Wonder Women: The 2017 P-R-O Convention – Part Two

Every…body…dance!

The P-R-O Convention in Atlanta is the premier professional cheerleading convention and attracts the very best professional cheerleaders and choreographers in the nation. Squads from the NFL, NBA, NHL, and minor league baseball gathered in Atlanta for a fun filled weekend of dance, team building and networking.

The staff of All-Pro3 gave UltimateCheerleaders.com 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

Sunday was busy with a full day’s worth of activities compressed into a six hour period.  Fourteen dances would be taught and learned.  There would be no lunch break today and classes were scheduled pretty much non stop from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. 

Promptly at 8:00 am, the doors were opened to the ballroom and the things got started right away.  Tennessee Titans Cheerleader Director Stacie Kinder started things off by getting the girls all stretched out and warmed up. 

Sideline Blitz

For the past few conventions, the staff have put together a mashup of mini dances that they call the Sideline Blitz.  Each instructor comes up to the stage and choreographs a couple of eight counts and they run the steps a few times before the next instructor comes up and repeats the process.  When all of the sequences have been introduced, they run the music and let it go.  It’s a fun little exercise that gets the girls all pumped up and ready for the real dance instruction to come.

Session 1

After the Sideline Blitz, it was time for the first session of dance instruction.  There would be four classes in this hour: Derric Whitfield – 90’s throwback dance, Denise Garvey – classic rock, Stephanie Jojokian – Jazz, and Jerod Fewell – funk.  At the conclusion of the instruction, the girls would showcase what they learned in the grand ballroom.

Session 2

After the first showcase, the girls hurried off to their next scheduled round of sessions.  In this portion, there were four more classes taught: Stacie Kinder – country, Jakene Ashford – jazz/pom, Brandii McCoy – rock, Catapult Fit – fitness technique.

Session 3

At 12:00 p.m., the girls converged for the last dance session. Five more dances were taught: Tracy Rutledge – pom, Kristina Ferdig – jazz, Katie Gibbons – Jazz, Ginger – sassy/jazz, and Tara Battiato – sideline .

After the final showcase, all the girls were called back to the floor to perform the group dance to close out P-R-O. One last dance, one time.  And with that, the 14th edition of the P-R-O Convention came to a close.  I can’t wait to see these routines performed on the field and courtside in the season to come.

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I would like to thank Brandii McCoy, Alto Gary, Tracy Rutledge and the staff of AllPro3 for allowing me to cover the 2017 P-R-O Convention.  I had another amazing experience covering your convention.

For more cheerleader articles, please visit my personal blog: thehottestdanceteam.wordpress.com.