Fluid Dance Convention is coming to Kansas City, featuring former Nuggets dancer and director Sarah Schachterle and Jabbawockeez choreographer Ken Jiminez.
Going Pro Entertainment will feature a special one-day program for college and professional dance audition prep, with special guests Mandy Pruett, the University of Kansas Dance Team Coach; Gretchen Bretz, the former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and Kansas City Brigade Girls Coach; and choreography by Jenni Hanson from the local Best Dance Crew Nu Swagger. Take advantage of several partner discounts for skin care, fitness, photography, dance training, attire and more.
Fluid Dance Convention – Going Pro Agenda
Westin Crown Center Hotel – Kansas City, Missouri
Saturday, March 7, 2009 8am-5pm
$99.00 for one day, $160.00 for full weekend
Register at www.fluiddance.com
Download the official flyer at www.goingproentertainment.com/events
by Katherine Greene
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 24, 2009
Fame hit Gilbert’s Kayla Oberg when she least expected it.
The “Sports Illustrated” swimsuit model was at the grocery store with no make-up on, wet hair and glasses. She was putting the contents of her cart on the conveyor belt to check out when the older man in front of her asked when the new “Sports Illustrated” was coming out.
Oberg panicked.
“I was like, ‘Please, don’t look this way!'” she said.
She turned her face away and forgot to take all of the items out of her cart.
“I’ve never stolen anything in my entire life and here I was about to jack a Valentine’s Day card,” she said, giggling. “I was so nervous.”
Oberg, a Phoenix Suns dancer, is one of ten NBA dancers featured in this year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. It hit newsstands Feb. 11.
Oberg said she got a wave of text messages the day before that, when the photos went online.
“It’s kind of overwhelming,” she said.
The Time Inc.-owned magazine chose Oberg after seeing photos of her published on the NBA Web site, she said. Last year, the magazine featured 10 NFL cheerleaders.
The shyness Oberg experienced in the grocery store isn’t normal for her, she said. Four years of work as a NBA dancer helped her get comfortable in front of the Sports Illustrated cameras during the 13-hour shoot, even in her skivvies.
“When you dance for the Suns you have to have 100 percent confidence. Otherwise, you couldn’t get out there,” she said.
The toughest part of the photo shoot wasn’t getting in front of the cameras, she said; it was waiting to see the photos afterward.
The magazine’s representative showed Oberg only one photo two days before the photos went online.
“I’m actually more nervous that it’s out, knowing everyone can see it,” she said.
Oberg was born in Mesa and grew up in Gilbert, attending Gilbert High School and enrolling in Arizona State University for a short time. Her husband of 10 months owns the Stax Burger Bistro in Scottsdale.
Her husband and father were a little wary of Oberg having the photos taken, but they’ve both been supportive, she said.
“They’re just so proud of me,” she said.
Oberg has wanted to be a performer almost all her life. The passion started when she was 4, in a dance class taught by Amy Mickelson, golfer Phil’s wife.
Amy Mickelson was a dancer for the Suns at the time, Oberg said, and it inspired her to perform. As soon as Oberg was old enough to audition, she did – and made it. The first year she was part of the team, the Mickelsons attended a game.
“I was so excited,” she said. “I don’t even think she recognized me.”
Oberg has made the team every year since.
She doesn’t see much of a future for herself in modeling, Oberg said. Her 5’2″ frame limits where she can apply. Most modeling agencies ask that you not send in photos unless you’re 5’9″, she said.
And her addiction to the food at her husband’s restaurant has her a little worried about the future of her figure, she said. To stay in shape, she walks her two puppies every other day. But she also has dance practice twice a week and performances during games that help her stay slim.
If any modeling jobs come her way, she’d jump at the chance, she said.
And she hopes to have kids in the next few years, she said.
Meanwhile, she’ll stick with dancing.
Click here to see her Sports Illustrated video.
By Phil Friedman, Correspondent
The Daily Breeze
02/19/2009
As you look out on the court at Staples Center Friday night, you will see Laker Girl Stefanie. She embodies what Laker Girls director Lisa Estrada and the Laker Girls are all about. Beautiful young ladies, who put in endless hours on their routines to entertain throngs of Laker fans.
The Laker Girls are dedicated to making a difference in their communities, participating in everything from events encouraging youngsters to read to Christmas fishing trips for homeless children. The Laker Girls are smart, beautiful, hard-working and civic-minded ladies.
It’s hard to believe when you watch Stefanie perform her routines or help a child to read that deep down she is also a hard-core angler.
Stefanie grew up in Alaska, where fishing is second nature.
“Everyone, men and women, fish and hunt in Alaska,” Stefanie said.
Her father, Lewis, loved fishing more than anything and the fact he could do it with his daughter made these angling excursions even more special. Lewis had a plane that transported them to some of the most remote and beautiful parts of our 49th state.
Stefanie was 6 months old when her father took her on her first fishing trip. With that first trip with her father, she was hooked. Fishing became the activity the two could do together. Sometimes they would make a day of it and other times the adventure would last several days camping out in the breathtaking Alaskan wilderness.
“My dad would fish all night long,” she said. “It’s as if he just couldn’t get enough.”
Stefanie even had a favorite spot.
“I don’t even remember exactly where it was but it was like an enchanted garden with clear water with beautiful boulders,” she said. “I just loved being there, and my dad knew it.
“If I didn’t feel like going fishing, all my dad would have to say is, `I’ll take you to your favorite spot.’ The next thing I knew, we were in the plane.”
She has compiled a great list catches that include numerous king salmon to 30 pounds, halibut to 70 pounds, a 30-pound lingcod, trout, even a shark.
“I just love to be on the water,” she said. “There is nothing more beautiful and peaceful than a day on the water,” the Laker Girl said.
But for the 23-year-old beauty , the best thing about fishing is the time she spent with her father.
“It (fishing) gave us something to do together,” she said. “Fishing made us and has kept us close through today and beyond.”
Although Stefanie says her heart is still in Alaska, it’s only there for the summer.
“It’s just too cold for me now,” she said. “My dad said I was made for Southern California.”
Fish talk: “Sportfishing Saturday” with Philip Friedman airs at 9 a.m. on KLAC (570 AM) and will have Bart Hall and Mike Lum as guests from the Fred Hall Fishing, Tackle and Boat Show this week. They will be discussing all the great sights and sounds of what many call the greatest fishing show on earth, set to open March 4 at the Long Beach Convention Center.
Matt Simmons also will be part of the show to talk about a memorial fishing trip for his father, SWAT officer Randall Simmons. The trip is scheduled for Feb.28 out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach.
Ursula Watson
The Detroit News
February 24, 2009
What’s it like to be in the glamorous Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition? Ask Rochester’s own Chelsey Buhler.
Buhler is a member of the Pistons’ dance team Automotion and is featured along with nine other NBA dancers inside the pages of the popular publication, currently on newsstands. This is the first time SI has featured NBA dancers in its swimsuit edition. In the past, the magazine has featured NFL cheerleaders.
“I am really happy and honored,” says 21-year-old Buhler.
Rebecca Girard, Automotion’s dance team director, chose Buhler because of her commitment to the organization. And while being genetically gifted helped, Girard says Buhler is more than a pretty face. “She is just an amazing ambassador for us. She is well-spoken, a business woman who has gone on countless appearances for us, and helps to give us the voice that we need.”
When not helping the 19-member dance team hype-up Pistons fans in the stands, Buhler attends Oakland University, where she is a junior majoring in communications. She also works as a dance teacher and works as an administrative assistant at her father’s company.
“Right now, I just focus on each moment, going to school and getting good grades,” says Buhler.
She says family and friends are proud of her but it was a little odd for at least one person. “My dad wasn’t too happy at first, but he got over it and he was the first one to go out and find the issue,” says Buhler.
Since news has spread that she is not only in Sports Illustrated and on the publication’s Web site, sportsillustrated.cnn .com, people are giving her more than the second and third looks that she is probably used to.
“People are coming up to me at Pistons games,” she says. “I have had 800 friend requests on Facebook.”
This week’s Sports Illustrated NBA Dance Team gallery features the New Jersey Nets Dancers. Go there now to check out the game day action!
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Harmony Hunt, veteran member of the Los Angeles Clippers Spirit Dance Team (and all around cool chick) is featured in the newest edition of Muscle and Fitness Magazine. Woo! Go Harmony!
You need to go out right now and buy a copy of the magazine. It’s the April 2009 mag with Bruce Lee on the cover. April, not March. I emphasize this because the store I went to only had March and there is a decided lack ‘o Harmony in that edition. (I know this because I spent a good 15 minutes flipping through the magazine trying to find the article, all the time thinking “If Harmony is messing with me, I will not hesitate to let the air out of all four of her tires.”)
Harmony, I apologize. Your tires are perfectly safe.
(From me, anyway.)
Right, so anyway, go get the mag, and read up on our girl. In the meantime, check out a few bonus photos on the M&F website.
(You won’t believe me, but that is what the girl actually looks like in real life. Crazy, ain’t it?)
After rigorous auditions last week, Chivas USA has selected the 2009 ChivaGirls. I was there and will give you the whole scoop on what went down. But in the meantime, here are the ChivaGirls! (Also, make sure to check out the video above, and tons of photos from the audition.)
Row 1: Alheli, Amy, Ariel, Ashley, and Dalila
Row 2: Emi, Jebbell, Kelley, and Laura
Row 3: Mandi, Marie, Megan, and Monique
Row 3: Nicole, Sandra, Serena, and Tiffany
Aspiring San Diego Charger Girls can get the inside scoop on tryouts by attending the team’s pre-audition workshop on March 15.
Chargers.com: This three-hour session will include a dance clinic, mock audition, audition tips, Q&A with the Charger Girls and information packet. You will meet the director and the 2008 Charger Girls who will provide you with insight on what it takes to become a San Diego Charger Girl!
The deadline for registration is Thursday, March 12. Click here for details.
Heads-up, the most recent NHL gallery on SportsIllustrated.com features the Atlanta Thrashers Blue Crew. Click here to see what the team is up to on game day, and then go to the Thrashers website to check out their new and improved Blue Crew pages.
The Blue Crew is wearing red.
Yeah, I don’t get it either.
