A Minnesota Vikings Cheerleader
A pair of Baltimore Ravens Cheerleaders
By Steve Pettit
KDHNews.com
With blonde tresses tossing, a dancer’s perfect posture and her signature smile flashing, Traci Tipping strode across the foyer in Vive Les Arts Theatre.
After a hasty conference with VLA’s technical guru, John Arceneaux, she turned and concisely evaluated the status of this month’s show, “Shrek the Musical.”
“We’ve all put forth a lot of effort on this show and I think our audiences will have a fabulous experience.”
As executive director of Killeen’s pre-eminent nonprofit arts organization, her appraisal carries considerable weight. She’s in charge of all aspects of the eight main stage and four children’s shows produced each season at the Killeen theater.
“I wear a lot of hats — from writing grants, working with the board, hiring staff, planning the shows, coordinating all of the marketing, public relations and advertising for each production. I love getting kids involved on the stage as well as behind the scenes. We’ve partnered with the Boys & Girls Cub, started poetry nights, a VIP card for members and lots more.”
And that burst of activity is a thread that’s run through this hometown girl’s life.
“I was born at King’s Daughter, went to school at Clifton Park Elementary, Eastern Hills Middle School and graduated from Killeen High School. I’m a fifth-generation Killeen resident — Conder Park is named after my great uncle,” she said. Born Traci Curb, she has a twin brother, Travis, and began her dance career early.
“I started tap and jazz at age 3, and had dance recitals, competitions and drill teams. I went to Tarleton State and graduated with a B.S. in business.” Degree in hand, she made a momentous decision. “I auditioned and was chosen for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.”
Tipping’s smile widened as she recalled her year with the fabled troupe. “It was amazing — something I’d never experienced. If you saw the reality TV show, you saw what it’s like. I truly cherish the experience and it’s a feeling and memory I’ll have forever.”
And what brought her stint with America’s Team to a close?
“I met Will Tipping at Tarleton and we started dating. After graduation, he went to the University of Houston’s pharmacy school but drove to Dallas each weekend to see me.”
The road trips paid off — the couple married after Will’s graduation in 2008, he landed a job at H-E-B in Belton and the newlyweds built a place in the Salado countryside. The family now includes Grace, 7, and Wyatt, 5, sharing the homestead with a gelding pony and a pet dog.
Traci taught Zumba at a local gym and later was a ballet and jazz instructor at Central Texas College. Professional experience in the IT world was gained through her affiliation with Modis as a recruiter of tech industry consultants.
But she still made time for her first love, dancing at VLA in 1999’s “Vive Les Dance,” “Beehive” in 2000 and 2008’s “Cats.”
“The arts are my passion,” she explained. “That’s why this is my perfect job. There is a great team of employees here at VLA and like me, they’re intent on staying. We want patrons to feel like we care about them and enjoy this one-of-a-kind entertainment.”
With deep roots in the Killeen community, Tipping shared her feelings about Vive Les Arts. “I love being a part of the VLA family.”
On Sunday roughly 100 ambitious dancers auditioned at Bankers Life Fieldhouse to become a member of the 2015-16 Indiana Pacemates.
[Pacemates Audition Gallery 1]
[Pacemates Audition Gallery 2]
By Paige Skinner
The Dallas Observer
Inside D1 Sports Training, 30 women perform a newly learned dance routine on a small basketball gym floor.
One woman, in the back, stops mid-performance to fix her top after realizing it had come undone. None of the other women notice because they are solely focused on their performance.
It’s the Dallas Mavericks Dancers training camp. After 300 women went through the rounds of auditions, 30 women remain, but only 20 will be chosen for the final team.
Trying out for and being on the team again means a lot to Emily Villarreal, a one-year veteran of the dance squad. Having already experienced the high of performing at sold-out Mavericks games and becoming best friends with her teammates, she knows how much she has to lose.
“Going into my second year means more than my first year because I know what I have to lose,” she says. “All of these girls are my best friends and just the opportunities that I’ve had with the Mavericks this year, I definitely don’t want to give that up, so it means everything to me to come back and make it my second year.”
About 45 minutes before the final night of training camp begins, Villarreal sits in a small room inside D1 Sports Training surrounded by her dancing peers. They are applying makeup, teasing their hair and changing into their clothes to prep for the last night of training camp before the squad is announced. Most have just fought rush-hour traffic driving from their full-time jobs or schools. But all of the prepping has gone on for a while. Prep classes were offered to the women, one hour Monday through Thursday. Even though she had made the team once before, Villarreal still attended the prep classes to feel extra prepared. With all of the time spent, she compares being on the team to a full-time job.
“It’s a lot of work. I feel like this is basically a full-time job as well, because we have practice every night or we have games or appearances,” she says. “I just feel like it’s a lot to handle, but it’s worth it.”
Outside of the small room, Mallory Mills, the director of the Dallas Mavericks Dancers, greets each woman as she walks in the training facility.
She is friendly. The women show her their respect by answering, “Yes ma’am” and “No ma’am.”
It’s all familiar for Mills, however. Tall with short brown hair, Mills easily could be mistaken for one of the dancers. She was in their position years ago, performing as a Dallas Mavericks Dancer for seven years. She’s been director for six.
“I guess for me, being in their shoes before, it kind of pulls on my heartstrings a little bit because I can tell if a girl was awesome, you know, she was so good and then she came to auditions and her nerves just got the best of her,” Mills says. “So I’m kind of a sucker for that. I’m always like, ‘She was really good at prep class, I want to see what she can do after.’ Because for some people, it’s just like taking tests. Some people aren’t good at it.”
After stretching, the candidates shed a layer of clothing to practice and learn their routines in black shorts and a black half-top. Mills asks to see the women, 10 at a time, perform last night’s routine. She sits on the ground with a notebook and watches each of the women.
Afterward, a veteran of the squad teaches the women a new dance she choreographed. She goes over every move with counts, as well as words. “So your butt is going out on 8,” she says to the women. “You’re going to do a stanky leg on 1, 2.”
The women pick up the routine quickly. After 40 minutes, the minute-or-so routine is taught and there are no major hiccups. The candidates’ hair is down and their earrings are in place. While they are sweating, they continue to smile and focus throughout.
“This week in training camp, we look for the performance,” Mills says. “I mean, obviously, we did as well on Saturday and Sunday, but they’re nervous, so this week, it’s more of, ‘Are they going to shine, are they thriving, are they getting better than they were on Saturday?’”
The final squad will be announced Thursday.
One Houston Texans Cheerleader is proving she’s game-ready in a video that has been picked up by sites like TMZ.
Daranesha is seen in the video doing sit-ups as she hangs from a punching bag.
The cheerleader said this is her way of getting her abs ready. It’s a workout one of her teammate saw on Instagram.
“She said, ‘Let’s just try it. Let’s do it.’ and it was actually easier than I thought it would be.” Daranesha said.
The four-second video has gone viral, something the cheerleader didn’t expect.
“I was just trying to figure out a way to entertain our fans.” she said. “As Houston Texans Cheerleaders we’re huge about social media, so we love to keep our fans entertained off the field and on the field.”
Darnesha doesn’t think her abs are the best on the team, but she thinks they’re up there. She suggested sit ups, crunches and tumbling to try and get to where she is.
From Nuggets.com
Over 100 Denver Nuggets Dancers hopefuls registered to audition for the 2015-16 squad this past weekend, and the schedule was grueling as usual. After learning three dance routines, and enduring three rounds of cuts, 33 remaining finalists were invited to training camp where the audition process will continue this week.
“This is the largest training camp we have ever conducted,” Nuggets Dancers Manager Amy Jo Wagner said. “The dance judges are overwhelmed by the amount of talent this year.”
Throughout training camp, the finalists will be assessed on strength and flexibility; learn game night choreography; attend uniform fittings; and have individual professional interviews – all which will be taken into consideration during Saturday’s final selection process.
[Nuggets Dancers Finalists Gallery]
By Shiina Losciuto
Kaleo.org
Hundreds of women from all over the world traveled to AT&T stadium in May to try out for the famous Dallas Cowboys cheerleading team. This year, 46 women were selected for training camp and 36 will make the final squad.
For football players, playing on a Super Bowl-winning team is the ultimate dream; for dancers, it’s becoming a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. Recent anthropology and communications graduate Simone Culwell is a candidate in this year’s training camp.
The tough and intense journey of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading selection is shown through multiple weeks in their reality TV show called “Making the Team.” Participants are introduced into the most competitive situation they will ever face, having to endure multiple rounds of auditions until they are invited to the training camp.
“As a little girl, I always admired the poise and grace of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders,” Culwell said. “I never thought I would actually have the skills or the confidence to try out.”
The Dallas, Texas native has been dancing for six years and has always hoped to make a career out of it. In her last two years in Hawai‘i, she worked as a jazz dancer for the Legends in Concert Rock-A-Hula Show in Waikīkī.
Culwell joined the UH Rainbow Warrior dance team the second semester of her freshmen year and was team captain for her last year.
While most of us were stressing about finals, Culwell was also focused on studying the history of the organization. On top of the physical preparation, she spent her time studying the Cowboy’s roster, history and current news. For try-outs, you are expected to be up to date about Cowboys current and past events, pop culture, politics and current events.
“It took two years of mental preparation, developing my dance skills and getting my body into shape,” Culwell said. “My last semester of college, I only needed to take 6 credits of core classes so I filled the rest of my schedule up with weight training to get in shape, yoga to maintain my flexibility and ballet to maintain a strong dance foundation.”
When auditions approached in May, she has a solo routine prepared in hopes of making it to finals.
Although it’s been a dream come true, it hasn’t been easy. Culwell said that training camp has been the hardest thing she’s ever done, and is constantly under pressure.
“At this point, every girl is beautiful, talented, smart and has a great figure,” Culwell said. “It’s up to the director and choreographer to decide who they want to represent them.”
Cullwell’s advice to others is to always stay positive because it’s worked for her so far. It was unreal to her that her dreams might actually be in reach, and she wants more than anything to work for this opportunity.
A Miami Dolphins Cheerleader
