have different Milk Duds in Nashville, because where I am from, they are delectable morsels of infinite deliciousity.

Thanks Titans Cheerleaders for getting into the Halloween spirit! Here are the Halloween edition TTC!

Yalea was 'Esmeralda'

Yalea

Favorite Childhood Costume: A princess costume (did you want to wear it everywhere?) OF COURSE! My mom made me this princess costume and I would not take it off, I was always wearing it. And I would invite people over for fake parties at my house. It fell apart eventually, because I wore it all the time.

Favorite treats: Candy corn pumpkin

LEAST favorite treat: Taffy

Memorable time tricked into being scared or tricking someone else: My friend in college called me from unknown number at 1 in the morning, and I answered the phone and it was just a static noise. I had a window that faced outside to my backyard, then all of sudden I heard some scratching on the window, and my friend had a Michael Myers mask on. I freaked out! I thought, that took some thought! (Did you live on the first floor?) Yes, I lived on the first, floor, (laughs), higher floors be even scarier. Friday the 13th freaks me out, and he knew it.

Most Irrational Fear: Spiders..ah!

Yalea considered going with Super Mario, but made a good choice
Katy

Katy

Favorite Childhood Costume: A gypsy! (did you want to wear it everywhere?) Yes, I loved the costume so much I slept in it.

Favorite treats: 100 Grand!

LEAST favorite treat: Popcorn ball (also not a fan of Reese’s)

Memorable time tricked into being scared or tricking someone else: My brother hid in my closet with a scary mask

Most Irrational Fear: Snakes!

Anne P as a sailor girl

Anne P

Favorite Childhood Costume: Minnie Mouse

Favorite treats: Gummy bears

LEAST favorite treat: Candy corn

Memorable time tricked into being scared or tricking someone else: My teammates put a plastic spider on my locker

Most Irrational Fear: A room filled with non-Titans fans…and spiders

Anne P likes to have a military theme
Whitney

Whitney

Favorite Childhood Costume: Jasmine! I wore it around the house

Favorite treats: Twix

LEAST favorite treat: Candy corn

Memorable time tricked into being scared or tricking someone else: Senior year…a guy scared me with a “Jason” mask

Most Irrational Fear: Snakes

Continue reading “The good, the bad, and the scary! Halloween tales from the Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders”

These Knicks Dancers Are Brainiacs By Day, Bootylicious By Night

By Kirsten Fleming
The New York Post

Knicks City Dancers Amy Trader (left) and Ana De Matos lead a double-life off the court.
Knicks City Dancers Amy Trader (left) and Ana De Matos lead a double-life off the court.

When the Knicks City Dancers take the floor for the Knicks home opener at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night, they will gyrate, shimmy and shake their booties in skin-tight orange get ups. But two of the beautiful women rousing the crowd have a lot more than sexy moves and a barely-there dance outfit to brag about.

Amy Trader, 23, and Ana de Matos, 27, both boast engineering degrees and impressive academic resumes.

“I have a degree in biomedical engineering, and a minor in computational neuroscience,” says first-year dancer, Amy Trader, breaking out into a shy giggle. She admits most people look incredulous when she reveals her credentials: “Yeah, I kind of get that expression from most people when I say that.”

First-year dancer Amy Trader holds a degree in biomedical engineering.
First-year dancer Amy Trader holds a degree in biomedical engineering.

Trader graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri in May and, while there, she helped invent a device for the human back that now has a patent pending on it.

Her teammate de Matos, a Knicks City Dancer for four years now, holds a mechanical engineering degree from Duke and a full-time job as a management consultant working with government and academic institutions.

Occasionally her booty shaking collides with the buttoned-up world of business. “Sometimes clients will go to games and say, ‘I saw you on the Jumbotron.’ They had no idea. When I am at work, I am not putting myself out there. I am not walking around in my Knicks jersey. I try to keep it low key.”

When Trader was on her college dance team, she didn’t let her pirouettes push academics aside.

“I focused on school a lot, but dance was always there,” says Trader, who now lives in the Financial District. “My parents told me as long as I went to college and got a degree, I could pursue whatever I wanted when I graduated.”

Ana de Matos, graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Duke.
Ana de Matos, graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Duke.

The pretty blonde — who was known in her Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority as an “Enginerd”— developed a silicone bag to mimic a real back disc in her senior year with two other students. Her professor realized there was nothing else like it, and so they applied for a patent. “It was really cool,” says the single Missouri native. “[But] the end goal is to produce it and get it manufactured.”

She moved to the Big Apple to pursue her dance passion after graduation and landed a spot on the Knicks squad this summer.

In grade school, De Matos, who moved to the US when she was 10, taught herself Spanish and English along with her native Portuguese, then moved into advanced math and science classes — all while learning every type of dance, including ballet, samba, tap and jazz.

“I always loved to perform, but [teachers] started to notice my ability for math and sciences when I was about 10,” she says.

Later on, during the recession, she became one of only three graduates hired from Duke to work for her global consulting firm (during a normal year, the company, which she asked not to be named, typically hires 20 to 30 students).

“I got to New York because of my job, but once I got here, I was determined to pursue my passion and dreams of dancing,” says the single Upper East Sider.

As one of the few Knicks City Dancers with a full-time job, she uses a meticulous, color-coded calendar to keep herself on track.

“Normally my days are from 8 a.m. until 2 a.m.,” De Matos says. With the little free time she has left, she is studying for the GMAT in the hopes of getting her masters and eventually starting her own business.

“People are surprised [at my double life] because it’s not the most typical combination, but it’s very definitely me,” says De Matos whose favorite book is “Psycho Cybernetics,” a self-help tome that, she says, has helped her visualize her success.

Trader, who saved up so she could put her career on hold while dancing, hopes to eventually return to biomedical engineering and develop implantable devices for people with knee injuries.

In the meantime, though, she’s happy to work it on the dance floor — and surprise people along the way.

“When people ask me what I do, I say I dance for the Knicks. And then somehow it comes around to them asking what I went to school for. They will say that it doesn’t match up,” Trader says, giggling again. “But I am proud of that. I love getting that reaction. I like breaking stereotypes.”

[Knicks City Dancers]