The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders traded the turf for the hardwood for a special performance during the NBA All-Star game. I’ve never seen an NBA dance team put more than 16 dancers on the floor at a time, so to have 30-odd DCC on the court at once must’ve been been crazy.
I can’t find an easy way to link this, so you’ll you have to do it one at a time:
More than 300 participants auditioned Saturday morning in hopes of earning their spot on the Gillette Stadium sidelines this fall as a member of the New England Patriots Cheerleaders.
Scott Barboza
Patriots.com
2/23/2010
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The old anecdote says the way to get to Carnegie Hall is by “practice, practice, practice.”
Similarly, more than 300 participants auditioned Saturday morning in hopes of earning their spot on the Gillette Stadium sidelines this fall as a member of the New England Patriots Cheerleaders. Many of those who auditioned have spent a great number of years practicing and perfecting their craft before twirling, kicking and high-stepping in the Dana-Farber Field House with the goal of becoming one of the 28 women to make the squad for the 2010 season.
Sarah Stevenson, of Rehoboth, Mass., returned to participate for a second-straight year.
“I just want to make it past where I did last year,” she said before going in front of the judges. “Hopefully, I’ll make the finals if not make the team. I made the last cut of the first preliminaries last year and if I can make it past that this year I would be happy.”
When Stevenson was asked whether she’d gained anything from her previous audition, she replied: “Yes, definitely, keep on smiling, no matter what.”
Stevenson is a dance teacher and nothing would have made her smile more than to tell her students that she had made the squad.
“That would be the ultimate,” she added.
Candidates performed various dance routines in front of the panel and were judged on dance ability, showmanship, overall appearance and level of physical fitness.
After Saturday’s audition, the field will be narrowed to approximately 30 semi-finalists, who will be invited back along with members of the current Patriots Cheerleaders squad for final auditions on Saturday, March 6.
This is the routine finalists have to learn for the next round of auditions. Click here and give it a shot. It goes fast!
The Mavs Dancers make their second appearance in SI’s 2009-10 NBA Dance Team galleries. Click here to see the ladies in action!
The Chicago Rush website has been updated with individual profiles for the Adrenaline Rush Dancers. Click here to learn more about the team!
The Florida Panthers website has at last been updated with individual profiles, photos and lots of game day shots of the dance team. Click here to learn all about the dancers – and check out their new 2009-10 uniforms.
Cheerleaders Take Active Role in the Community
By Ashley O’Dell, Titans Online
Feb 18, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In addition to adding fun and excitement to every Tennessee Titans home game, the Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders are also active members of the Nashville community.
This past season, the cheerleaders participated in more than 70 community service events to give back to the citizens of Nashville. The events ranged from benefiting nationally recognized organizations, such as the American Cancer Society, to local events helping organizations such as the Nashville Rescue Mission and many local schools.
Other charities helped by the cheerleaders include: the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Veterans Hospital, JDRF benefiting Juvenal Diabetes research, the KVB Foundation, Cortland Finnegan’s ARK31 Foundation, and the Keith Bulluck, Believe and Achieve Foundation for foster kids, among many others.
Director of Cheerleading for the Tennessee Titans, Stacie Kinder, explains their dedication to service, stating, “Giving back to the fans and community that support us and our team is the best way to show our appreciation to the city of Nashville.”
Over the course of the season each of the cheerleaders are required to participate in ten community service events. However, most of the cheerleaders chose to give more time back to Titans fans by helping the community in even greater numbers.
This past season, cheerleader Lindsey led the team in philanthropic appearances with 25 total community service activities and received the team Community Service Award.
“I am so honored to be this year’s recipient of the community service award,” said Lindsey, “serving the community is one of the main reason I love being a Titans Cheerleader.”
Click here to see pictures from the various charity events in which the cheerleaders have participated throughout the past year.
Check out the Washington Wizard Girls on SI.com! Click here.
By Maya Singer
Style.com
2/5/2010
Is there any activity more essentially American than cheerleading? Think about it: Organized, pepped up, bursting with can-do, those gorgeous girls on the sidelines embody that iconic national virtue, pluck. It wasn’t always a woman’s game, though. Female students were allowed onto the University of Minnesota team for the first time in 1923, 25 years after the father of cheerleading, Johnny Campbell, stood up at a football game there to lead a chant of “Rah! Rah! Rah!” But by the time the Baltimore Colts created the National Football League’s first squad in 1954, the tables had turned: All the Colts cheerleaders were women, and today, an estimated 97 percent of cheerleaders are female. Who would you rather see on the 50-yard line—former 49er cheerleader Teri Hatcher or the likes of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and George W. Bush, all of whom rocked pompoms in their day?
See more photos of cheerleaders from the 1960s to today
Cheerleading was integrated by the civil rights movement, sexed up by the sexual revolution, and buffed up by the fitness revolution. Along the way, costumes got shorter, tighter, and skimpier. Today, the girls wear glorified bikinis with built-in support systems for Herkie jumps and kick lines. Thank goodness for indoor stadiums. The one thing that hasn’t changed is good old American pluck, which you will find in spades on the sidelines this Sunday, as the Indianapolis Colts bash helmets with the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV.
