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]
The Houston Chronicle has put up a gallery of NBA Dancers over the years. Not as much fun as the NFL Cheerleaders – Then and Now Gallery, but still worth a look. Here’s a Chicago Luvabull from 1995:
By Kirsten Fleming
The New York Post
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.
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.
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.”
From CedarRapidTitans.com
The indoor football season is just around the corner. The Titans Dolls audition took place on Sunday October 20th at the Eastern Iowa Sports Complex where a large group of doll hopefuls were taught choreography from former Miss Iowa USA 2013, Richelle Orr along with Iowa State dance captain, Stephanie Leeds.
The 2014 squad includes Megan Cooley, Megan Milito, Brittany Lenth, Kaytie Allen, Mallory Stites, Sara Snow, Catie Maher, Lainee Yarkosky, Amber Keplinger, Sara Burroughs, Kayleigh Beatty, Morgan Johnson, Jennifer Baxa, and Sara Trinkle.
“We had a fantastic turn out and saw many talented dancers today”, said Dolls Dance Director Lindsay Wray. “With Titans games being held at the new US Cellular Center, I think we’ve upped the ante and people are more excited than ever to be a part of the Titans organization. I am thrilled to be coming on board at such a great time!”
Although this will be Wrays first year coaching the Titans dance team, this isn’t her first time coaching a dance team in the IFL. Wray has experience both dancing and coaching for former IFL team, the Wichita Wild.
“My husband and I have just moved to the Cedar Rapids area from Kansas and the timing was just perfect for me to step into the new position. So far it’s been a blast and I am so excited to get to do what I love. We’ve selected 14 dolls this year- 7 returning dolls and 7 new members. The dolls have already begun practices and are looking forward to getting out in the community, starting up our junior dolls program, and getting to do what they love best… cheering for the Titans! It’s going to be a great season”.
From 2008 – A hopeful at NY Dragons Dancers Auditions
Around this time of the year, I get emails asking me about Pro Cheerleader costumes for Halloween. My advice in the past has been to try and make or scrape one together on your own. But now the NBA has gone out and licensed some uniforms/costumes.
It looks like it’s just a few of the big market teams that are available. Check them all out at the link below.
[NBA Dancer Licensed Costumes]
From ICTMN.com
A Chickasaw woman’s dream has come true. And she’ll get to share it with thousands.
Katie Callaway will cheer on basketball pros and fans as a member of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder’s dance team.
“I am so excited,” Callaway said in a news release. “I can’t wait to get on those sidelines and entertain the best fans of any city with an NBA team.”
Callaway, 26, sat in the stands as a fan for six years before she decided to try out. But, she didn’t make the team on her first try.
“I worked hard, very hard, to improve my technique,” Callaway said reflecting on the failed effort. “I worked on leaps, turns, and pointed toes. It was a full-on effort for a year. It was tough.”The final audition process consisted of three rounds: a choreographed routine, a question and answer session, and a solo dance. Only 38 women were selected as finalists from nearly 100 hopefuls. The group of 38 was eventually narrowed down to 20.
She auditioned at the Riverwind Casino in Norman, Oklahoma in front of a packed house. Now that she’s one of the 20 Thunder Girls, Callaway is looking forward to the team’s first game in November.
“I wondered what it would be like to be down there. I wondered how exciting it was for the team and how much they looked forward to it,” she said in the news release.
Callaway is an Oklahoma resident. She attended Ada High School where she was a cheerleader, but she was born in England where her father was stationed in the U.S. Air Force. Her mother is Chickasaw and works for the Chickasaw Nation. For years, her grandfather, Jack Wells, served as a Chickasaw tribal legislator and her great-grandmother, Delta Wells, was an original enrollee with the tribe.
“We’d go to festivals and I was a member of the Governor’s Honor Club,” Callaway said. “I learned my heritage is important and tradition is important. It is essential to know one’s self. I am very proud of my Chickasaw heritage.
But, Callaway won’t quit her day job. She’s a drilling engineer technician with Chesapeake Energy where she analyzes drilling for natural resources. She started working there as a receptionist and moved up rather quickly. Callaway is also a graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond where she studied public relations.
Not only is she excited about cheering on the fans, but as a Thunder girl, Callaway will also have a chance to work with her community. “Being a part of the organization will give me that opportunity to give back, which is something I’m looking forward to very much.”
From MetroUK.com
Cheerleading is not as easy as people think. It really isn’t dancing and jumping in rhythm at all. Not if you are a Jacksonville Jaguars Cheerleader.
For a quartet of Jaguars girls – Kayla, Caitlin, Jessica and Talitha – swapped their pom-poms for pencils as they saw a Wembley exam ahead of Sunday’s NFL match against the San Francisco 49ers in London.
With Wembley set to become the second home of the Jacksonville Jaguars, stadium bosses wanted to put the girls to the test by sending them behind-the-scenes on the official tour.
Kayla, Caitlin, Jessica and Talitha sat pitchside to take the test following their tour of the iconic stadium and answered questions on the incredible history of sporting and musical events to take place at the venue.
Kayla and Jessica, left, beat fellow Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleaders Talitha and Caitlin in their Wembley test
Cheerleading is not as easy as people think. It really isn’t dancing and jumping in rhythm at all. Not if you are a Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleader.
For a quartet of Jaguars girls – Kayla, Caitlin, Jessica and Talitha – swapped their pom-poms for pencils as they saw a Wembley exam ahead of Sunday’s NFL match against the San Francisco 49ers in London.
With Wembley set to become the second home of the Jacksonville Jaguars, stadium bosses wanted to put the girls to the test by sending them behind-the-scenes on the official tour.
Kayla, Caitlin, Jessica and Talitha sat pitchside to take the test following their tour of the iconic stadium and answered questions on the incredible history of sporting and musical events to take place at the venue.
The Jacksonville Jaguars Cheerleaders on their tour of Wembley Stadium next to the iconic Sir Bobby Moore photograph. Afterwards they swapped their pom poms for pencils to be tested on their knowledge of the stadium ahead of the game against the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday. The girls, from left to right, Caitlin, Kayla, Talitha and Jessica
They were asked questions such as: How many seats are there inside Wembley? Answer: 90.000. Who officially opened the new stadium in 2007? (Prince William) and whic band are playing three nights at the iconic venue in summer 2014? (One Direction).
Kayla said: ‘I must admit, the test was pretty hard. The amount of facts the Wembley Stadium Tour guides give you is incredible, so we really had to pay attention during the tour.
‘The stadium is awesome and we’re really excited to be coming to London to play over the next three years.’
It’s all for a good cause. Come over to Woodland Park Range for a rare photo opportunity that will last only 2.5 hours. Gun For Hire is one of the official sponsors of the Gotham City Cheerleaders.
Test your shooting abilities or get a training session! Groups are welcome.
Take a photo with our team members in the 50-yard range holding your rifle with the Gun For Hire Targets as backdrops. Each signed photo will accompany the 2014 Gotham Cheerleader calendar.
For $30 you can have a fun night out with friends while helping us raise funds for Breast Cancer research.
Other exciting event features will be Giants fan trivia, raffles and t-shirt giveaways!
[Shoot For A Cure Registration]
By Rhea, 4th Year
Vikings.com
Hello Vikings Fans!
You most likely all know that October is ‘Breast Cancer Awareness’ month. The MVC were lucky enough to support the cause on October 13, at our home game against the Carolina Panthers, and look pretty in pink! Not only were we wearing pink and wearing our ribbons, so were the players and fans! We sported our Pink Boot covers from The Line Up for the second season, and spruced up one of our favorite costumes with pink accents. It is truly remarkable to see so many people come together to support such an important cause!
Something I really appreciated at this game were two Vikings fans, in particular, who wanted to spread awareness. While some MVC and I were out in the tailgating lot, one fan was walking around making sure everyone had a pink ribbon on. During the game, I spotted another fan who made it a point to hand out pink ribbons to some Carolina Panther’s fans. Spreading awareness is key, and these two Vikings fans did an amazing job at going the extra mile to do so!
Breast cancer affects so many people, from each NFL team, to fans in the stands or at home; it’s great to see such an increased awareness the whole month of October. Here is to spreading awareness all year round!
We hope to see you at the Metrodome for the Vikings vs. Packers game on October 27th. Don’t forget to wear your pink!
Skol Vikes!
