Left to her own devices, Milwaukee’s Fillies Director/Dancer Danielle would bring dance back to the Pack

So, Green Bay Packers, if you need a little jump start to finally return pro dance to your sidelines, let me give you a little assistance. I have compiled a list of job requirements that you can use when you finally realize how patently obvious it is to include pro cheer entertainment as part of Lambeau Field’s game day experience. Plus, there is a leading candidate currently a bit south in the Milwaukee Mustangs AFL organization who would be perfect to make it happen. Alrighty, let’s start job requirements with, say,

– Experience as a Director of a pro dance squad absolutely required, preferably for football;
– Decades of dance experience, particularly in Northeast Wisconsin (optimally, being able to efficiently layer clothing like an art form is needed);
– Experience dancing for pro teams in the Green Bay or Milwaukee areas highly recommended. Dancing excellence, demonstrated by selection to dance on an All-Star team of pro dancers, is a plus;
– Based on the fact that the Packers are often in Super Bowls, experience performing during a Super Bowl pre-game or during the game is highly desirable;
-Also, experience with managing personal appearances throughout the Green Bay area required, such as serving as Miss Green Bay;
-College degree recommended and work experience in the orthopedic health field highly desirable;
-Priority will be given to the owners of the Green Bay Packers.

Well, the Packers could post this and go through all the HR time, but come on, let’s just give the job to Danielle of the AFL’s Milwaukee Mustangs, who is also Director/Dancer of their Fillies Dance Team, and call it a day. She can check off every item on that list in a heartbeat. But for now, Milwaukee’s AFL fans have the pleasure of seeing Danielle perform on game days, and throughout the community all over the Milwaukee area. In her fourth season dancing for Milwaukee AFL teams, and Director for two, Danielle works in the medical device field, is a pageant winner, and shares with UltimateCheerleders a dance journey that includes a trip to the Super Bowl.

Danielle was born and raised in Green Bay, and her love of her home town shines through. “I love Green Bay,” Danielle says. “It is a small town that rallies around a National Football League team. It is really unique.”

And Danielle was able to apply her affection for her beloved Green Bay with the unique opportunity to represent her home town Title Town by winning a title of her own. “I was Miss Green Bay Area 2007, a local title to the Miss America scholarship Pageant System and it was the perfect job for me,” Danielle explains.” I (was able) to represent the best city in the US and become more involved in my community.”

Danielle’s best memories of childhood include a little side business on Packers game day, and Packer fans may not have realized they were paying for college for Danielle. “Some of my fondest memories growing up were going to Mass Sunday morning and then rushing to Lambeau Field! My dad owned his own business near Lambeau so my mom and I would park cars in his parking lot on game day! We put the money we made in my college fund. No matter how cold it was outside, we would be out there three to four hours before game time, flagging cars in, and listening to pre-game talk on the radio! Once our parking lot was full, we would hurry home, drink hot chocolate, and watch the game!”

So Danielle, describe how much the Packers mean to the city of Green Bay? “Well, you are talking to one of the owners of the Green Bay Packers, so I can give you a great insight!” Danielle explains. “In case you don’t know, the Packers are the only publically owned team. Many people own just a few shares, but we all say we are owners, because we really are! The Packers mean a great deal to our city. We are truly a football city. You can walk around on game day and literally socialize with anyone! We all come together from different backgrounds, and jobs, and cities, to support our Packers. The Packers are very involved in community and donate a great amount of time, money and energy into making our community a better place to live. From a business standpoint, the amount of money that comes into the city from the Packers (fans staying at hotels, eating out, shopping, visiting the Hall of Fame, etc.) is crucial to our economy.”

Besides her affection for her home town, Danielle is a big football fan herself. “I have been lucky enough to go to many Packer games!” Danielle tells. “I grew up best friends with a Packer player’s daughter so she would take me to games as well. I still go to quite a few! Play-off games are some of the best!”

So Danielle, who is you all time favorite Packer? “It is so hard for me to pick ONE all-time favorite, such a hard question,” Danielle laments. “No matter what, Brett Favre will always be my number one and right behind him is Mr. Donald Driver. I also have a soft spot in my heart for Tony Canadeo, a quarterback from the 40’s, Reggie White, and Gilbert Brown, better known as the Grave Digger.”

And it makes sense Danielle would be a fan of Donald Driver, who showed there is more than football in Green Bay, but some excellent dancing, too, when he won the recent “Dancing with the Stars.” Danielle’s life has been filled with dance since age three, does she even remember her first dance class? “I definitely do remember some of my first dance classes!” Danielle answers. “I was nervous about leaving my mom but I remember how comforting my dance instructor, Barb Cederegren, was. She had this little one room studio with a carpeted dividing wall and she would make me so excited to come to class. She grew her little studio into what is now the largest dance studio in Northeast Wisconsin. I am so proud to have grown up at her studio and had the privilege to work for her. She was my role model. I saw how amazing of a dancer, performer and teacher she was and I wanted to grow up to be just like her. She is still one of my role models to this day as she hasn’t forgotten where she started and she does so much to give back to our community and help others. She is truly a selfless person and I couldn’t be happier to have danced for her for 15 years!”

So, does a dancer growing up in Green Bay need to perform in bone-chillingly cold conditions, or was Danielle always a “climate-controlled” dancer? “Cold temperatures are just part of Wisconsin!” Danielle describes. ”Even in Milwaukee this year, we danced along the route of the Breast Cancer walk right off the lake and it was freezing! Typically, we bundle up pretty well. I have layering down to an art!” Take note Packers, Danielle can deal with that whole frozen tundra thing.

One of the most unique experiences during Danielle’s dance career was performing at pre-game and half time of Super Bowl XXXVI (that was when the Pats defeated the Rams) in New Orleans. How did this come about? “A dance camp that my high school dance team attended choose girls to participate in the pre-game and half-time show of the Super Bowl, and my sophomore year in high school I was chosen to go!” explains Danielle. “It was a blast. I was in awe over the Superdome. It is just so huge!”

How did a Super Bowl performance rank as far as nerve-wracking-ness? “I actually wasn’t that nervous because there were so many people on the field!” Danielle says. “If anything I was awe-struck by all the famous and talented people I was working with that week. It was a great week, we got to visit the French Quarter, take a stroll down Bourbon Street (not at night of course!), visit a famous aquarium and participate in some parades, we were treated like celebrities!”

On whether she ever has any nervousness about performing, Danielle says, “I usually have pre-game jitters but once the music comes on I am good to go and my butterflies disappear!”

So, what first motivated Danielle to enter pro dance by trying-out for the indoor football Green Bay Blizzard dance team? “As we discussed, football is huge in Green Bay so during the off-season for the Packers, the GB Blizzard take over!” Danielle explains. “I had just finished my year as Miss Green Bay and I knew I was going to need a new activity to challenge me. I had heard about try outs the day before they took place! I figured I might as well give it a try! It was a great team and I had so much fun cheering for the Blizzard. We had great fans and I love football and performing so it naturally was the perfect fit.”

And it was a great enough experience that Danielle continued pro dance once she moved to Milwaukee after graduating college. “When I got my job in Milwaukee after graduating from St. Norbert College I was sad that I would have to be ‘retiring’ from the Blizzard already,” remembers Danielle. “Little did I know that a team was being formed in Milwaukee!”

After graduated from St. Norbert with a Bachelors of Business Administration, specializing in marketing, Danielle moved to Milwaukee to begin her career the medical device industry, in the medical education and training realm in an area close to her heart. “My focus has been in the area of orthopedics,” Danielle says. “This has been a great fit for me as my two passions are dancing and football. As you know, all the stress dancers and football players put on their bodies may require them to see an orthopedic/sports medicine specialist at sometime in their life.”

Asked what exciting developments in medical device will have an impact to completely wow us, Danielle answers, “Since I have been in this industry we have already had so many exciting advancements in technology that help patients return to their active lifestyles sooner! We have seen some great advancement from the materials used in joint replacement, to computer assisted surgery and patient customized instrumentation. All of which can lead to bone preservation, less blood loss, decreased (operating room) time, and a speedier recovery process!”

So not only did was Danielle beginning her professional career in the medical device industry, she was starting to play an integral role with the Milwaukee AFL dance teams. In her first Milwaukee AFL season, Danielle received the Most Valuable Dancer award. The next season, Danielle was named captain and co-choreographer, and then last season Danielle became Director of the Fillies Dance Team. Danielle explains how this came about, saying, “We had some ownership changes and I stepped up. I have always been a leader, very involved and committed 110% in whatever I do.”

Besides dancing, Danielle’s duties include choreography, coaching, working closely with the office in preparation for game days, as well as team community relations. So Danielle, what is the key to successfully being both a teammate and leader in this dual role? “One of the most challenging things I have ever done is maintaining this role as dancer and Director,” explains Danielle. “It is a very fine line. I think the key to success is honesty and commitment. I am honest with the girls about what I expect from them and they can see my commitment. I hold myself to the same standards (if not even higher ones!) than I do them. I think it helps that the girls see me working out, pushing it at practice and giving it my all! I am asking them to give me their all even when they are exhausted but I am right out their on the field with them!”

And in addition to being her first season as Director, last year Danielle was chosen to be part of the AFL Dream Team at Arena Bowl XXIV in Phoenix. “Dancing at the Alliant Energy Center with a packed crowd and the NFL Network for the Arena Bowl was an amazing experience,” Danielle remembers. “All the dancers were so helpful and we had a blast! I learned a lot from all the girls about their respective teams, dancing experiences and I made a great group of new friends from all over the country. We all actually stay in touch! It was a great privilege dancing at such a big event.”

Whether it is indoor football in Green Bay or AFL games in Milwaukee, entertainment is key, and theme nights play a big role. Of all of the theme nights, one recent one is most memorable to Danielle. “Country Night this year has to have been the most fun so far!” Danielle says. “We had national recording artist, Justin Moore perform a concert after the game and we danced to country songs all night long in our plaid shirts, jean shorts and cowboy boots! It was a great crowd and a lot of fun!”

So, with a passion for her home town of Green Bay, football, and dance, what is Danielle’s position on whether her beloved Packers should have a pro dance/cheerleader squad, and what would be the reaction of Packer fans? “I would love to see the Packers get a pro cheerleading/dance team,” responds Danielle. “It is actually a dream of mine! ‘Fan indifference’ has been the reason that the Packers never reinstated dancers after the original Packers’ dancers, the Golden Girls. I would have to disagree with the ‘fan indifference’ statement now. Packer fans are very dedicated and I know they would support and embrace a professional dance/cheer team! The Packers also do not have a mascot like some teams; we rally around our own fans! Packer fans, in recent years, have come to be known as the G-Force. Green Bay fans are definitely the most loyal fans that will withstand the elements to support their team come freezing temperatures, snow, rain or holidays! The Packers organization is heavily involved in family and supporting their community; by reintroducing Golden Girls, the Packers organization would be putting another force behind them that would help promote and endorse the Packer brand of tradition and community.”

Danielle, what would you envision, as far as a name, look, and role on and off the field of a Packers dance team? “My dream goal is to one-day reinstate the Golden Girls as part of the Packer family!” Danielle says. “So, I don’t want to give away too many of my ideas, but a championship winning pro team like the Green Bay Packers would definitely have a championship winning pro-cheerleading squad to match!”

No doubt that Danielle is a winner herself, and despite the fact her home town NFL team does not have sideline cheerleader, Danielle still has added pro dance as an important part of her busy life. With a dance resume as long the shoreline streching from Milwaukee to Green Bay, Danielle’s devotion to her home town and her adopted Milwaukee is a perfect fit to be Director of an AFL team. I have a feeling if she had a chance to do the same for the Packers, their sidelines would be “Golden” for years to come.

We thank Danielle for sharing her varied experiences, and also to the Mustangs organization, especially Nicole Leblanc, Director of Media & Public Relations.

And there are more photos of Danielle from the Mustangs May 19th game against the Georgia Force at this link.