sleepyjean

Tasha is about to pop!

I have a vague recollection of @ShellyB saying something about the soles of the boots being modified to make them more dance friendly. They do still look pretty stiff though. I wonder if they've modified it as much as they can while still having it look like a cowboy boot. The Broncos have a similar situation. Beautiful kicks though. Maybe not so much the one on the left. Some teams have this boot which is basically a jazz shoe with a boot shaft attached. It allows them to point beautifully, but the boots themselves look kind of weird. I wonder if it's a tradeoff. The boot can either point or it can look good, but not both.

Just saw this. I knew someone was staying with Jackie but I didn't know who. Too bad they didn't show it.

This is somewhat related, but in the last 5 years or so, I have noticed the emergence of new companies offering consulting services to help people prepare for college and pro dance auditions. They help with dance technique and style, fitness, flexibility, physique, hair and makeup, wardrobe, head shots, interview prep, solos, audition video filming, and anything else you can think of - including jump splits for those who need to learn. They prepare women (and men) for the requirements of the specific team they are auditioning for. These are the ones that immediately come to mind: Pro Dance Prep - run by Natalie Chernow, Coach & Choreographer of the Dolphins Cheerleaders College Dance Prep - also Natalie Chernow Sideline Prep - run by Genienne Samuels, former Redskins and Washington Wizards cheerleader and Redskins director Nxt Lvl Prep - run by Jasmine Lee, former Atlanta Hawks dancer* I have not seen anything like this pop up in Texas, which is surprising. Maybe it's there and I just haven't seen it? Texas seems to offer lots of dance classes (Kitty, Jenn Amburn, etc), you can go to Jay or the Star for fitness, and go to Tangerine for hair and makeup. But nobody seems to be offering the full-service consulting services I'm seeing from those companies, and I bet those companies are making $$$ offering group and one-on-one training. It seems like a lot of the north Texas candidates rely on an informal network - finding someone who used to be on a team and asking for help, which they are probably getting for free. I'm surprised no DCC has jumped on this idea, especially the business-minded ones like Jackie Bob, Sydney Durso, and Jenn Amburn. Stephanie DiBiasi could also do well. Why not pull together a group of former DCC, Mavs, Ice Angel, and Stars dancers to coach on specific subjects? There is money to be made here. We've seen how much young women are willing to shell out to get an advantage during auditions. It's kind of funny to invest so much money into getting a job that pays so little, but hey, if people are willing to pay they money, why not offer the service? And it's a way to stay in the game for those who hope to direct their own team (or maybe even the DCC) one day. * Fun fact: one the the Nxt Lvl Pros is Len Jackson, the man who auditioned for DCC (but was never shown) and who finally realized it wasn't going to happen for him in Dallas and auditioned for and made the Falcons cheerleaders.

Shagari Jackson. https://www.225batonrouge.com/our-city/date-night-jacie-scott-shagari-jackson

😀 I know I do tend to go on a bit, but I always find the backstory behind things so interesting. They do to me too. I wonder if it's to avoid catching those block heels on the turf. The DCC's heels are sloped and look like they'd slide easily down into splits. The MDC heels look like an injury waiting to happen. Here's an older pic and how that one cheerleader is landing on the back of her heel. Like you said...purposeful. I wonder if the Jets do jump splits as well since their director was a DCC. Haven't seen any pics of that though they do do a kickline.

It was a complaint filed with the Florida Commission on Human Relations in 2018. The basis of the complaint was discrimination and retaliation based on gender. The cheerleader (Kristan Ware) had spoken freely about her faith, posting something about her baptism on social media. She had also spoken with her teammates about her plan to remain a virgin until marriage. This info made its way to the coaches and they brought it up when she interviewed for a third year on the team. She was chosen for the team that year, but felt that she was bullied about her faith and her virginity. She said she had written blogs for the dolphins website that contained references to her faith, and those references had been removed. She resigned from the team before the end of the 2016-17 season, and filed the complaint a year later. Anyway, the main gist of the complaint was that the football players were allowed to talk openly about their faith and post about it on their socials, but she was forbidden to do so and it was a double standard as well as a hostile work environment. In response, the Dolphins said they had dealt with the issue the year it happened (2016) and apologies had been made. Kristan later dropped the complaint and has not commented on her reasons for doing so. Well yes...and no. Dorie appears to have been relatively unscathed, probably because she was already pretty removed from the cheerleaders by the time the complaint was filed in 2018 (even though Kristan called her out directly by name, saying that Dorie had told her to keep discussion of her virginity private). Dorie was dolphins cheerleader director from 1996 to 2003, then moved into overall event and brand management and away from day to day management of the cheerleaders. By the time the lawsuit happened, Dorie had been Senior Director of Entertainment and Brand Impact for several years, so she was even more removed from the scene. I think she was kind of a Charlotte, someone who turned up for auditions and key events, but didn't have much to do with it the rest of the time unless something needed to be escalated. Dorie was reprimanded but was not demoted and her role did not change as a result of the complaint. In fact, she stayed in that role until she left the Dolphins this year, after 25 years with them. She is now a VP with Formula One. Brooke, on the other hand, who was wrapping up her third year as team choreographer, either resigned or was let go in the wake of the complaint. She was replaced by Natalie Chernow, who for a few years did double duty as Coach/Choreographer for the Dolphins AND Coach/Choreographer of the Miami Hurricanettes, which is a role Tess Guidry took over this year. Small world. Anyway, the Dolphins really cleaned house in 2018, with a new cheerleader manager Johanna Torres, and Chernow, who had been teaching some technique classes to the DCC at the time (among her many other dance commitments).

Doesn't seem to be very common, but I found a few, including the MDC as Holly mentioned.

Happy to share 😀

This is the pic I took between that one and the one where they landed. You can see she did get all the way up in the air, she was just a millisecond after the others. The camera shows all of the minute differences in timing, but when watching it live, they all look in sync.

More from The Star, spoilered to take less room.

Happy Thanksgiving! A few pics from the Cowboys Christmas show at the Star:

Alanna doing another solid for a teammate.

Australia's National Rugby League. Manly Sea Eagles are one of the teams in the league. DCC Angela Nicotera is an alum of their Seabirds dance team. The Seabirds director is a long time admirer of the DCC, as you can see:

I really dislike that song. It makes me physically cringe hard, and I always have my thumb ready to hit mute when the show begins. The lyrics could not more more inane if it was literally "This is the theme song for the DCC, la la la, they dance and have poms 'n stuff, la la la." Kelli wheeled up in front of the group, told the story about Sugar, and then said "welcome to training camp" and explained the women were part of a select group. I thought it was pretty clear.😉 I did not care for her comment about how her solo was an expression of how much love she has for herself. Show me your confidence. Don't bore me with your self-admiration. It makes me dislike you. It could've been poor word choice on her part, but now has me fighting to keep an open mind. I agreed with Kelli's assessment that KayDianna has clearly had some sort of media training on how to be a presenter. Someone somewhere along the way told her she should be more animated on camera, so when she's trying to be "on," she has has this affect that comes across as really forced and unnatural. I hope she can learn to relax that. I see the same thing in some of the other DCCs when they have to do an intro or something and you can tell they're trying to act natural, rather than actually being natural. I loved her and the twins who auditioned. That was fun and more lighthearted than the "parade of failures" we used to get every year.

She does kinda in that pic. Not so much in her uniform photo. Made the team in June, moved to Miami in July, and was back in Dallas by August. IIRC she wrote something about going back to Dallas to pursue other opportunities.

Yay, Kali! Let's talk. Which did you like better, red or white?

I don't have strong feelings about the chaps, just that they look uncomfortable to dance in. I think the skirts are cute, but they haven't changed in almost 20 years and they are long overdue to raise the waistband a couple of inches, if nothing else. In the bottom photo, Lily's skirt looks ok, but the fit seems to differ on different cheerleaders. On the one second from left, the skirt looks like it's just barely hanging on to her hips and could fall down at any moment. I'm also not a fan of the boots. The texture at the bottom makes them look dirty if you're more than a few feet away. '

I know I'm probably one of few here who cares about other NFL teams, but I always love looking at the new unis across the NFL each year. Colts 2020 - skater dress Colts new for 2021- two piece (reveal vid: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTuVjNBDcIQ/) Bengals 2020 - white outfit Bengals - new for 2021 orange and black Falcons 2020 - cold shoulder Falcons 2021 black throwback to the late 90s, early 00s This is also the inaugural season Washington Entertainment Team. These look more appropriate for an NBA venue than an NFL football field. I know they're trying to do the hip hop thing now, but I wonder how well that translates to such a large stage. Poms serve a purpose. Without them, the visual presentation isn't as impactful.

Random Jinelle retro stuff https://www.melbournestorm.com.au/news/2013/06/20/storm-cheerleader-goes-to-dallas-training-camp2/ https://www.melbournestorm.com.au/news/2011/03/18/storm-cheerleader-of-the-week---jinelle/ Ten years ago, Jinelle loved sweets. Interesting.

Thanks, updated.

Yes, the 2021 Mavs DTown Crew has been chosen. Back row from left: 1. Gerardo Hernández - DTown 2020 2. Brittany Myricks - DTown 2020, Allen Ice Angels, DCC finalist, Laker Girl finalist, Ontario Fury finalist 3. Carlos Hernandez - DC Rhythm & Blue 4. Karla Camacho - Mesquite Outlaws 5. Philip Livingston - DTown 2020 6. Jenna Lowry 7. Brayl'n Crutchfield 8. Madi Allemier - Dallas Stars, Allen Ice Angels, DCC Finalist 9. Hunter Blackwell - Mavs Dancer, DCC Finalist, made the dolphins cheerleaders but resigned almost immediately and returned to DFW Front row from left: 10. Melanie Parker - DCC training camp 2021 11. Jourdyn Moore - D Town 2020, Texas Legends, DCC Finalist 12. Maricsa Perez 13. Sidney Loftin - Allen Ice Angels 14. Jon Garza - Spurs Hype Squad 15. Ava Garner - Texas Legends 16. Jenna Jackson - DCC