The Atlanta Falcons have updated their website with bios of all their Cheerleaders:
Good friend of the blog and three-year veteran Natalie, previously danced for the Atlanta Hawks and the Auburn University Tiger Paws Dance Team. She’s pursuing her MBA in Marketing at Georgia State University.
[Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders]
Former Denver Broncos Cheerleader Renee Herlocker was recently crowned the Ultimate Spike Girl by cable network Spike.
From Westword.com
And your winner? Denver’s own Renee Herlocker, a former Broncos Cheerleader (from 2000 to 2006) and Mile High Sports personality whose willingness to bend over pool tables has definitely paid off. “The prize was a year contract with Spike,” she says. “I’m basically their new correspondent-host” — a gig she earned shortly after filming a featured spot in an upcoming movie that’s generating a little bit of interest: Iron Man 2…
Iron Man 2 “was a really fun project,” Herlocker says, explaining that “I’m actually in the opening of the movie. The lead character, Tony Stark [played by Robert Downey Jr.] has a cast of professional superhero cheerleaders called the Ironettes, and I’m one of them.”
In addition to strutting her stuff, Herlocker says she was originally scheduled to speak a line or two prior to Downey delivering a big speech to a convention crowd. Problem is, he was having problems memorizing all the dialogue, so the sequence was cut down in length, and her speaking part wound up being scrapped as well. “It’s all good, though,” she says — and she praises Downey, who was on set for one of the three days she spent shooting in L.A., as “a really good guy.”…
And Herlocker soon learned about her initial Spike Girl assignment. “My first job is October 17. I’ll be hosting the red carpet for the 2009 Scream Awards that Spike is airing,” she says. “And I’ll also do a lot of other hosting — hosting launch parties for new video games, going to movie premieres, interviewing celebrities. It’ll be a ton of great stuff that’s going to be seen on Spike TV and Spike.com.”
Watch the Finale here.
The full story is over at Westword.com (warning the language is a little coarse)
2010 PRO DANCE AUDITIONS ARE RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER! GET A LEG UP ON THE COMPETITION!
DATE: Saturday, October 24, 2009, 2:00-5:00pm
LOCATION: Stars Unlimited Dance, 6602 Royal, Suite D, Pleasant Valley, MO (Near Liberty)
COST: $40.00 pre-registration, $50.00 at the door
INCLUDES: Enter to win gifts from our sponsors!
* BE Cosmetics makeup palette
* Eurotard hot shorts
* Custom-made Zonas Designs audition costume
* Personal training from Heidi Fit
GET INVOLVED:
* Learn more at www.goingproentertainment.com
* Register now at www.procheerallstars.eventbrite.com
AGENDA:
* Audition tips by Pro Cheer All Star Missy Georges
* Pro choreography and skills
* Fitness and nutrition planning by Heidi Fit personal training
* Makeup tips and discounts from Melissa Blayton of BE Cosmetics, the official makeup artist for NFL, MLS, MLB and multiple professional and college squads
* Communication exercises
* Application tips
* The inside scoop on regional and nationwide pro dance opportunities
* …. and more!
ABOUT THE PRO CHEER ALL STARS:
The Pro Cheer All Stars are comprised of elite alumni dancers from the NFL, NBA and other professional sports leagues. The 2009-2010 Pro Cheer All Stars Workshop Tour gives future pro dancers a leg up on the competition! You’ll get the opportunity to learn from women who have danced on the field and on the court for thousands of fans. Attend a workshop in Kansas City, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Washington DC, Buffalo and other U.S. cities!
From Atlantic City Luxury Magazine
The New Jersey Nets darling dancer has been mesmerizing stadiums full of basketball fans for the past three years
Anyone who’s been to a major sporting event can recall the thunderous-road of the crowd; that strange almost electric feeling that floats with a frenzy and connects every spectator to one another, only working to make our chanting cheers louder, stronger and more primal. Like with any enchantment, there are typically a few figures that lead the bunch, stirring the crucible accordingly, and ensuring that the members of the audience are not only having the time of their lives, but that a similar sort of vigor is invoked in the tame that as about the court the grace of sudden death.
Chrisna Iannelli is on such siren. The New Jersey Nets darling dancer has been mesmerizing stadiums full of basketball fans for the last three years, bringing almost twenty years of dancing to the court. Do not be confused – Iannelli is not just another pretty face. She is a celebrity in the making.
“I’ve been dancing since I was five years old,” being the Allentown, Pennsylvania native. “I started at Dolly Haltzman Dance Academy where I was strictly ballet and tap. I took ballet at Muhlenberg College and the Ballet Guild in Bethlehem. And then I got into jazz and hip hop in elementary school and middle school through the East Coast Dance Connection in Allentown. I would dance to anything that would come on. We have home videos where I will just not get away from the camera! I was constantly putting on a show. I would make my cousins-no, I would teach my cousins a dance and put in a show at all our Christmas parties.”
After a season-long stint with the Philadelphia 76ers after high school, Iannelli transplanted to New York City where she signed with the prestigious Clear Talent Group. Within a short amount of time, the dancer was soon seen on Saturday Night Live, 20 Rock and a Timbaland music video. She also auditioned for the New Jersey Nets, made the team and has been with them for the past two years.
“It’s all very exciting,” continues the young star on the rise. “I want to continue to grow in the entertainment industry, wherever that leads me. It’s had to think about what’s going to happen in the future, tomorrow, or five years from now. The whole thing is, this goal that I’ve had for my entire life-it’s been reached. I wanted to be an NBA Dancer, I wanted to signed to a dance agency in New York City, I wanted to be in music videos, commercials and magazine and that’s all happening right now or has happened. So I just want to keep going forward with it. I’m just so in the moment right now that I can’t even think about the future. I want to keep on this path.”
Bucs Cheerleaders in Nightshade – Tampa, FL (Oct. 5, 2009) Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders Cynthia Martinez, Aubrey Gainey, Rochelle Alvarez, and Jaime Hanna face their childhood nightmares as they experience the terrifying all-new haunted house Nightshade Toy Factory at Busch Gardens’ Howl-O-Scream. These brave Bucs Cheerleaders ventured into the mysterious manufacturing plant, where they were teased by diabolical dolls, terrible teddy bears and possessed playthings. These twisted toys are alive…and they are coming after the adults who have forgotten them and you could be next!
Bucs Cheerleaders in Werewolves – Tampa, FL (Oct. 5, 2009) As night falls, a hoard of restless half-man, half-beast monsters patiently wait for innocent Howl-O-Scream guests to stumble into their lair. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders Ryan Theriault, Aubrey Gainey, Nina Stauffer, Rochelle Alvarez, Roseanne Strobel, Holly Sellers, Jaime Hanna, and Cynthia Martinez cautiously cross the all-new scare zone Werewolves, where those who are not worthy to join the clan will be preyed upon as dinner.
Howl-O-Scream runs every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night during October; remaining Howl-O-Scream dates are Oct. 8-10, 15-17, 22-24 and 29-31. Operating hours are 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursdays. Friday and Saturday hours are 7:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. For more information visit HouseofVayne.com or call 1-888-800-5447.
[Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders]
This week the Redskins Cheerleaders are featured at Maxim.com
And The DC FOX Affiliate has a new feature called “The Cheer Zone” and this week they spotlight Redskins Cheerleader Jessica. You can find more photos in the cheer zone.
[Washington Redskins Cheerleaders]
[Redskins Cheerleaders Calendar]
[Redskins Cheerleaders at Maxim.com]
The 2009-2010 Cavalier Girls Calendar is almost ready to hit the stands, but before this 16-page pictorial goes to print, there’s one more shot that needs to be chosen.
Fans can visit cavs.com now through Oct. to vote for Katie, Cassandra or Toni as their pick to be the cover girl that will be the face of one of the hottest selling items in the Cavaliers Team Shop.
Cassandra is a 2006 Norwalk High School graduate. A story about her appeared in Wednesday’s Norwalk Reflector.
Fans who vote will automatically be registered to win a grand prize that includes tickets to a Cavaliers game and a meet and greet with the Cavalier Girls. Every fan who votes will automatically be entered to win:
Four tickets to a Cavaliers 2009-10 regular season game.
Four autographed Cavalier Girl Calendars.
A photo taken with the Cavalier Girls on center court to be posted on Cavs.com.
The 14-month calendar (November 2009 to December 2010) was shot throughout Cleveland and features scenes along Edgewater Beach, views from the Flats, and some of downtown’s most recognizable locales.
Each month shows off a Cavalier Girl photographed in Cavaliers attire on a high-gloss poster-like page. The calendar also includes a photograph of the entire Cavalier Girls dance team.
Once the votes have been tallied, fans are invited to the official unveiling party at The Hard Rock Caf at 8 p.m. Oct. 29, when the 2009-10 Calendar Cover Girl will be announced.
The Cavalier Girls Calendar will be available for purchase on Oct. 30 at the Cavs team shop and at cavs.com. All net proceeds benefit the Cavaliers Youth Fund, a fund of the McCormick Foundation.
[Cavaliers Girls Calendar Vote]
This is a sad story about Washington Redskins Cheerleader Ambassador Desiree. Please keep her in your prayers
By Nicholas Graham
Loudon Times-Mirror
Desiree Jennings can whisper softly, but not talk loudly.
She can – once she gets going — run several miles, but she can’t walk the first five feet normally.
She can move sideways and backward, but not forward.
Desiree can still hope and dream, but realizes that her life the way it was may never come back.
Desiree, of Ashburn, is a one-in-a-million person. Tragically so.
She is “the one.” Apparently, the one person in a million, according to the Centers for Disease Control, who may have developed severe and possibly life-threatening side effects from getting a seasonal flu vaccine seven weeks ago at a Safeway in Reston.
It’s easy to understand why Desiree felt compelled to get a flu shot. Warnings that this fall would see a harsh seasonal flu season — compounded by growing concerns about the impact of the new H1N1 flu – have driven healthy people to get inoculated, and especially those in defined high-risk groups.
Then, the statistics: 36,000 die annually of the seasonal flu; 200,000 people will be hospitalized with the flu; and more than 100 million seasonal flu vaccinations will be given. Loudoun’s health director, Dr. David Goodfriend, has already gotten his, as well as his H1N1 vaccination.
Already, since Aug. 30, the CDC reports about 950 people have died from flu-associated pneumonia or flu symptoms.
Desiree, a young, healthy and active 25-year-old, says she was not in a high-risk group, had no pre-existing, underlying health issues, and was not on medication at the time of her shot. Since April, Desiree has also been a Washington Redskins “Ambassador” – a physically demanding job that trains you to one day become a full cheerleader.
As for the seasonal flu shot, she got it to earn “healthy living” points for her work health plan, which gives perks for each level of “wellness” that is attained.
The shot in the arm itself, on Aug. 23, was uneventful. Ten days later, Desiree says she got flu-like symptoms – fever, vomiting, weakness in her legs and body aches.
On returning to work at AOL after Labor Day, she was even more fatigued. She passed out at work, and again at home. Her husband, Brendan, rushed her to Urgent Care nearby as she went into convulsions. She was immediately transferred to Inova Loudoun Hospital, where she spent three days.
The doctors ran test after test, and asked question after question. She was screened for Lyme disease, lupus and other ailments. All came back negative.
Desiree proceeded to go back to Inova Loudoun Hospital, then Inova Fairfax Hospital, then Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, to see specialists. None could give a diagnosis. She estimates she has seen 60 medical personnel since mid-September.
Desiree has seen her primary care physician, physical therapists, speech therapists, neurologists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists and a bevy of nurses.
Amazingly, it was her physical therapist who provided the clinical diagnosis: Dystonia.
While sounding like a fictional land from a J.R.R. Tolkien novel, Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder in which sustained muscle contractions cause body jerks, and abnormal or repetitive movements. The disorder may be inherited or caused by other factors such as physical trauma, infection, poisoning, or reaction to drugs.
Desiree is convinced that in her case, the dystonia was triggered by the seasonal flu shot. Her doctors at Inova Fairfax and Johns Hopkins hospitals agree that it was likely the adverse reaction to the flu shot that caused her condition.
Dystonia requires the learning of a new way of living, and relearning even the most basic routines. It’s also rare, and not completely understood. As for cures – none exists. As for treatment, it’s basically limited to minimizing symptoms of the disorder.
Desiree is in the process of trying out a cocktail of medications, to see what mix works. “Sensory tricks” also help manage the spasms, though she is still afflicted by a handful of serious seizures and convulsions, and 20 to 30 minor ones, every day.
To minimize the stimuli, which cause convulsions, she often has to wear soundproof headphones around the house and listen to music; Coldplay often does the trick. Understandably, she eschews techno or rap. Without headphones, multiple stimuli – say, a phone ringing combined with loud TV noises – will send her into a seizure.
She also finds solace in posting updates on Facebook, along with short videos of her condition – many of which are startling. This has attracted offers of expert help from neurologists willing to take on her case. This social media platform has been her one-stop shop for communications, information, and support – always a click away and 24/7. It’s also free – and paperless.
Offline, it’s anything but paperless. At Desiree’s feet is a black, plastic accordion folder already bursting with health-care documents. It’s getting bigger by the day.
It’s understandable how Desiree now feels about the seasonal flu shot. “Don’t get it if you’re healthy” and not at risk, she implores. She claims doctors at Fairfax and Johns Hopkins hospitals agree.
At the Loudoun health department, Goodfriend has a different take. While he sympathizes greatly with Desiree’s case, “we know in Loudoun if no one got vaccinated, more would get sick, and potentially more would die.”
“There are always rare side effects,” Goodfriend says. “But seasonal flu is a major killer of otherwise healthy people.” He strongly believes that any risk associated with a flu shot is “outweighed” by the benefits it provides.
Desiree and Brendan have always had a kind of prohibition policy on crying. But not a day in the past 30 has been “dry.”
“You realize your life is never going to come back the way it was,” Desiree says, looking out her kitchen window onto a Brambleton street scene. “My goal in life was to one day be a CEO. Now, I don’t know if I can ever return back to work.”
With a new dose of tears welling up in her auburn-colored eyes, Desire looks down, and says, “Every day for me is a struggle to even want to live.”
But she goes on. Even knowing she is — possibly, sadly – on the wrong side of being “one in a million.”
Watch a video of this story at MYFOXDC.com
Reported by Midwest Dave
Apparently, Roxanne Pringle has discovered the secret formula to create 48-hour days. She must have, otherwise, it is unfathomable that one can be the entertainment director for a new football league (the United National Gridiron League, or UNGL), working on a cheerleader reality show that she co-created with her brother, plus have a busy home life, including 21-month old twins!
Roxanne’s normally busy life will be extra busy this week, as she prepares to fly to Ohio from her home in California for this weekend’s UNGL auditions for cheerleader/dancers, choreographers, and dance squad directors. This regional audition will focus on filling dance squads for four of the eight teams in the inaugural 2010 UNGL season: the Ohio Marauders, Miami Scorchers, Virginia Swarm, and North Carolina Comets.
Roxanne’s connection to the UNGL began when her son, a senior footballer at Fort Lewis College at the time, asked her if the UNGL might be a good next step for his playing career. When she heard about the league, it dawned on Roxanne that the UNGL might also provide her an opportunity to be director of a team’s cheer squad, a role she had wanted to step into. After all, Roxanne has been a long-time member of squads, most notably she was one of Football’s Fabulous Females, the Oakland Raiderettes, from 1997-2001. In her typical pro-active manner, Roxanne contacted the UNGL CEO and asked what the plans were for dance squads, noting, “You’ve got to have cheerleaders!” The league officials realized that they had focused all their attention on the on-the-field talent, and not planned for the sidelines talent. Roxanne constructed a business proposal to be director of one of the UNGL dance squads, but the league was so impressed with the proposal and her resume, they asked her to be entertainment director for the entire league! Roxanne says to be in this position, it is a “dream come true.”
As a participant, cheerleading and dance has always been a big part of Roxanne’s life. But beyond her own participation, she has a passion to help and mentor the young women who aspire to be part of the sideline excitement, just as she has benefited from the mentorship she received throughout the years. Even as a Raiderette, Roxanne would find herself taking other candidates under her wing during the tryout process, trying to maximize their chances of making the squad, even though they were all really competing against one another. Now, Roxanne would like to have the kind of influence that NFL cheerleader directors have like the Cowboys’ Kelli Finglass. She knows her squads will not try to be NFL squads, but Roxanne hopes to maximize the exposure, personal growth, and future opportunities for women cheering for the segment of football that the UNGL hopes to fill.
The UNGL cheer squads will feature up to 30 members for each team. This year will start with eight teams, with plans to increase to 22 in the future, with new franchises coming to California in coming seasons. She is working with a designer to get uniforms ready for this season, and her master plan includes calendar shoots in coming years.
This sounds like such a full plate, but wait there’s more! When Roxanne’s brother, actor Derick Alexander, completed his degree in film, Roxanne’s brainstorming continued. Roxanne pitched an idea of a reality show of women competing to be reach the highest level of sideline super-stardom. After the pitch, Roxanne asked Derick if there was a place for this concept, and Derick absolutely agreed. The pilot for “Pro Cheer Danz” is currently in production, with women competing based on their acting, dancing, modeling and cheering ability.
There must be some serious “performing” DNA threaded throughout Roxanne’s family. Besides Derick’s television and film background, sister Diedra was also a Raiderette, serving one year on the same line as her sister, captain Roxanne, during her time from 1998 to 2002.
Deidra and Roxanne at the Ravens-Raiders AFC Championship Game.
But first things first, and that is this Sunday’s auditions for dancers and staff in Mason, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati. Auditions start at 9 am at “McGee’s Courts 4 Sports,” and will end at 5pm. Complete information is located at http://www.ungleague.com/cheerleaders.php and those interested are encouraged to register on-line this week. One of the league’s mottos is ““Developing Tomorrow’s Stars of the Game,” and this includes sideline stars. One can tell from Roxanne Pringle’s appreciation of her mentors, and her passion to helping others achieve their dreams, that she has complete dedication to every word in that motto.
