Pink Boots and a Machete: My Journey from NFL Cheerleader to National Geographic Explorer by Mireya Mayor with a foreword by Jane Goodall (National Geographic, $26)
Anyone who thinks it is impossible to reinvent themselves and dramatically change courses should put this book at the top of their reading list.
Miraya Mayor was a former Miami Dolphins Cheerleader. She added Fulbright scholar, National Science Foundation Fellow, and two-time Emmy Award-nominated television producer to her resume. One of her biggest challenges, however, was when she emerged as a National Geographic Explorer.
Mireya grew up in a home that was controlled by an overprotective Cuban immigrant mother, a woman who even barred 7-year-old Mireya from joining the Girl Scouts since she felt camping would be “far too dangerous.” After graduating from high school, the young woman became an actress, then a slot as a Miami Dolphins Cheerleader. Her passion for animals prompted her to take an anthropology class in college which led to work that established her as a renowned primatologist and eventual quintessential explorer. From swimming with white sharks to tracking gorillas in the Congo, her life has been anything but dull. Her new book documents her unrelenting determination, incredible sense of adventure and fierce love for animals. “Pink Boots and a Machete” is informative, exciting, and just the ticket for animal lovers and armchair adventurers.
[Pink Boots and a Machette at Amazon.com]
Former Sea Gal and Sonics Dancer Ali D’s new website www.alidee.com just went live. She’s asking folks to come check it out. Sign-up and you can hear the latest song she just recorded.
Become a Washington Redskins Cheerleader!
Travel to exotic locations on the annual calendar shoot. See the world as a member of the Redskins Cheerleaders Variety Show. Perform for the largest audience in the NFL! Support hundreds of charity and community groups in the Washington, D.C. area! Be a Washington Redskins Cheerleader–and be a part of the most exciting cheerleading team in the NFL!
Auditions begin on Saturday, March 26. Audition Prep Classes begin on Thursday, February 24, 2011, and continue every Tuesday and Thursday until the last class March 24, 2011. One special Saturday prep class will be offered on March 5. In addition, there is the very popular and highly recommended Project Cheerleader class. This seminar helps those auditioning talk to our nutritionists, personal trainers, make up artists and hair stylists. This is also the only day you can have a one-on-one Q&A with the Cheerleading Staff. It will be scheduled for Saturday, March 12.
For prep classes, please park in Lot A-1 and walk in through the Administrative Entrance. Upon entering, please report to the Cheerleader Locker Room for registration. You can change and get ready in the Locker Room, but please take all belongings with you to the Cheerleader Dance Studio. There will be a lounge open (Friends & Family Lounge) near the Locker Room as well for you to wait.
On Saturday, March 5th, please only park in Lot B-1 and walk in through the South Field Tunnel.
[Complete Audition Information]
Summer is a former Houston Texans Cheerleader. She's an aerospace research engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Our good friend Darlene Cavalier, The Science Cheerleader, asked us to put out a call for current and recent Pro Cheerleaders with backgrounds or jobs in science, math, engineering and health.
She’s looking for some good recruits to perform and get crowds stoked about science!
Upcoming events include March 16th at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington DC and April 16th at the Philadelphia Science Festival.
Future events may include Dallas on 4/16 and another in St. Louis in late April.
There will also be an opportunity in San Francisco in late October as well.
[Science Cheerleader on Facebook]
Come out and meet all 20 of your 2011 New Orleans VooDoo Dolls as they celebrate the return of the VooDoo to the Graveyard on March 11th.
2011 New Orleans Voo Doo Dolls
Be the first to see the new uniforms as the Dolls unveil them in a Fashion Show sponsored by Monogram Express.
Watch a sneak peak performance of the entertainment the VooDoo Dolls will be bringing to the fans beginning March 11th.
Get an autograph from all 20 VooDoo Dolls and get photos with all of the Dolls!
FREE and open to the public!
When: Thursday, February 24 · 7:30pm – 10:00pm
Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel, New Orleans-Airport, 2829 Williams Blvd., Kenner, LA
More here.
Angels fly high during their end of the 3rd quarter performance
Mandy also flies high after a Wings goal
April and Angel and the halftime calendar signing. At only $5, the Angels Calendar is one of the best bargains in Pro Cheerleader Memorabilia
2011 Angels
Waiting in the tunnel before the T-Shirt toss
Pre-game performance
By Moira E. McLaughlin
Washington Post
Hopefuls at the 2010 Redskins Cheerleaders Auditions Finals
There are dance classes, and then there are dance classes with the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders.
“It’s a little intimidating,” says Ena Bermudez, 30, who attended her first class in 2006 and is now a Redskins Cheerleader Ambassador.
From Thursday through March 24, you can be intimidated, too: Redskins cheerleader coaches host open classes to help women prep for the team’s real cheerleader auditions.
Not all the women in the classes intend to audition. Some come for one class; others go to all. Take Dawn Washkewicz, 28, who has a background in studio dance. New to the D.C. area in 2005, she decided to check out a class to make friends.
“I wish people would come just to see how fun it is,” says Washkewicz, who is still friends with a woman she met at that first class.
Washkewicz later auditioned and has been a Redskins cheerleader for three years. “The prep classes were essential to me to understand the level and intensity of being on the field,” she says.
The classes, which include 20 to 70 women ages 18-35, start with short dance sequences, including leaps or twirls. You do the moves together and then individually across the floor. Stretches follow, and most of the class is devoted to learning a complete dance routine.
“Everyone should have a basic background in performing,” Bermudez says. The women in the class generally have a background in dance or cheerleading and are fit and toned.
Technique, however, is not everything. “the look” matters just as much.
“A lot [of women] show up in dance clothes and yoga pants with their hair pulled back. They don’t have ‘the look,'” says Bermudez. To fit in, wear a sports bra, dance shorts and tan dance shoes (tan elongates your foot). Have your makeup on and your hair down. (Tossing your hair is part of the choreography.)
Look “glamorous,” says GeNienne Samuels, 35, was a Redskins cheerleader for eight years. The class vets “always come in looking very polished and sure of themselves.”
ad_iconOf course, if you’re not intending to audition, achieving “the look” may be a little less important. Regardless, wear something you’re comfortable in, preferably fitted, and understand that many of the women around you will be going for “the look.”
“It’s still tense because you know that people are watching you, but I found that girls are willing to help you, too,” Samuels says. “I was comfortable once I got into it .. . . [And the coaches] want girls to come in and be successful.”
Even if you don’t have the right skills, the classes will afford you a behind-the-scenes look at Fed Ex Field. You’ll pass the players’ tunnel on your way to the mirror-filled dance studio at the park.
The most important thing to remember, says Samuels: “Come with an open mind.”
Where is it? FedEx Field, 1600 FedEx Way, Landover. Park in Lot B-1, enter through the South Field Tunnel and register and change in the cheerleader locker room. Must be 18 by April 1. If not 18 until after prep classes begin, a parent must sign a waiver.
When is it? 7 and 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays from Thursday through March 24. The 8:30 class is typically less well attended. Routines are different at every class.
How much is it? $25 a class.
By Star Jones
Titans Online
On January 29th, five Titans cheerleaders, Shauna, Keatyn, Brianne, Tanzye, and Jena, were flown on a private jet to a Veteran’s Appreciation Lunch in Alabama, sponsored by Tom Rice and Jim ‘N Nick’s BBQ . The event was designed for the cheerleaders to raise morale and mingle while showing appreciation to our veterans at the Tuskegee Air Base.
The day was filled with appearances and opportunities to hear stories from veterans. The trip was especially important to Shauna. She said, “My grandfather was a Tuskegee Airman and an important person in my life. I feel so lucky to have been able to come here and see what he was a part of.” The day concluded with an incredible fireworks show, provided by Pyro Shows, USA, and the cheerleaders left with an even greater appreciation for the veterans and the sacrifices they’ve made for our country.
Says, Brianne, “Each time we visit current or past members of our military, I am reminded how fortunate we are as Americans. Having the opportunity to represent the Tennessee Titans and show my appreciation in person is one of the best things about being a Titans Cheerleader.”
With the Pro Bowl, the Super Bowl and the server move, I have not had a chance to check in on our friend Phil at the Buffalo Pro Cheer Blog.
[Reports, Photos and Video from the Jills Comedy Show]
