MiamiHeat.com: After four days of HEAT Dancers Boot Camp and one final night of fanfare, 22 ladies are now official members of the four-time “Most Popular Dance Team in the NBA,” the Miami HEAT Dancers. Congratulations to you all!
Al Schnoor
Oakland Examiner
November 7, 2011
Raiderettes are doing their best on the sidelines to keep the fans entertained.
New slideshow photos always begs the question, Raiderettes or Gold Rush?
Most people go along team allegiance, some are ambivalent, and others simply don’t care.
Once you get past the Barbie Doll good looks, make-up, and perfect bodies, take a few moments to really understand the choreography and athleticism it takes for the girls to perform, oft times in high heeled boots, each game day.
Enduring inclement weather and on less-than-perfectly groomed surfaces, their routines have to be timed in a manner that is coordinated with TV timeouts and game stoppages.
More often than not, it’s at a moment’s notice that they have to be ready for a two-minute dance performance with precision timing that is a result of countless hours of practice.
The hard work and dedication put forth by the girls who represent each team in their respective cities is evident in both cheerleading squads and people should really appreciate all that goes into the product each Sunday afternoon.
Good grief – week 9 already? Click here to check out the latest cheerleader gallery on NFL.com!
Texans Cheerleaders suited up for the NFL's salute to the military
Check out these videos from the team’s Halloween party.
52 women hoping to make the Miami Heat dance team competed in their final auditions on Friday
By Christina Hernandez
NBC Miami
Saturday, Nov 5, 2011
View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.
After many tryouts, 52 women hoping for a spot on the Miami Heat dance team competed in their final auditions on Friday.
Group by group, the girls hit the court vying for a spot on the team, and they didn’t do it alone as some of the dancers had supporters there.
Matthew Sepolvada was there cheering on his 20 year old sister, Angelica. Another dancer hopeful for a spot on the team, Vanessa, also had some vans in the crowd.
The fifth and final cut will be based on Friday’s tryouts to determine who will be a part of one of the most popular dance teams in the the NBA.
By Jennafer Segel
Jacksonville.com
November 4, 2011
Many children grow up dreaming of becoming an astronaut, a race car driver, a veterinarian. In most cases, these dreams fade with time, but not for Mackenzie Weeks.
Ever since she was a little girl, Weeks dreamed of being a professional cheerleader — and not just any cheerleader, but a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.
Weeks, who was born in Jacksonville and attended Douglas Anderson School of the Arts followed her dream all the way to this year’s tryouts. Weeks’ journey against 500 other girls can be seen on CMT’s “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team 6.” New episodes air on Fridays at 10 p.m.
“I knew I would regret it if I didn’t [try out],” Weeks said. “I just worked up the courage.”
The cameras were not Weeks’ favorite part when filming began on the series, but they eventually grew on her.
“It took me a little while to be myself in front of the cameras,” Weeks said. “I did get use to it though and I actually love everyone who works on the show.”
Weeks had to make it through two dance auditions, a personal interview, a written test, a talent presentation and choreographed dance and kickline before she could even make it into the cheerleader training camp. In the end Weeks was one of 17 rookies to make it on the 34-member squad. She cheers under the name Mackenzie Lee.
Weeks said there was a lot of competition during the tryouts and training camp, but she felt the judges made it more about improving yourself than about how you compared to the others.
“You don’t really feel like you are competing against the other girls,” Weeks said. “It is more like competing against yourself.”
As a member of the squad Weeks spends at least 15 hours a week rehearsing with her team. She must also attend all of the Dallas Cowboys’ home games and be readily available for personal appearances, photo shoots, charity work and media interviews on top of working as an insurance agent.
Weeks said she’s always been more of a dancer than a cheerleader. She was a member of the dance teams at Douglas Anderson and Florida State University, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and hospitality management.
The transition to her new life as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader has been what Weeks likes to call a “definite adjustment.” But says she is handling it well with support from family and friends. Her childhood dream is what continues to keep her motivated.
“This has been a dream for so long,” Weeks said.
MVC Training Program
By Brittni
Vikings.com
November 2, 2011
In the Vikings organization there are many members of our family, each of which serves a very special purpose! Today I would like to introduce you to a great part of our multidimensional community. They are the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders Training Program! We refer to them affectionately as the “TP.” The TP is a select group of high potential women that really stood out at auditions.
They are headed by two amazing alumni of the MVC, Beth and Erin. Both have been a huge part of the MVC family from the moment they auditioned and will continue to be for as long as we are around! Each MVC looks up to them and every TP alum will forever be grateful to Beth and Erin for not only being integral in improving their dance/cheer abilities but also providing them with lifelong messages of encouragement and lessons in how to be a truly rounded individual. The skills learned on TP improve life even outside of making the MVC, Beth and Erin run a tight ship and make an everlasting impact on each and every girl to enter the TP!
The Training Program is an invite only group of talented women chosen from auditions. Each girl caught the eyes of the judges for a specific reason and is invited to participate on the Training Program to develop upon their strengths and improve upon any areas that may need developing. This year’s group is hard at work preparing for auditions in the spring. They are an extremely gifted group of individuals and are fabulously fun to watch!
Along with getting to dance at a game with the MVC (for the first time in TP history!) they will also be performing at our Holiday Show on November 21st. All of the MVC family will be show cased and the TP is sure to impress.
The MVC community is a true gift to be involved in! If you or anyone you know are considering trying out I highly encourage taking the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders Training Program into serious consideration. Speaking from personal expereince, it is the opportunity of a lifetime and may just get you that much closer to your ultimate goal of being an MVC!
Heat Dancer auditions are underway and it is no joke. New team Manager Brandee Evans Does. Not. Play.
The Sun Sentinel: Photos| Video
Miami Heat: Audition Highlights| Boot camp Day 1
CCHS grad is one of the team’s Ice Girls
By Gary R. Blockus
The Morning Call
October 31, 2011
Kasey D’Annibale is in a whirlwind of activity.
She has just returned from volunteering at Chester County Hospital and is in the midst of preparing for her next class as a full-time student at West Chester University. Later, she will train in figure skating at the University of Delaware.
And when the Flyers play their next home game, look for her skating around the Wells Fargo Center rink to clean up the snow three shifts a period as one of the members of the Philadelphia Flyers Ice Girls team.
Kasey D'Annibale, a Central Catholic graduate, on the ice at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia as a member of the Flyers Ice Girls team. (BRUCE BENNETT, GETTY IMAGES)
D’Annibale is a 2009 graduate of Central Catholic and a junior at West Chester University, where she is majoring in exercise science with a minor in psychology while preparing herself for a graduate program to become a physician’s assistant.
The 19-year-old Allentown native’s dizzying pace and schedule would make lesser people crumble, but she takes advantage of every waking moment to achieve her dreams.
D’Annibale began skating as a 4-year-old at the former Ice Palace in Allentown, and when that closed, she shifted to what is now the Steel Ice Center in Bethlehem. A competitive figure skater for as long as she can remember, she started heading to the University of Delaware’s nationally recognized program during high school, commuting back and forth from Allentown to Delaware every day in the summers to train.
She was tested for and received gold medal recognition in pairs skating, freestyle and moves in the field. She has won state championships and Keystone State gold medals.
Now, that training and experience are paying off for her as a first-year member of the highly visible 10-woman Flyers Ice Girls. The women, during breaks in the action, clean off the snow and slush that build up on the ice at National Hockey League games. (The Zamboni is used to clean the ice between periods.)
D’Annibale is believed to be the first Lehigh Valley native to skate for the team.
“This is my first year,” she said during a phone interview, “but it’s also the first year that we are doing more media and they’re making us media celebrities in the Flyers world.”
Last week, D’Annibale appeared on Philadelphia’s Fox channel 29 with Flyers forward Max Talbot.
With 10 girls on the team, four work each home game with one or two alternates in case of sickness or an emergency commitment. The women get paid $50 per game and $50 for a two-hour promotional appearance.
“We get to the night games around 3:30 or 4 and get our hair and makeup professionally done,” she said. “Then, for the first couple of games, we went to the Broad Street entrance [to the Wells Fargo Center] and greet people and take pictures with anyone who wants one.
“We do our shoveling, which is our most important job, three times each period.”
The crowd seems to love when the girls hit the ice, with two skating to the far end of the Zamboni entrance, and two to the near end to shovel the snow and slush from along the boards and in front of the goals. The team is getting professional photos taken the first weekend in November so that the women can autograph photos for the team’s fans.
Despite being a competitive figure skater, D’Annibale was not fully prepared for the celebrity status the women have at a Flyers games.
“It was a little overwhelming at first,” she admitted. “All these people were coming up to me and asking for pictures. I didn’t realize how big a part of the team we really are. People know who we are, especially the girls from the team last year. It’s such a rush going out on the ice, especially that first game, being in front of 20,000 people.”
The Ice Girls are not allowed to fraternize with the players, but small talk does take place.
“We were shoveling along the boards the other day by the players benches and one of the referees was there,” D’Annibale recalled. “[Chris] Pronger was like, ‘You guys can go around him.’ That was cool. We can’t hang out with them, though, and we have to be respectful of them.”
D’Annibale has been a Flyers fans and attended a few games each season (she’s also a big Eagles fan), but never thought about the ice girls until her coach at the University of Delaware, former U.S. pairs skater Philip Dulebohn, called her and told her to register for the tryouts online.
Dulebohn ran the skating portion of the tryouts, which took place at the Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, N.J., where the Flyers practice. About 100 girls showed up for the auditions, and the group was whittled to 20. Those 20 were given scripts to memorize and repeat in short order to prove that the prospects could learn lines and hold up to meeting with the public. D’Annibale made it into the top 10, which finalized the team selection.
While her life seems like a whirlwind, so do her trips on the ice in front of thousands upon thousands of hockey fans.
With her shoulder-length red hair flying as she skates out, she is instantly recognizable to everyone. It is that same joie de vivre that D’Annibale hopes will earn her a spot in a program for her ultimate goal, that of being a physician’s assistant.
Here’s another set of Halloween photos, this one from CTPost.com. There’s some overlap with the NFL and Sports Illustrated sites, but there are a few new ones too. [Click here]
Note: You can see the full size version of each photo by rt clicking and selecting “View Image.” (That’s for PC. I don’t know how it works for Mac.) Then go to the address bar and delete “&width” and everything after it. Like so:
Change this:
http://www.ctpost.com/mediaManager/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=1714662&width=628&height=471
To this:
http://www.ctpost.com/mediaManager/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=1714662
