The squad of 34 was announced this evening. Congrats ladies!
Click here for headshots of the ladies selected
Click here for photos from the team announcement
Click here to watch the team announcement
The first rounds of auditions for the 2015 San Diego Charger Girls are in the books. Click here for video from the open call, and click here for photos!
Click here to check out some photos on KCChiefs.com!
The Arizona Rattlers website has be updated with the new team photo and individual head shots of this year’s Sidewinders Dance Team. Click here to check out the lovely ladies from Phoenix!
By Rebecca Zemencik
CitizenStandard.com
April 2, 2015
VALLEY VIEW – She’s been involved in cheerleading from the time she was a little girl and now at age 19, Amanda Gerber of Valley View is embarking on one of the most thrilling, competitive cheerleading goals of her life.
On Saturday, March 21, at 10 a.m. Gerber traveled to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia with her mother Ruthann Harner and her uncle Bruce Johnson to audition with over 400 girls competing for one of the few slots on the Philadelphia Eagles Football Cheerleading squad.
“This is something I have wanted to do for several years already, but I had to wait until I turned 18,” said Gerber. I have been watching for the open call audition dates to post on their website and this year I decided to go for it.”
Gerber, who is a student at Penn State Berks, majoring in communication sciences and disorders managed to find time in her schedule to travel to Philadelphia two times prior to the audition to participate in two workshops in order to meet last year’s squad and learn the dance for the audition.
Although her mother and uncle went with her, they weren’t permitted to go inside with Amanda on March 21. “It was overwhelming,” says Amanda. “I went inside to register and was given a number and had my picture taken with one of the current cheerleaders. All the girls auditioning had one hour to go over the dance and practice. The audition lasted from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.”
The auditions were done in groups of 10. Gerber said there were seven judges which included people on the board, the director and choreographer of the squad. Out of the group of 10, Gerber was the first girl in her group to enter the audition area.
“I was extremely nervous,” says Gerber. I had to lead the line of girls in and they had a specific way that we were to walk in. We each had to do two poses and then the girls with odd numbers had to come to the front of the line to perform the dance and then switch to the back line and perform again. I performed much better when I was in the back of the line.”
At 3 p.m. Gerber found out that she had been cut and was being sent home.
“I was upset, but not as upset as I thought I would be,” says Gerber. “I had a lot of fun and it was something that I never experienced before since it was my first time auditioning. The audition was more dancing than cheering and I was accustomed to that.”
Amanda received a surprise Monday, March 23. Amanda checked her email Monday to find a note from the director of the program asking her to please call as soon as possible in regards to the semi-finals.
“I thought this had to be a mistake,” recalls Amanda. “I was cut, and there was no way I was supposed to be in the semi-finals, but I called the number and said what’s going on?”
The director was impressed by Amanda and was sad to see that she wasn’t on the list for the semi-finals. She pulled some strings and got Amanda a slot on the semi-finals list and she wanted to know if she would be willing to come back.
On Tuesday, March 24, Amanda and her mom were back in Philly so Amanda could learn a new audition dance for the semi-finals auditions that took place Wednesday, April 1 in Philadelphia.
Amanda said there will only be 116 girls on Wednesday and they will be selecting 75 girls from that group to move on. If she makes it through this round she will then have to complete another dance routine in groups of three, model a swimsuit and answer a question on stage before the panel of judges. Amanda said 60 girls will be selected from the 75. Those 60 girls will then be interviewed and she is assuming 40 girls will be selected. She said there are currently 39 girls on the squad and they too have to audition each year.
Amanda said at this point it’s not too bad juggling the trips to Philadelphia and keeping up with her college studies. She says all her classes are in the morning allowing her free time at night.
If she makes the final round and is selected her schedule may get a little crazy. She would have to travel to Philadelphia three times a week for practice and make three appearances throughout the year. She said she believes the squad only participates in home football games.
“My family is so excited and very supportive of me,” says Amanda. “Regardless what happens, I had a lot of fun auditioning and am glad I had this experience that may open doors for me such as modeling or anything. I plan to remain a Penn State student and get my degree. She anticipates attending Main Campus next year. I will work my butt off and try again next year if it’s not meant to be this year.”
Amanda was on the boys basketball cheerleading squad at Penn State Berks this past season. She is the daughter of Ruthann and Chad Harner, Valley View and Gary Gerber. She is the granddaughter of Ruth Riley, Valley View, Penny and Bruce Johnson Sr., Grat and Janice and Kim Harner, Sacramento.
The first rounds of auditions are over and the field of candidates has been narrowed down to 50 finalists. Click here to see them! And click here for lots of photo and video coverage of this year’s HTC tryouts.
Patriots.com
March 29, 2015
Shortly after our return from the Super Bowl, the audition process for the 2015 Patriots Cheerleading Squad began. Preliminary auditions kicked off on February 28 with final auditions held on March 14. Personal interviews and a two-week boot camp at Gillette Stadium followed. The initial pool of 300 candidates was finally pared down this afternoon to the 28-member squad that will represent the New England Patriots for the 2015 season! The Patriots Cheerleaders will begin their season by preparing for the Junior Patriots Cheerleaders Clinics held during the month of May, and getting ready for their trip to the Dominican Republic to shoot their swimsuit calendar and Sideline to Shoreline, behind-the-scenes video in June.
Meet the 2015 Patriots Cheerleading Squad:
Line Captains
Hannah LeBeau
Jodi Ricci
Victoria Spadaro
Alexandria Stavropoulos
Dance Team Members
Kayla Brunson
Delaney Burns
Brittany Dickie
LisaMarie Ianuzzi
Karen Link
Nicole Manelas
Alyssa Merkle
Vanessa Obeng
MaryAnn Peters
Lauren Schneider
Cara Sczuroski
Rebeka St.Fort
Kristen Sherrerd
Madelyn Wilson
Promotional Team Members
Mary Babbitt
Zoe Bucuvalas
Erica Cadigan
Allison DeJesus
Lasondra Greene
Bridget Martin
Julia Scaparotti
Allison Smedley
Amanda Soucy
Jessica Strohm
The final dance audition for the LA KISS Girls went down last Saturday at the Equinox Sports Club in Irvine, CA. It was the culmination of two long weeks of dancing, interviews, workouts, evaluations, and cuts. These talented ladies gave it all they had, and when all was said and done, 20 were selected for this year’s team. With a new Director/Choreographer, and a 50% bigger squad, this season promises to be bigger and better in every possible way.
[Photo Gallery: 2015 LA KISS Girls Final Audition]
As always, the waiting is the hardest part. The call time was at 3pm, but just about everyone was there by 2:30. The dancers cooled their heels in the lobby until it was time to head upstairs to the basketball gym.
Ivanna
Abby gets in a few last minute crunches.
Priscila was ready to rock
Tori
Jessica
Taylor
One last photo of the 2014 vets: Alexis, Jules, Julianne, Niaps, Xandi, and Sheldon
Upstairs in the gym, I found the team’s Director/Choreographer Lindsay Rodolico, and this young lady. Taylor was an LA KISS Jr. Dancer last year.
I also spotted the sparkly roses Lindsay had prepared for the team announcement.
Black, of course. And presented in a rather appropriate skull-embellished vase.
When it was time, everyone headed up to the gym to check in. A few girls were assigned GINORMOUS new numbers, and they all got in line to have their photo taken by the team photographer.
Each dancer did a couple of poses, including a pretend “I made the team!!” fun pose with the “congrats” flyer the would be handed out later to the ladies selected to the squad. Better to take these photos beforehand (while everyone’s hair and makeup was still on point) than wait until the team was announced. (I believe the photos of the chosen ones will be posted on the LAK website/facebook/instagram at some point)
When the judges were assembled and it was time to begin, Lindsay started off by thanking everyone for investing their time and energy in this process. She also asked everyone to take a moment to acknowledge the hard work they’d done to get to finals.
Then she introduced the judges and announced that unfortunately there had been a last minute change of plans. Paul Stanley (member of the rock band KISS and one of the LA KISS owners) would not be present to judge the audition. Paul has always had a marked interest in the dance team, and has taken a significant role in shaping the KISS Girls image, from designing their costumes to directing their photo shoots. It was a little sad that he couldn’t be there, but Lindsay explained that he would still be part of the judging process. Cody Jones, the team’s social media guru would be in contact with Paul throughout the performances, sending him photos and information, and Paul would participate in the judges deliberations via telephone. Sort of like Charlie screening Angel candidates from afar. Not physically present, but still a big part of the decision-making.
Once all the intros were taken care of, it was time to dance! The actual audition itself went by very quickly. The ladies lined up in numerical order and performed for the judges in groups of three.
Dani, Ivanna, and Taylor
Julianne and Jules
Mina, Tori, and Jean
Isabella, Alexis, and Andi
Priscila, Christina and Naomi
Abby
When everyone had had a turn, the dancers lined up again and each group performed a second time. This gave everyone a much needed breather between turns. This was a pretty long dance, as far as these kinds of auditions go. I clocked it at about 90 seconds.
Jacqueline gets my vote for best outfit. Those are fabulous. They should seriously consider making shorts like these for the whole team.
Alexis
Ellie
Emily
Jean
Jules
Julianne
Naomi
Priscila
Tara
Tara, Marrissa and Ellie
Veterans Sheldon and Niaps turned their audition into a little duet of sorts.
After performing in groups, the judges called the dancers out randomly to perform a third time. Some danced pairs, others in groups of three or four.
Mina and Alexis both had to dance alone. No pressure!
Alexis
Mina
Once the judges agreed that they had seen everything they needed to see, Lindsay called all of the finalists out onto the floor for one last dance, just for the heck of it.
After that, the judges took off for about an hour to discuss the candidates. When they returned, Lindsay announced the numbers of the ladies who had been selected:
88: Christina (rookie)
98: Ivanna (rookie)
99: Taylor (rookie)
32: Tori (rookie)
185: Julianne (veteran)
189: Xandi (veteran)
30: Mina (rookie)
92: Dani (rookie)
80: Ellie (rookie)
186: Jules (veteran)
10: Abby (rookie)
76: Tara (rookie)
36: Jean (rookie)
188: Niaps (veteran)
42: Isabella (rookie)
100: Jessica (rookie)
86: Alexis (veteran)
85: Michelle (rookie)
4: Suzie (rookie)
87: Priscila (rookie)
Both Ellie and Dani auditioned last year, and didn’t make it. They came back strong this year, and really impressed the judges. You gotta love a well-earned comeback.
As the numbers were called, Cody handed each dancer the congrats flyer and LA KISS Defensive Back Romeo Pellum offered her a sparkling rose. It was a moment right out of “The Bachelor” although thankfully he did NOT ask each of them “Will you accept this rose?”
And when Lindsay was finished announcing the team, he offered her a rose too. Awwww…that was just sweet.
Then the 2015 LA KISS Girls danced together as a team for the very first time.
Followed by lots of photos, lots of hugs, and lots of WOO-HOOing! Congratulations ladies!
[Photo Gallery: 2015 LA KISS Girls Final Audition]
(From left to right)
Top row: Alexis*, Priscila, Jessica, Abby, Ivanna, Dani, Jean, Tori, Ellie, Christina, Julianne*
Bottom row: Michelle, Isabella, Mina, Suzie, Taylor, Tara, Niaps*, Jules*, Xandi*
*veteran
(From left to right)
Top row: Alexis*, Priscila, Jessica, Abby, Ivanna, Dani, Jean, Tori, Ellie, Christina, Julianne*
Bottom row: Michelle, Isabella, Mina, Suzie, Taylor, Tara, Niaps*, Jules*, Xandi*
*veteran
The other day I gave you the skinny what happened at boot camp. Now, as promised, here’s the photo gallery. Click here to check it out!
Naomi
Priscila
Julianne
Niaps
