The Iowa Barnstormers have announced tryouts for the 2010 Barnstormers official dance team, the Storm Chasers, will be Saturday, January 9 at 7 Flags Event Center in Clive.
Registration will begin at 9:00 a.m. and tryouts begin at 10 a.m.
The 2010 Storm Chasers will again be under the direction of co-captains Emily Collins and Marissa King, who will both be returning for a third season with the squad. “We had a wonderful squad last year, and I’m hopeful that we will have another great group of women competing in this year’s tryout,” said Barnstormers General Manager John Pettit.
Any interested women may register on-line at www.theiowabarnstormers.com or by calling the Iowa Barnstormers front office at (515) 633-2255. Additional tryout details include:
WHAT:
2010 Storm Chasers Dance Team Tryout
WHEN:
Saturday, January 9, 2010 (Registration 9 a.m.; Tryout 10 a.m.)
WHERE:
7 Flags Event Center, 2100 NW 100th Street, Clive, Iowa
COST:
$25.00 per participant
AGES:
Open to women ages 19 and up
EXPERIENCE:
Dancers will be tested on the following – Double Pirouettes, Leaps, Advanced Dance Techniques, and Pomp.
A one minute routine will be taught and performed.
ATTIRE:
Dance or athletic top (mid-drift must be showing), hot pants or shorts, skin toned tights or hose, dance sneakers, jazz shoes, or sneakers, performance ready hair and makeup.
ALL DANCERS MUST BRING:
Resume, reference list, head-shot, insurance card, driver’s license or identification and payment.
For further information, please call (515) 633-2255 or visit www.theiowabarnstormers.com.
[Phil’s Photos from the Party]
Sunday, December 27th was a tremendous day for Lauren, a three year veteran of the Eagles Cheerleading squad. Not only did the Eagles defeat the Broncos 30-27 in thrilling fashion, but in the 4th quarter, Lauren was awarded the prestigious honor of representing the Eagles Cheerleaders at the 2010 Pro Bowl in South Florida.
“Words cannot describe how excited I am to represent the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders at the Pro Bowl,” Lauren said. “I feel so fortunate to be selected; this will be an amazing experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Lauren, an Autism Treatment Therapist and Special Education Teacher, will travel to South Florida in late January to cheer on the NFC team at the Pro Bowl. She will join other cheerleaders from around the NFL as they spend the week leading up to the game rehearsing for their performance, making numerous public appearances and serving as goodwill ambassadors at charity functions. Last January, Lauren spent a week in Tokyo participating in the NFL Tour of Japan. After reviewing her Pro Bowl itinerary, she was ecstatic to learn that during Pro Bowl week she will have the opportunity to instruct a cheerleading clinic for a group from NFL Japan.
Lauren was also excited to learn that David Akers, Trent Cole, DeSean Jackson, Jason Peters, Asante Samuel, and Leonard Weaver were selected to represent the Philadelphia Eagles at the Pro Bowl. The 2010 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl game will be played on Sunday, January 31st at Dolphin Stadium in South Florida. The game will take place one week prior to Super Bowl XLIV and will be broadcast on ESPN.
Lauren, who is featured as Miss June in this year’s Eagles Cheerleaders Calendar, said, “Each year the Pro Bowl Cheerleader comes back with the greatest memories to share and an even greater appreciation for NFL Cheerleading. I am looking forward to meeting the other cheerleaders and lots of Eagles fans! I can’t wait to get there!”
[Lauren at PhiladelphiaEagles.com]
Duluth native Jacquie Van Guilder is enjoying her time with the Minnesota Timberwolves dance team.
By Rick Lubbers
Duluth News Tribune
Jacquie Van Guilder’s informal initiation as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves dance team came during the team’s first NBA exhibition game.
The Timberwolves were hosting the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 4 at Minnesota State-Mankato, and Van Guilder and the dancers were sitting courtside.
The basketball took an unfortunate bounce and Minnesota’s Brian Cardinal (6-foot-8, 240 pounds) and Corey Brewer (6-9, 188) gave chase.
“During the second quarter, we were all sitting there and a couple of the guys on our team went up to keep the ball inbounds and get the rebound, and they literally landed on top of me,” said Van Guilder, a 25-year-old Duluth native. “I was like crushed on the floor. The game presentation director said that was the worst takedown they had seen in at least the last five years. I was lucky I didn’t have a concussion.”
Shaken, but not injured, Van Guilder continued performing and finished the game.
“[The players] asked if I was OK when they got up,” Van Guilder said. “From what I heard, the whole Timberwolves bench was up on their feet, looking over there to make sure I was OK.
“That was my initiation into the season.”
But other than those few painful moments, Van Guilder has thoroughly enjoyed her time as a Timberwolves dancer.
“It’s been really exciting,” she said. “It’s so much fun dancing for all the fans. I’ve never done anything like this before.”
Dancing has been a major part of Van Guilder’s life, starting at age 5 when she began receiving instruction at Stacey’s Studio of Dance Education. Later she was a four-year member of the Duluth Marshall dance team. As a high school junior, she began attending Madill Performing Arts Center to work on technique and prepare to be a dance major in college. She studied dance and advertising at the University of Minnesota, took classes at Minnesota Ballet and spent a summer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada. She also performed professionally with Sole to Soul Dance Conversion, a traveling dance group.
“I’ve always wanted to dance professionally; that was always my goal from a pretty young age,” she said.
Van Guilder said it was a ‘spur-of-the-moment decision’ that led to her joining about 120 other women vying for 13 spots on the Timberwolves’ dance squad.
The first night of open tryouts took place in a large ballroom and each dancer had to quickly learn a routine from a choreographer and perform it for a panel of judges.
“There were so many other talented dancers there,” Van Guilder said. “Everybody there was gorgeous — they were great dancers and great performers. It was very intimidating, even though I’ve been performing for a very long time.”
But she made the first cut, which whittled the original group to 60. Those remaining women then had to perform the routine again and also demonstrate some technical skills such as leaps and turns. Another cut left 30 women.
“From there we had a week-long training camp where there was a photo session and training sessions with trainers who work with the girls throughout the year,” Van Guilder said. “We had to learn a routine and perform at a [WNBA Minnesota] Lynx game as our final audition.”
The 2009-10 Minnesota Timberwolves dance team was announced the next day.
“We were all standing there and they called my name first,” Van Guilder said. “I totally wasn’t expecting it.”
Now, aside from her full-time job as a graphic designer for a nonprofit business in St. Louis Park, a lot of Van Guilder’s time is devoted to being a Timberwolves dancer. Her weekly schedule includes a pair of three-hour dance practices, an hour of group training, another hour of personal training and two other cardio workout sessions.
When the Timberwolves have a home game, the dance team members arrive two hours before tipoff, make several pregame appearances and practice their routines a few times while the players are warming up. They are on the court during player introductions as well as timeouts and intermissions. They also change costumes about three times a game.
Van Guilder credits her rich history of dance instruction for being able to keep a step ahead of several dance arrangements.
“My dance experience definitely has helped me pick up all of the choreography. We have to know a huge amount of choreography,” she said. “In addition to knowing the main dances that we’re doing, we also have to have a bank of memory for all of the shorter dances that we do during the shorter timeouts.
“The dancing is a little bit more athletic than I normally would do because I studied mainly modern dance when I was in college. This is a lot more fast-paced — hip-hop, funk, that sort of thing.”
As far as performing in front of large audiences, Van Guilder said she doesn’t get very nervous — unless she knows somebody attending the game.
“I think it’s more nerve-wracking when there are people that I know in the stands. Performing in front of anonymous fans is so much easier,” she said. “But when you know there’s someone from home or one of my friends sitting there, it’s like, ‘Oh gosh, I have to do really good because they are watching me.’ My husband [James] has come to most of the games so far, so he’s been a trooper.”
Van Guilder said the Timberwolves dance team is one of the few cheer squads in pro sports that pays its members not only for performing at games, but also for practicing and for making appearances (although the squad does make several charity appearances). But she noted that the dancers are either employed full time elsewhere or are full-time college students or mothers.
Besides getting paid to perform in front of basketball fans, Van Guilder said one fringe benefit of being a Timberwolves dancer is seeing the NBA’s biggest superstars entertain the Target Center crowds, such as former Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers standouts LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal.
“It makes me feel really short because the players are all so tall,” she said with a laugh. “It is really exciting. I’ve never been that close to professional athletes before, to see what they do. They are just amazing.”
[Minnesota Timberwolves Dancers]
From 1992 it’s East Coast vs West Coast on The Feud.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Three-year veteran Julie will represent the Patriots Cheerleaders at the 2010 Pro Bowl
Julie graduated from Salem State College with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and works as a field sales rep and dance instructor.
By Kellie Patrick Gates
Inquirer Love Columnist
Philly.com
In early September 2007, Lora was invited to a Jack-and-Jill wedding shower – the kind attended by women and men. Her friend Tara was there, too, as was Tara’s boyfriend, Anthony.
As the evening was winding down, Anthony got a phone call. It was his brother, Carmen, who was home from the Army on a two-week, pre-deployment leave. Carmen had been at another couple’s rehearsal dinner, but it ended early, and he wanted to know what his bro was up to.
“Why don’t you come over here and meet me, and we will go out in the city afterward?” Anthony said.
Tara leaned closer to Lora and whispered, “Oh my gosh! You have got to meet Carmen.”
“Oh, God, not again,” thought Lora. Then 24, she was an Eagles Cheerleader and a catering company sales manager. When it came to relationships, she believed it would happen when it happened. Why wouldn’t her friends leave it alone?
Lora, who grew up in Skippack, hadn’t even known that Anthony had a brother. He was also 24 – 10 days older than her, in fact. But he had been away from home for seven years, going from Garnet Valley High School to West Point, and then right into the Army. Soon after his leave was over, he’d be heading to Iraq.
“I’m OK. I’m fine. You don’t have to introduce us,” Lora told Tara.
Still, when Carmen walked in, she couldn’t help but notice him. “And I thought he was cute,” she said. Tara introduced them, but they didn’t start talking until the group hit a city bar. Then, neither wanted to stop. “I was just tapping into his life, learning about that. And it was intriguing,” she said.
They squeezed in some dates before Carmen had to return to Georgia: dinner and a Phillies game, twice – both double dates with Tara and Anthony. And then some time just hanging out as a duo. Lora also went to a combination party celebrating Carmen’s going-away and Anthony’s birthday. Before he left the country, “I let him know where my heart and head were,” Lora said. “I wanted to continue with him, and I wasn’t interested in talking to anyone else.” Carmen said he felt the same way.
As an Army Ranger, Carmen deploys frequently, but for shorter periods of time than most soldiers. He has deployed three times since meeting Lora.
How does forever sound?
In October 2008, Lora moved to Georgia. In November, she and Carmen came north to visit family. In the kitchen were Carmen, Lora, Lora’s sister Karly, and her mother, Sandy. “Are you guys hungry?” Sandy asked. “I didn’t make dinner, but we have leftover Chinese.”
Chinese food had never sounded so good to Carmen – he was especially delighted by the pile of fortune cookies on the counter. While the food was heating, Carmen went upstairs to get a fortune cookie of his own from his bag. He rejoined the gathering, and when no one was looking, surreptitiously placed his fortune cookie among the pile.
After Lora and Carmen had eaten, he picked out two fortune cookies, and placed one in front of Lora. She thanked him, and cracked it open. The fortune was a question: Lora, will you marry me? Lora was confused for a second. Then she looked at Carmen. “He was on his knee with the ring.”
Carmen had the special fortune cookies made, and brought them and the ring on the trip in case the right moment arose – the Chinese leftovers were an auspicious coincidence.
The group was still in the kitchen when Lora’s father, Tom, and sister Aimee returned from the train station. It only took Aimee about a minute to notice her sister was wearing a ring.
At home
The couple lives in Columbus, Ga.
At work
Carmen’s current commitment to the Army will expire in 3 1/2 years, but he expects to have a career in the military. In January, Lora will begin working as a nanny – a job that will allow her to return to college, where she plans to earn a master’s degree in education and get her teaching certificate.It was so them
Lora and Carmen walked into the reception through an arch of sabers held by his military buddies. Lora was so happy to have her friends from the Eagles cheer squad all together again that they did one of their old routines together. The reunion routine was almost as funny as it was meaningful, she said. “Some of us hadn’t been on the team for a really long time, and there was me, in my dress.”
This couple loves Philadelphia, and they chose many Philly-centric items to get their friends and family from out of town acquainted with their city. There was an ice sculpture modeled after the LOVE sculpture, and out-of-towners received welcome bags with Tastykakes and Peanut Chews.
Lora asked her mother to handle the flowers and decor, and when she saw the romantic mood her mom had set with large chandeliers, candelabras, white and green flowers, and soft purple lighting, “It totally floored me,” she said.
Rather than sitting alone or with the bridal party, the couple sat with Carmen’s parents, Mike and Leesa Bucci, and Lora’s parents.
Awestruck
After living through the anxiety of Carmen going off to war three times, standing next to him at the altar felt almost miraculous, Lora said.
“I knew from the day I met Lora that she was the one,” Carmen said. When the doors at the back of the church opened and Carmen saw Lora walking toward him with her father, his stomach filled with butterflies. “I got goosebumps,” he said.
This was a surpriseLora was amazed at how much Carmen’s serious-minded Army pals like to party. “They were dancing with grandmas at some points,” she said. Also, Lora and Carmen had no clue that her uncle, John Pecoraio, submitted their wedding story to the “Love” column.
Discretionary spending
The bargain: Lora bought stationery online; she found her save-the-date and thank-you cards on Vistaprint and purchased the programs through Invitations by Emily on etsy.com. She estimates it would have cost her twice as much to buy them from a typical stationery store.
The splurge: Her dress. Lora looked through many magazines and tried on many dresses. She chose a strapless ivory dress with a beaded lace overlay and trumpet skirt from Priscilla of Boston. At retail, it would have doubled the dress budget. Lora saved some money by buying it at a sample sale. “To me, there is only one dress,” she said. And when she saw the tears in her mother’s eyes, Lora knew she had found it.
The getaway
Five days on Kauai, five on Maui.
The Falcons Cheerleaders are sending five-year veteran Kelli to represent the squad at the Pro Bowl.
Kelli graduated from Florida A&M University with a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism and works as a Marketing Analyst.
In addition to her time with the Falcons Cheerleaders, Kelli also spent 5 seasons with the AFL Georgia Force Cheerleaders, including 2 as captain and represented the Force Cheerleaders as part of the Arena Bowl XVIII Dream Team.
I have to go back and check the records, but I believe Kelli is the first Cheerleader to make the Pro Bowl squad and the Arena Bowl Dream Team.
