The New Orleans Pelicans have updated their dance team pages for the 2013-14 NBA season. Click here to learn more about the dancers!
Vaughn Wilson
The Westside Gazette
February 13, 2014
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -– NBA All-Star Weekend is one of the biggest attractions in all of professional athletics. The best basketball players from the entire NBA and their fans con-verge this year on New Orleans for the annual mid-season classic. This season, for only the second time in the history of the NBA All-Star Weekend, a spirit squad was selected from the 30 dance teams that cheer on the teams throughout the regular season.
While the Charlotte Bobcats will not have a player in the All-Star festivities, they will have Shardia Washington representing the Lady Cats on the Eastern Conference All-Star Dance Team. In just her second season as a member of the team considered the best in the NBA, Washington was submitted by the Bobcats organization as one of three finalists for her team, followed by her ultimate selection to the All-Star squad by the NBA selection process.
She is a proud FAMU alum, where she earned two degrees. She graduated in 2008 with a bachelor’s in Science and in 2010 she earned a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy. While at FAMU, she was a member of the FAMU cheerleading squad, an experience the Jacksonville native holds dear to her heart.
“I never thought in a million years I would make a professional dance team, especially for the NBA. So just having the opportunity to come out here and represent FAMU and to represent myself, it just means a lot to me,” Washington said.
She spends virtually all of her time either working, rehearsing and performing with the Lady Cats or doing community service projects. She often visits schools and reads with children in the Charlotte area as part of her community service obligations. Recognizing the impact that a positive role model can have is some-thing she learned early in life, but her involvement as a part of the Lady Cats has elevated that perspective for her.
For several years, the “Lakers Girls” were considered the top dance team in the NBA, but over the last few years, that distinction has been shifted East as Charlotte’s squad was dubbed the league’s best. In a market that is not as big as Los Angeles, New York or Miami, it is quite an accomplishment to be considered the top team. With that comes a complex tryout process for the Lady Cats. It’s a process each dancer must endure annually to make the squad.
The historic part of her trek to New Orleans has not fully set in for Shardia, but to put it in perspective, there were three African-American women chosen for the first NBA All-Star dance team in 2007, there-fore she represents just the fourth ever to achieve the task. She credits her foundation at an HBCU with allowing her to accept the responsibility to do well on all levels.
“I definitely enjoy my life here in Charlotte as an adult, but I do miss being in college on ‘The Hill’ in Tallahassee. Cheer-leading in college prepared me, but not quite for the time consumption that we deal with on the professional level,” she said.
Brandi Tatum, who coached Washington while she attended FAMU, was beaming with pride when she learned of the unique accomplishment. “Shardia has a very outgoing bubbly personality. She would try anything to make our squad better. She started as a base, ended as a flyer. She has an incredible outbound spirit and was humorous and able to lift people up,” Tatum said.
Back home in Jacksonville, the excitement grew immediately as she informed her mother that she would be participating on the all-star dance team. “When I first told her I was selected, she screamed and she texted the entire family and I don’t even know if my mom knew what the NBA All-Star game was, but she was super excited,” she said.
Washington left for New Orleans on Wed., Feb. 12 and returns on Mon., Feb. 17. When she landed on Wednesday, she immediately proceeded to the Super Dome for a seven-hour rehearsal. The squad will be performing at virtually every official NBA All-Star Weekend event, so she will be limited in her time to actually soak in the environment of the bayou.
She will spend the days leading up to All-Star Sunday preparing herself physically for the dance routines, but just as importantly, mentally for what the opportunity might bring. Mega stars of the world scoop up courtside VIP seats each year, so the mental preparation to not be phased by the possible presence of Spike Lee, Lil’ Wayne, Gabrielle Union, Jack Nicholson or The Carters (Jay-z, Beyonce and Blue Ivy) sitting mere feet in front of her during her performance can not be underestimated. It adds pressure to the performance from different angles. Case in point is Kimberly Gipson. Gipson was a member of the 2007 NBA All-Star dance team, now she performs regularly as one of Beyonce’s main dancers. Knowing the opportunities that may evolve from her performance adds an aura of excitement, coupled with a case of anxiety.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I don’t think I fully understand what it’s going to be about until I step out on that court.”
Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA
Updated February 12, 2014
Phoenix Suns dancer, Amanda, will join Suns guard Goran Dragic and forward Miles Plumlee at NBA All-Star weekend in New Orleans (Feb. 14 – 16), after being selected to the NBA All-Star Dance Team.
Amanda will represent the Suns as a performer at various All-Star activities throughout the weekend, including the Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night and the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, where she will also sign autographs and take photographs with fans.
Each NBA team will be represented by one dancer on the All-Star Dance Team. This season marks the first time since the 2007 NBA All-Star Weekend that the All-Star Dance Team has been in place.
Cheerleaders deserve fair pay
Lisa Murray
SFGate.com
February 12, 2014
For more than 40 years, professional cheerleaders have been poorly compensated for their countless hours of hard work for multimillion-dollar sports franchises in a billion-dollar industry. This should embarrass professional sports.
After hoping to change this problem from the inside, I quickly realized that was never going to happen.
The Baltimore Colts were the first team to have cheerleaders in the National Football League, in 1954. In 1979, Jerry Buss commissioned the Laker Girls after he purchased the basketball team from Jack Kent Cooke. Soon afterward, dance teams became more popular across the United States. Sadly, women have allowed these organizations to shortchange them for years, and we only have ourselves to blame. The bottom line is that it is illegal for these teams to be paying women below minimum wage. Not all teams do this, but far too many do. That is an issue in itself, but the bigger concern goes much deeper than that.
Anyone who has spoken in support of these multimillion-dollar organizations shortchanging the dancers is part of the problem. Women have valued their notoriety as cheerleaders more than their rights in the workplace, especially in a male-driven industry. They continue to set all women back, after so many have fought to create equality and fair pay.
In order to raise awareness on the issue and work toward receiving reasonable pay for all National Basketball Association and NFL professional cheerleaders, we need to stand up and fight for our rights as a united front.
This is not a starting point, but an end goal. Women are selected for a professional dance team because of their skill set, potential or experience. They are good enough to make a team – just like any other athlete being signed to a professional sports team. Yet we have no one advocating for us, so we have been taken advantage of. Wouldn’t it make sense to let the players association decide what fair and just pay for cheerleaders is for each market?
Prior to making an NBA dance team, I had not had professional experience. I played basketball in high school and was fortunate enough to be trained by former college and NBA players who are family friends. I heard about an audition on the radio, and the next thing I knew, I was standing in a gym with 250 other woman fighting for a spot on the Golden State Warriors Dance Team. It seemed like an amazing opportunity because two of my passions are dance and basketball.
Not knowing much about this profession, I looked down and thought to myself, “Do I really need to wear a sparkly outfit to get this job?”
Shortly after making the team, I realized there was much more to this profession than fake eyelashes and pompons. NBA dancers practice at least 12 hours a week, work out independently to stay in shape and are expected to learn routines on their own time (which takes about two to four hours each week). They have 41 home games, each of which are seven-hour workdays, and in addition a set number of personal appearances per season.
NFL cheerleaders have 10 home games, which are nine-to-10-hour workdays, practice for up to nine hours a week, and have a set number of appearances for close to nine months straight. All this is done while being paid lower than minimum wage (or in some cases $10 an hour), while holding another full-time job or attending university.
In order to fix a problem, you have to become aware of it. Then it is our job to educate others in order to produce change. This is so women in the workplace can soar and stop being held back by stereotypes.
A few months back, I was chatting with some folks at The Line Up about the new designs they preview at Pro Bowl every year. It’s great advertising! And I thought to myself “Self, you know what’s REALLY great advertising? Free stuff!” But it doesn’t make sense to give free stuff to Pro Bowl cheerleaders, since so many of them retire afterward. And they don’t need anymore free stuff. They already got a free trip to Hawaii.
But you know who could use a cute free outfit? Someone auditioning for the pros. Especially if it’s their first time and they are broke. YES! Auditions are so competitive these days, it’s hard to get noticed. Having a bangin’ outfit makes a huge difference in how you look and feel on audition day, but not everyone can afford one.
I decided I wanted to buy an outfit and give it away, so I asked TLU if they could help me with the logistics. When I brought the subject up, they jumped on board right away, totally brushing aside my offer to pay for the outfit. Free ninety nine, for me too? That’s my favorite price! Add this to the list of reasons why I love The Line Up.
We all agreed the contest was a great idea, but we wanted to wait and give away one of the new 2014 designs.
Fast forward a couple of months, and VOILA! Here it is. TLU is hosting a contest to give away an audition outfit to one lucky dancer. FREE FREE FREE! The contest will be posted on their Facebook page on Monday, and you’ll have one week to enter to win. You must be registered on Facebook to enter.
As far as I can tell, there’s no reason why you can’t get all your friends and family to enter as well, to help increase your chance of winning. (Assuming you can trust them to give you the outfit if they win. Hey, I don’t know your friends, so I’m just saying.)
The outfit up for grabs is one of their new “flirty” designs – the hearts, the stars, or the smooches. Here’s a little preview:
I guess this doesn’t really count as a “sneak peek” since you can see these right smack on the front of their facebook page.
The winner gets the halter top, and her choice of matching briefs or boy shorts. And because TLU is all about customization, the winner will have her choice of ombre and accent colors. I hope to feature a photo of the contest winner in her new outfit here on UC (assuming she sends me one), and we’ll all be cheering her on at her big audition.
Hopefully some big hairy dude doesn’t win the outfit. But if he does, I still want to see a photo of him wearing it. Whether I actually post it here is negotiable.
Sidebar: There’s a little story behind why TLU chose this particular outfit to give away. Several months ago, I was chatting with them about what makes a dancer stand out at an audition. One thing that always gets my attention is when the dancer has something eye-catching on the back of her outfit. Almost anything works – A heart, a star, a peace sign, the team logo, the word P.I.N.K. in giant letters (Which, by the way, I do not recommend.) I still remember the girl who showed up at Charger Girl auditions with a lightning bolt on her butt.
Make the back memorable, and the judges will stick around to see the front. It works every time.
I call this the “flirty bum” approach to audition wear, because it’s like giving the judges a little wink. Only with your tush. IfyouknowwhatI’msaying. I put the flirty bum idea in the TLU suggestion box and they took it and ran with it, creating the shorts and briefs with color coordinated trim, and the matching ombre top. I wouldn’t dream of taking credit for the design, but I pat myself on the back for contributing. And that’s why this particular outfit is the prize for this contest.
So get ready to fire up your Facebook machine on Monday, and let’s see who wins this thing. Game on!
BY IAN WHEELER / STAFF WRITER
Orange County Register
February 9, 2014
IRVINE – When the judges asked for sass, sex appeal and killer dance moves during tryouts for the dance team of the Los Angeles Kiss football team, they did not know auditionees would offer much more.
“The talent level of these girls was over and above what I would have expected,” said dance director Brandy Bouchy. “They were all insanely talented and beautiful.”
About 37 women from around Southern California converged on Saturday at the Velocity Sports Performance training center in Irvine and were tested on a routine by choreographer LeighAnn Macias for several hours. Eighteen survived Saturday’s round and moved on to a final round Sunday.
Bouchy said she first hoped to add seven dancers to a group of nine chosen in a round of auditions last month, but ended up choosing 13 dancers on Sunday.
She said each of the final 13 dancers had an extra “it” factor that set them apart.
“It ranged from incredible dance skills, to tumbling, to a sexy confidence,” Bouchy said. “This is not going to be a cookie-cutter team. All are unique and different.”
“We hired a talented, sexy, edgy, rock ‘n’ roll team of dancers,” she said.
LA Kiss officials on Sunday released only the first names of the dancers chosen for the team.
Bouchy said rehearsals would most likely start next week. After that, she said the team has training camp and a photo shoot, among other activities in preparation for the team’s first performance on April 5 at Kiss’s first home game of the season.
The Los Angeles Kiss is an Anaheim-based Arena Football League team that will kick off its first season in March.
The tryouts were filmed on camera – its footage may be added to a reality show about all things LA Kiss. A 10-episode first season was recently given the green light by AMC.The Los Angeles Kiss, based at the Honda Center, is owned by Kiss rock band members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley; their manager, Doc McGhee; and veteran league executive Brett Bouchy.
Well it’s about time! The Jazz have finally added individual profiles and photos of this season’s Jazz Dancers. Click here to see what they’re all about!
Last weekend I sat in on auditions for the inaugural dance team for LA KISS, one of two new franchises in the Arena Football League. The team is owned by two members of the band KISS (Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley), as well as their manager Doc McGhee, and Brett Bouchy, former managing partner of the Orlando Predators. Gene and Paul have been out and about in the media, talking about the return of professional football to Los Angeles. They’ve promised the upcoming season will include great football, affordable family entertainment and lots of KISS-style razzle dazzle for the fans.
When it comes to the dance team, Paul has said they are looking for something very different from the rest of the league. Throughout the league, the ideal is “girl next door” with a little bit of sexy rolled in there. But for LA KISS, they want edgy, they want sexy. They don’t want kicklines, poms, and peppy choreography. My curiosity was peaked. I just had to see what this is all about. The team had one round of auditions last month, where the field of candidates was whittled down to 11 for the team. However, the goal was to field a team of approximately 20 dancers, so a second audition was scheduled for February. I didn’t go to the January audition, but I was able to sit in on the February tryouts.
[Click here to check out my photo gallery]
The audition took place in Irvine, which is about 30 miles south of Los Angeles. The venue is a place called Velocity Sports. It’s a place where athletes go to train. Half of the room is weights and cardio equipment. The other half looks like a mini football field. It looks a bit like turf, but it’s some sort of composite mat, so it’s not hard to do turns and such. I must say, however, the first time all the ladies sunk down into the splits, the shhhhhh of all those nylon tights sliding against the mat sounded like the worst rug burn ever.
The auditions followed the same process as the previous month. Choreographer LeighAnn Macias taught two different combinations, with a cut after each. LeighAnn, a former Laker Girl and Denver Broncos Cheerleader, was uniquely suited to this gig, as she currently works as a choreographer, performance director, and instructor with her finger on the pulse when it comes to “hip hop in heels.” Check out this video from her group The Ultimate Squad. This, I believe, is the vibe they are going for with the LA KISS dancers.
The dancers were a mixed bag of talent and experience. Some with professional experience and some fresh off of the high school dance team.
This here lady was in a class by herself.
Gave me her card. Said her name is “Marilyn Monrovia.” Said she’d been in a movie with Gene Simmons. Said she’d been a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. None of that was true. What is true is that boa was the worst idea ever. Even though she took it off before she started dancing, bits of it stuck to her and she molted her way all the way through to the first cut.
One interesting thing about the February audition was that four dancers who had already been selected to the team in January went through the process again in February. I thought at first they were there to help teach the dances, but they had numbers and they got in line like everyone else. I didn’t want to be nosy and ask a lot of questions, but I was puzzled. The same combinations were taught for both auditions, so those four already had them down pat.
Alexis, Caroline, Natllely, and Vanessa were selected to the team in January.
Here are some of the candidates doing LeighAnn’s two dances. Definitely on the edge. Very different stylistically from what you’d see at an NFL or NBA game. Or at any AFL game. Until now, that is. (wink wink)
No. You’ve never heard either of these songs before. There’s a bit of a story there. The team recently signed a deal with AMC to produce a reality show about the making of LA KISS. Of course, the production will include some coverage of the dance team. However, because the dance auditions were going to be filmed, they could only use music they could get clearances for. They only gave LeighAnn a short list of songs to choose from, so that is how they wound up with these two songs. The first one…I have no clue. Something about “my love is like the rising sun.” The second one is about driving around with city boys vs country boys and how country men have much more “under the hood” than men from the big city. Ahem. If you thought you heard the song end with “The bigger the truck, the sweeter the ride” you were correct. Hey hey.
I had expected rock and roll. This was not rock and roll, but it was entertaining. I never found out why they didn’t use KISS music for the tryouts.
Let’s all rest a moment
The judges were LeighAnn, LA KISS dance team director Brandy Daimwood-Bouchy, and Lindsay Rodolico, Director of the LA KISS junior dance team (which was selected earlier in the day.) Both Brandy and Lindsay are AFL dance team alumni. Brandy used to dance for the Orlando Predators (and was also an Orlando Magic dancer.) Lindsay is also an alum of the Philadelphia Soul’s Soulmate dance team. Sidebar: Brandy and LeighAnn are shorties, so Lindsay shrunk herself down for this photo.
Before the audition began, there were a bunch of guys using the weight equipment on the far side of the room. When the audition started, one by one, they abandoned their workouts to watch the audition. By the time we were half an hour into it, they were all sitting on the edge of the mat, comfortable as you please, not even ten feet from the dancers. It was disconcerting for me, and I wasn’t the one dancing around half nekkid.
Creepers.
One girl fell in the middle of the combination and wiping out right in front of those guys added an extra layer of mortification. She was almost in tears. I had a chat with one of the guys, who was all “well, they have to get used to people watching.” Dude. This is SO not the same thing. There is a huge difference between a performance in front of thousands who are there to be entertained, and an evaluation in front of three judges, plus a dozen random dudes who are openly gawking at you, and are close enough to count your freckles. It is NOT the same thing at all.
If I’d had my druthers, I would’ve booted them out.
By the end of the open call, the group of dancers was narrowed down to 18 to proceed to finals. Before the dancers were excused, Brandy gathered them around and gave out a few notes about attire and makeup. (Less of of the former, more of the latter, HA!) Although there wasn’t much time between prelims and finals (less than 24 hours), some of the dancers needed to get a little color, get some lashes, and ditch the chunky heels. This team is going to be sexy, so the dancers who hadn’t received that memo needed to dial it up a few notches.
Some of them, several notches.
Sidebar: A few pieces of advice occurred to me while watching the auditions.
(1) Do not wear high waisted briefs or hot pants to a dance team audition. Ever. I don’t say that because I hate them. (Which I do.) I say that because the judges will think you’re wearing them to hide your belly area (which you may or may not be doing.) If you actually are hiding something, a high waist will only draw attention to the area. The judges will examine your tummy like a bug under a microscope. Chances are, if you make it to finals, you will be asked to wear different bottoms. So save yourself the trouble and go to Target and get some $5 black Gilligan and O’Malley briefs. They’re cheap, they fit well, and they won’t give you a muffin top. Pay cash so your identity doesn’t get stolen.
(2) You know how they say you should test run your outfit before auditions? Put it on and jump up and down. Do a few stretches. Jog in place. To that list I’m adding “lay down on the floor.” During the KISS audition, the dancers had to get down on the ground. Several girls were wearing bra tops with molded cups, and when they were lying down on their backs…oh dear. Now let’s be honest, ladies, ok? We all know that when you lay back, the girls can flatten out. They don’t always stay where you want them to, and if they choose to travel, your bra cups may or may not go along for the ride. I think you all understand what I’m saying, yes? So when you get your new audition outfit, lay down on your back and make sure you have nothing to worry about. Roll over a few times. Do a few back bends and check out your situation. I’m telling you this as a friend, and as a photographer who got an unexpected eyeful when looking through her audition photos.
I had to delete several photos of girls in these two positions.
Finals were the next day (Sunday). Interviews started at 12, and the dance portion started around 2pm. The first thing I noticed was that a lot of the ladies were wearing different outfits. Smaller outfits, LOL. Clearly they’d heeded Brandy’s advice on their attire.
Natllelly, one of the January girls ditched her pink sports bra and upped her game with this bright blue number.
The second thing I noticed was that more of the ladies from the January audition had showed up. Apparently they were going to go through finals, along with the four from the previous day. Maybe the judges wanted to see them all dance together after they had chosen the new girls?
For those keeping score at home, 11 were selected in January and eight where going through finals again. One was out of town. One had dropped out, and one had broken her foot. I think she’s expected to heal up in time for the season, so I think she’s still on the team. I don’t know for sure.
When I got there, the judges were off doing interviews. Since it was just me and the dancers, I took the opportunity to suggest that if they wanted to actually SMILE while they were dancing, that would be totally ok with me. Was it my place to say it? No. But I’d spent the previous day watching them do the “sexy beast” thing and wound up with over 700 photos of girls snarling and doing sexyface, which doesn’t photograph well. Except for Alexis. Alexis, was a trip. Throughout the whole entire audition, she had this total “WOOHOO!” attitude that was freaking awesome.
She even woohoos upside down
She definitely needed that attitude on Sunday, because let me tell you, finals were ROUGH.
On Sunday, Lindsay was absent and LA KISS President Schuyler Hoversten was judging.
I asked them to please do their best ‘judge face’ for me.
They had all the girls do the first routine in groups of three.
After the last group finished, the judges were not happy. The gist of the conversation was “what the HELL was that?” (I’m paraphrasing.) The overall feeling was as a group, the dancers hadn’t served it up. They weren’t dancing full out. They weren’t performing. They were forgetting the moves. Dancers who had stood out the day before had lost their spark.
We are not impressed. Do it again.
After conferring for a few minutes the judges decided to pull the dancers back in and make every single one of them do the combination over again. Oh snap! But I guess they rose to the occasion because after they finished, the judges let them go change their shoes for the second combination.
The second combination is the easier of the two, but it’s the one they had to do in heels. After the previous day’s notes, several off the girls had elected to bring different shoes than the ones they’d danced in on Saturday. This created another problem. Although the shoes gave the dancers the right look, it made the dancing much more difficult for them. Four inch heels are no joke. It was obvious that some of them were dancing very…carefully. However, that caution hindered them and kept them from dancing full out. I think the judges understood that, but they weren’t happy about it.
But not all the ladies had a problem with the heels.
One girl who did not dance carefully was Valarie. Fierce fierce fierce.
Angela, one of the January girls, also hit it hard.
After the last group had gone, the judges deliberated. And deliberated. And deliberated. At some point they decided they weren’t going to choose 20. So then they had to decide how many. 18? 16? 12? And which ones. They really struggled over that, and ultimately decided they needed to see more dancing. They called all the ladies in and started mixing and matching them in different combinations.
Do it again
Do it again
Do it again
Do it again
They had to do the combination over and over and over again, until the judges started to like the combination they’d come up with. A few of the girls had to do the combination ten or twelve times, and because they knew this was IT, this was make or break, they did it full out each time. I am sure they were exhausted. I was tired from watching.
Finally, the dancers were excused again. The judges were down to the last few spots on the team, and they really agonized over them. After a lot of back and forth, they arrived at the final number: 13
Back row: Caroline, Vanessa, Jules, Kalet, Alexis, Julianne, and Natllely
Front row: Angela, Naips, Sheldon, and Xandi.
These 11 ladies, plus Lizzy and Tanya will take the field at Honda Center in two months, and set the place on fire! WERQ!
Auditions are over and 13 dancers have been selected to the inaugural LA KISS dance team. Congrats!
(Lots of photos from auditions coming in a day or two).
Standing: LA KISS Dancers Director Brandy Daimwood-Bouchy, Caroline, Vanessa, Jules, Kaley, Alexis, Julianne, Natllely, choreographer Leighann Macias.
Kneeling: Angela, Naipis, LA KISS President Schuyler Hoversten, Sheldon, Xandi
Not pictured: Lizzy
Alexis and Angela
Caroline and Jules
Julianne and Kaley
Lizzy and Naips
Natllely and Sheldon
Vanessa and Xandi
The second open call for the LA KISS Dancers took place yesterday. Congratulations finalists! The final audition for the big wigs is this afternoon. Good luck everyone?
Finalists with team Director Brandy Daimwood-Bouchy (standing, far left), Lindsay Rodolico, Director of the LA KISS junior dance team (standing, second from right), and choreographer Leighann Macias (standing, far right). Click photo to view full size.
