[Staten Island Yankees Dance Team on Facebook]
[Audition Registration & Information]
A Philadelphia Fight Vixen
By Randy Wyrick
Vail Daily
There are two kinds of people: Those who like cheerleaders, and cheerleaders.
The 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships boasts the first-ever slopeside cheerleading crew … because this is America and as we’ve scientifically established, we like cheerleaders.
The cheerleaders are part of the Vail Valley Foundation’s World Championships vision — all things American. OK, most things American.
It’s by design that we’re also enjoying brass bands and some country music from the country that invented country music, rock ‘n’ roll and the V-8 engine.
And cheerleaders.
Never have the stars and stripes waved so beautifully.
“The fans bring so much energy, and we can feed off each other,” said cheerleader Dee Liang.
Show Biz
Vail Valley Foundation President Ceil Folz was a high school cheerleader, which speaks well of her.
“From the beginning, we really felt that we had this great opportunity to show the world how America celebrates major sports,” Folz said.
They looked at professional sports events, especially the NFL and NBA, figuring out what makes them so much fun.
Marguerite and Max Arbez are from Ireland with their two kids, Irish racers Tess and Maxime, who are trying to qualify for next week’s events. The Arbez parents spend a lot of time in grandstands watching ski racing and say they like the way Americans put on a show.
“There is so much going on, even before the races,” Marguerite said.
As the stands fill, the cheerleaders lead the crowd of thousands in the Dance of the Day.
Friday’s had something to do with spiders.
“You haven’t lived until you’ve danced a spider dance with 10 professional cheerleaders,” said cheerleader Ellen Bator.
Professional crowd pleasers
Friday’s crowd topped 7,000 in Beaver Creek’s Redtail Stadium and millions more on television in the U.S. and Europe, where the races are broadcast live in prime time.
The cheerleaders arrive early and move around the crowd, dispensing goodwill and positive energy, and so everybody gets to see every body.
They’re all professional cheerleaders and dancers with professional sports teams and dance troupes: the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Carolina Panthers, the New York Knicks, the Colorado Mammoth professional lacrosse team, Princess Cruise Lines … the list is long and impressive.
They’re mostly college graduates, most with honors.
They get all kinds of questions, mostly polite.
“Are you cheerleaders?” people ask with amazing regularity.
Yes, yes they are, they patiently answer with dazzling smiles.
So far, the only woman having a better week is Slovenian racer Tina Maze, with a gold medal Friday and her eye on more.
Kris’ Crew
Kris Ashley is the director and keeps track of the cheerleaders, which she says is a labor of love.
Ashley is a New York native and recently transplanted to Summit County. She was a professional dancer for 14 years — four with the Knicks and six with her own rock-infused dance company, Candy Janes.
She hosted auditions in Vail, Avon and Denver to fill 10 spots.
Ashley knows what she is looking for — “a beautiful person, inside and out.”
Yeah, they all had perfect hair and makeup during the three-hour auditions and now that they’re performing.
The only other skiing cheerleaders were at the Sochi Olympics Nordic events.
“We’re making history,” Ashley said.
[2015 World Ski Championship Cheerleaders]
The start of the Arena Football League season is fast approaching. The Philadelphia Soulmates are first out of the gate with updated photos and bios of their 2015 squad.
Think you have what it takes to be a cheerleader for the Toronto Argonauts Football Club?
Now is your chance to be a part of the Canadian Football League’s most exciting and established cheerleading team. On the field, you will feel the energy of nearly 25,000 fans at the Rogers Centre. Off the field, you will have the opportunity to support some meaningful charity events and causes. This is your opportunity to represent your city and make memories to last a life time!
DANCE SQUAD PRELIMINARIES
DATE: Sunday March 22, 2015
TIME: Registration 1:00 p.m. Auditions commence at 2:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Canada’s National Ballet School- 400 Jarvis St, Toronto ON, M4Y 2G6
**Please note this round is strictly CLOSED to the public
DANCE SQUAD FINALS
DATE: Sunday March 29, 2015
TIME: Registration 11:00 a.m. Auditions commence at 12:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Scarborough Town Centre (Centre Court)
**Please note this round is OPEN to the public!
AUDITION ATTIRE
Dance/Workout wear- Sports bra (your midriff must be exposed) and shorts only (no baggy pants or leggings).
Camera-ready hair and makeup (hair must be worn down)
Running/athletic shoes
WHAT TO BRING:
A current headshot & resume must be submitted on the day of auditions (Photo is strictly for identification purposes and will not be returned)
A non-refundable audition fee of $20 to be submitted day of auditions
HOW TO REGISTER
Please submit your application to cheerleaders@argonauts.ca. You can also fax your application to 416-341-2714.
**A photo MUST be sent with your application to be considered
Deadline for applications are:
Dance Squad: Friday, March 20 at 2:00 p.m.
[Argos Cheerleader Auditions and Application Form]
Sam of the Jacksonville Jaguars ROAR at the Montelucia Saturday Night VIP Pro Bowl Party.
by Elio Gugliotti
MyCitizenNews.com
As the confetti rained down at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., following the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl XLIX victory Feb. 1, Prospect native Melanie Sanches celebrated the win with a squad of friends.
Sanches didn’t celebrate in her living room watching the big game on TV. Rather, she rejoiced the dramatic victory on the field at University of Phoenix Stadium, and those friends were her fellow Patriots Cheerleaders.
“It was a celebration for us, too,” said the 25-year-old Sanches, adding the cheerleading squad lives and dies with the team through every game.
The thrilling ending to the game — Malcolm Butler’s interception at the 1-yard line with less than 30 seconds to play — only fueled the excitement.
“It was just exciting, everyone was so excited,” Sanches said.
Sanches spent the 2014-15 NFL season as a rookie on the Patriots’ 28-member cheerleading squad.
“I was a Patriots fan, and I would say I’m a bigger Patriots fan now,” she said.
While the season marked her first as an NFL cheerleader, Sanches is no stranger to dance and performing on a big stage.
Sanches has danced since she was young, including with the Connecticut Dance Theatre and the Arts in Prospect, and continued through high school as a member of the dance team at Woodland Regional High School in Beacon Falls.
Aside from dance, Sanches also competed in pageants growing up and was crowned Miss Teen Connecticut in 2006.
After graduating from Woodland in 2007, Sanches attended the University of Connecticut and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology in 2011.
Although dance took a backseat to her studies at UConn, it was here where Sanches’ interest in cheering for the Patriots was piqued. She said one of her friends at UConn was a cheerleader for the team. After talking with her about it, Sanches researched what it took to be a Patriots Cheerleader.
Sanches said she thought being a cheerleader would be a great opportunity to meet new friends, get back into dancing and be a part of a team again — something she hadn’t experienced since high school.
She wouldn’t be disappointed, but trying out would wait.
Sanches currently attends Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, where she lives, and will graduate in May with a Doctorate in Dental Medicine. She first planned to try out for the squad in 2013. However, her class’ White Coat Ceremony was the same day as tryouts. The ceremony — an annual tradition during which students at Tufts receive their white coats — was too important to miss, she said.
When tryouts came around again last spring, Sanches was there. She made it through several rounds of cuts, auditions and a boot camp to earn a place on the squad.
Finding out that she had made the squad was exciting, Sanches said, but also nerve-racking. She wasn’t sure how she would balance her time between clinics five days a week for school and practice. Practices were two nights a week from 7 to 10 p.m. and on Saturdays before the season, and then on early Sunday mornings during the season.
Despite being nervous at first, Sanches said she found solace in the structure her busy schedule provided. Her debut on the sidelines came when the Patriots opened their home slate versus the Oakland Raiders Sept. 21.
“It was just incredible,” said Sanches about walking out onto the field at Gillette Stadium for her first game. “It was more than I anticipated.”
Sanches cheered for the Patriots for eight home games and two playoff games before heading to Arizona for the Super Bowl.
The cheerleaders flew out the Thursday before the Super Bowl. The days leading up to the big game were full of appearances for the squad, including appearances on The Today Show, Fox & Friends and Good Morning America.
But, the trip wasn’t all about football.
Sanches was among of number of cheerleaders who took part in an event hosted by Science Cheerleader, an organization of current and former professional NFL and NBA cheerleaders pursuing science and engineering careers. The organization works to challenge stereotypes in a playful way.
Sanches and other cheerleaders spent a day with young cheerleaders in hopes of sparking an interest in them to pursue a career in the science and technology fields. She said the event also showed parents their daughters can have careers in such fields and be cheerleaders.
Sanches wasn’t chosen for the event by coincidence. Once she earns her Doctorate in Dental Medicine in the spring, Sanches will begin her career in dentistry and fulfill a lifelong dream.
“It’s a combination of science and art, which are two things I really enjoy,” said Sanches about being a dentist.
Following her dream will mean that her career as a New England Patriots Cheerleader will only last one year. Once she’s finished at Tufts, Sanches is moving to south Florida to begin working at a general dentist practice.
The idea that Sanches could try out to be a cheerleader for the Miami Dolphins — an AFC East rival of the Patriots — has come up in conversations with friends, she said. However, Sanches doesn’t see that in the cards.
“I don’t see that in my future,” Sanches said. “I have to keep my loyalties with the Patriots.”
From LakeshoreAdvance.com
As a former cheerleader with one NFL team (Buffalo Bills) and two CFL squads (Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats), dance instructor Elizabeth Morgan works hard to inspire her pupils of any age to follow their dreams.
Morgan has created a recreational dance program in Grand Bend in an 8-week introduction to movement for children ages 4-teens. Classes will focus on the basics of ballet, jazz and acrobatic dance. Some hip hop may be incorporated into the older class.
Morgan has danced since she was three as well as studied classical music, fitness and drama-in-education. She is a graduate of Western University, a certified teacher with the Canadian Dance Teachers’ Association and a member of the International Dance Council which is an official UNESCO world dance organization.
“Last November I lectured, as the sole Canadian delegate, at their world congress held in Russia, as well as voted on behalf of Canada on IDC world dance events for 2015,” she told the Lakeshore Advance.
She was a professional cheerleader with the NFL Buffalo Bills, CFL Toronto Argonauts and CFL Hamilton Tiger Cats for many years. She was selected as a Captain on each of those teams and was a Pro Bowl Finalist one year. “I still do guest choreography for the CFL and other pro and university teams, as well as coordinate my fellow alumni for the “Argos Alumni Cheerleaders’ Annual Halftime Show for Women’s Cancers” in Toronto every October. I am a competition judge and also teach guest workshops across North America.”
Currently, Morgan owns and operates Expressions Dance Arts Inc. This is their 22nd season in business.
She dropped into the Grand Bend Fitness Centre one day in December to check out their space. “They have a lovely expansive studio room with mirrors that is perfect for all sizes of dancers young or adult. I met a very friendly front desk staffer who recommended that I contact the Fitness Centre owners about getting a new dance program going at their facility. A few months later, voila! We are planning our first session,” she said adding this will be a trial session, “which means there is added benefit in that I can develop of the dance programs to meet the interests and skill levels of the children and youth in the community. This is a partnership between Expressions Dance Arts and the Grand Bend Fitness Centre. Our shared goal is to provide an inspiring new arts and fitness outlet for the community.”
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Students will learn basic terminology, steps and combinations in these forms. The emphasis will be on fitness, fun, creative expression and building self-confidence and teamwork skills. Boys and girls, beginners as well as those with prior movement experience are all welcome.
Following the completion of this spring session, we plan to host summer classes. We will then begin a fall session. We are open to adding additional levels and genres as needed, as time goes on, to meet the growing demand for classes in Grand Bend.
Fitness and Personal Artistic Expression are extremely important to the development of healthy young minds, bodies and therefore to the future development of communities. Dance and cheer in particular teach not only physical fitness, but these disciplines also utilize math, memory work, teamwork, problem solving, socialization and creative skills. These are elements that will benefit any young person well beyond their lesson years and far outside the boundaries of the studio classroom.
