By JAY BETSILL
DFW.com
Jul. 15, 2012

DALLAS — Since it is the hottest time of the calendar year in North Texas, it means it is time for the Dallas Mavericks Dancers to select the latest edition of the “Hottest Dance Team in the NBA.” For the 2012-13 auditions, the action moved to Gilley’s Dallas, giving the ladies the opportunity to dance on a wood floor like the one they perform on in front of 20,000 fans at American Airlines Center.

[Gallery: Pics: Dallas Mavericks Dancer tryouts 2012 at Gilley’s, Day 1]

[Gallery: Pics: Dallas Mavericks Dancer tryouts 2012 at Gilley’s, Day 2]

The process to become a Mavs Dancer officially began in May with the prep classes at Elevation Fitness. The first round of auditions began at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 14, with 246 hopefuls on hand to perform for third-year director Mallory Mills and the panel of judges.

Chris Arnold, Mavs game emcee and sports talk show host on 105.3 The Fan, was the host for the day’s action, which began with the ladies performing freestyle routines. The first round of cuts came at 12:30, followed by the veteran Mavs Dancers (Lauren, Paige, Emily, Sequel, Bonnie and Rachael) teaching the remaining dancers a new routine.

“If your number is not called,” Arnold announced to the group of anxious ladies awaiting their fate, “it does not mean your dream of becoming a Mavs Dancer is over.” He went on to explain about the opportunity to try out again next season after this year’s experience as well as the auditions to dance for the Texas Legends, the Mavs D-League squad.

After learning the entire routine from scratch, they had to perform it for the judges in groups of four. There were more cuts, followed by a third round of dancing to Crank it Up by David Guetta (feat. Akon) courtesy of the Official DJ of the Mavs, DJ Whiz. The final cuts of the day brought the total to 54 hopefuls who would return to Gilley’s Dallas on Sunday, July 15, for the last round of auditions, which will include the 10 dancers who are returning from last season’s squad.

For those who survived the first day, it could be viewed as only the beginning with the finals auditions and training camp still to go before the final squad is named.

The Dallas Observer has lots of photos. Click here to go there now!

The Golden State Warriors site has posted a few photos from this year’s auditions (which, as far as I know, are still underway). Click here to have a look-see.

Let me preface this by saying I’m no fan of prime time dramas. They do nothing for me. That is my bias.

Having said that, call me cynical, but I fully expect this show – if it ever makes it to the airwaves – to be chock full ‘o drama queens, morons, ho-bags, gold diggers, anorexics, backstabbers, and every other negative stereotype that plagues the pro sports entertainment industry. Not to mention dancer/player fraternization out the wazoo. Add to that the fact that none of the writers, none of the producers, and only one of the stars of the show has any dance training that I’m aware of, and I’m not getting a positive feeling about this.

On the other hand, the one actor that does have dance training? She was a Laker Girl. (During the 2010-11 NBA season). Interesting that they never mention that fact in any of the releases. (I suspect the NBA/Lakers are responsible for that.) But at least we know one of these people can dance. That gives them a little cred. And hey, this will mean more jobs for dancers, and that’s a plus. (Whether they show more than 5 seconds of dancing at a time remains to be seen.)

Will I watch it? Yes. Just like all of you. For research purposes, of course.

(This better not be another Tina Yothers situation. That movie was awesomely bad. This show has the potential to be just regular bad. Models Inc. bad. In other words, the kind of bad that is not good.)

Your thoughts?

VH1 Greenlights Its Second Hour-Long Scripted Series, Bounce
by Elizabeth Black
VH1.com
July 24, 2012

VH1 is expanding its horizons and will once again be delving into the world of scripted television. We’re excited to announce that we’ve given the greenlight to Bounce, a brand new series set in the competitive and occasionally ruthless world of a professional basketball dance team. The hour-long series will star Dean Cain (Lois And Clark), Kimberly Elise (Set It Off, Grey’s Anatomy) and Charlotte Ross (NYPD Blue), as well as newcomers Taylour Paige and Logan Browning. For more information about the upcoming new series, check out the fresh-off-the-presses release below.

VH1 CONTINUES WINNING MOMENTUM IN SCRIPTED ARENA BY SETTING SCRIPTED SERIES “BOUNCE” IN MOTION WITH GREENLIGHT
Dean Cain, Kimberly Elise and Charlotte Ross To Star

NEW YORK, NY- July 24, 2012 – With one scripted dramatic series hit already under their belt in the highly rated series “Single Ladies,” VH1 has greenlit another scripted series, “Bounce” starring Dean Cain, Kimberly Elise and Charlotte Ross. The series will also feature newcomer Taylour Paige and Logan Browning in starring roles. “Bounce” was created and written by James LaRosa and executive produced by Maggie Malina and LaRosa. Sanaa Hamri directed the pilot and the series is set to begin production in 2013.

“Bounce” is a series that follows the alluring lives and loves of the Los Angeles Devil Girls, the premiere dance team in all of professional basketball. The Los Angeles Devils are the number one team in the league. When the stadium lights go up at night all of Hollywood comes out to support the million dollar players; but in this city these men share the fame, adrenalin, money, sex and power with their dancers, the Devil Girls. At the heart of “Bounce” is Ahsha (Taylour Paige), a sheltered young woman who joins the team against the wishes of her mother Sloane (Kimberly Elise), who knows this treacherous, tempting world all too well having been an original Devil’s Girl herself. Olivia (Charlotte Ross) is the shrewd squad manager, Jelena (Logan Browning) is the ruthless star captain of the dance team who won’t let anyone outshine her and Pete Davenport (Dean Cain) is the former All-Star who’s come back to coach his old team only to have to contend with the girls both stealing the spotlight and distracting his players.
The cast includes: Dean Cain, Kimberly Elise, Charlotte Ross, Taylour Paige, Logan Browning, Valery Ortiz, Katherine Bailess, Jonathan McDaniel and McKinley Freeman.

“On the heels of our great success with “Single Ladies,” we are thrilled to have “Bounce” be our second hour-long scripted series. It has all the elements we know VH1 viewers love; a world very much on the pop culture radar, an incredible cast and compelling, addictive storytelling,” said Jeff Olde, EVP Original Programming and Production. “These are all set against a glamorous backdrop where amazing dance numbers organically break out as part of the story. We wanted to create a scripted series at VH1 in which music is a strong narrative force, and we have found that with “Bounce.”

VH1 has already established success in the scripted one-hour format with “Single Ladies,” the comedic drama produced by Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit Productions and also Executive Produced by Maggie Malina. Throughout its second season currently airing, “Single Ladies” is the #1 ad supported regularly scheduled scripted show among women 18-49 over the course of the summer. The series is currently averaging 3.1 million total viewers during premiere plus first encores on Monday nights.

“Bounce” was created, written and executive produced by James LaRosa and executive produced by Maggie Malina. Bryan Johnson and The Film Syndicate and In Cahoots Media are producing. Executive producing for VH1 are Jill Holmes and Jeff Olde.

Mike Trudell
Los Angeles Lakers
July 24, 2012

After a full day of dancing, a group of 500 prospective Laker Girls was cut all the way down to 34.

That’s the number of finalists selected by the group of 10 judges that report to Laker Girls Director Lisa Estrada in advance of individual interviews on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The first cut took the number from 500 to 140, with the remaining ladies being taught a routine to perform, leading to the next cut down to 87. Then comes another routine, after which the number was trimmed to 48. At that point, each of the 48 girls introduced themselves to the judges and subsequently performed a solo, with 34 making it through to interviews.

Still with us?

We caught up with Estrada on Tuesday afternoon to see how the process is coming along:

Q: On how things went on Saturday:
Estrada: Everything went very quickly, actually. However, I was really impressed with the talent this year. I think the caliber was higher, for whatever reason, which was great. At the end of the day I ended up with 34 finalists, all very talented young ladies. Unfortunately, I found out that two returners from last season’s squad did not make it to that point, but I think everyone understands that it’s difficult.

Q: On how no spots are guaranteed for returning dancers:
Estrada: It just depends on so many things: how the day goes; how they perform the combinations that are taught to them; and the other talent around them, the competition.

Q: On how the process goes in cutting down the spots round by round:
Estrada: It’s all up to the judges, of which I have 10 including the choreographer, who whittle the numbers down one by one. The dancers are being evaluated on general dance ability, showmanship and fitness. I tell the judges to look out for how the first combination goes, and if they mess up, they can catch back on at the next combination. Now, that next combination really has to be a “yes” or a “no”. When it’s down to 48 comes the solos, at which point the ladies introduce themselves, which is big for the judges because these women represent the Lakers in the community. It’s very important that they’re able to have a presence and carry on a conversation.

Q: On if it’s most difficult getting down to the final 34:
Estrada: It’s actually pretty clear, because we are tallying as we go, and we will look at the scores and establish a hard line. If someone is on the fence, there may be dialogue about bringing someone else to the finals, but I don’t question the judgments because I’d prefer to stay out of it. There’s a reason that I brought the judges in, even if it makes me sad to see many of the dancers go. In fact, there are a lot of participants that leave throughout the day where I say, ‘Aw, I really liked her,’ but for whatever reason she got cut – the judges didn’t vote for her. I’m OK with it because I trust the judges, but I’m sad because I would have liked to have met that individual. But by all means I can’t pull anybody through myself.

Q: On the interview process:
Estrada: Currently, as I’m conducting the interviews, I do get to have a say so. I get to learn about this person, this number, this girl who would like to be a part of the organization. I want to see if they are people persons. I want to see how they speak – they have to be articulate, intelligent, be able to carry a conversation with somebody as they will with all the events they will participate in. And it’s fun, because it’s new people and new faces, new energy. What I really like about it is that they tell you why they want to be a Laker Girl, and you just go, ‘Wow, you live in Georgia!’ It’s very flattering for the organization to reach out to other places. This year we have finalists from Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, northern California and I’m still meeting more.

Q: On the number of returners still left, and the final desired number who will actually make the team:
Estrada: We have 11 of the 13 returners who auditioned remaining, and we’ll likely shoot for 22. That’s how many we’ve had on the team in the past few seasons, but it’s not a definitive number.

wwltv.com
July 24, 2012

Thirty five women tried out for the Honeybees dance team Sunday, with 23 of them coming away with spots on the sidelines for Hornets games next season. (All photos by Chad Bower / Eyewitness News )

[photo gallery]

Now this is what I call fast. The ink is barely dry on the dancers’ contracts, and the team already has uniform photos on the Hornets website. I’m sure these will be replaced by updated photos as we get closer to the season and the team has time to do uniform fittings, polish up everyone’s look, and all that misc pre-season prep that goes on. Anywho, click here to take a gander at the 2012 New Orleans Hornets dance team!

New uniform photos, bios, and the new team photo have been posted on the Dolphins website. Click here to go there now!

Janis Carr
The OC Register
July 23, 2012

They came from all over Southern California and across the country, too, bringing with them their hopes of being a Laker Girl.

More than 400 young women showed up to Saturday’s open tryouts at the Lakers’ training facility to show off their dance moves in front of a panel of judges who were looking to fill the 2012-13 Laker Girl squad. Laker Girls must have a wholesome quality, showmanship, personality and a certain amount of sex appeal.

Who had it and who didn’t? Check out the photos to see if these women made the grade.

[Photos]

OC Register (July 21, 2012) – Over 400 girls auditioned to be part of the 2012-2013 Laker Girls team. The final squad will be selected next week.