Jess14

Beyond that, suggesting that the number of woc who showed up was low without having the numbers or suggesting that the ones who there must have been subpar (resulting in the lack of tccs) is also........speculation. I don’t have any issue with someone suggesting that if it’s what they believe but again, it’s all speculation.

Yeah, she’s stunning and a strong dancer. I’ll be curious to see if the story about her missing her interview is true or just speculation. I really hope that she wasn’t cut for weight or for being snarky like a poster mentioned (though i have no problem believing that she may have been cut for either reason).

I completely missed this post earlier. Classy!

We speculate on topics all of the time on this board. The show is about who makes the team, so we will discuss the factors that go into who makes the team. I understand that any discussion that touches on race is uncomfortable for some people, but people are going to discuss it like anything else.

Quick....someone notify all of the Diversity and Inclusion committees at major corporations all over the country that they’re engaged in illegal activities! Seriously, there are plenty of perfectly lawful ways to go about increasing diversity in your workforce. These D&I committees don’t exist to just help ppl of color either. In many cases, women (including white women) are beneficiaries.

I didn’t intend m to imply that it’s what the poster meant, so I hope it didn’t come off that way. I definitely believe that there are people who think more diversity means mediocrity, but I didn’t get that at all from the post that I quoted. I’m just pointing that there’s no evidence that the DCCs have in the past or are planning on taking weaker girls just for sake of diversity, and if anything, the more diverse teams have been the better ones.

Totally agree. I’m not advocating for standards to be lowered. I’m glad that Malena was cut last year and didn’t make it this year because she didn’t have the dance ability. However, I don’t think that having a more diverse team is correlated with a weaker team. It hasn’t been in the past. The AA girls have tended to be among the best dancers on the team (Jasmine excluded). The fact that Malena and Alexandra get brought up a lot - 2 girls who did NOT ultimately make it - speaks volumes about the talent level of the AA girls. Looking at woc more broadly, you get more mixed results but no more than when looking at the team as a whole, which has also had several strugglers and mediocre dancers who are white. I definitely think that the culture of DCCs could be a reason for declining numbers overall and particularly diversity. I certainly wouldn’t want what I can say and do being dictated by Jerry Jones and Charlotte.

Exactly, but that goes against the need to put everyone into a “good” or “bad” box. I’m sure there are lots of people who don’t like her and resent the favoritism that she receives, just as I’m sure she has friends who actually like and enjoy being around her.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting (don’t want to speak for anyone else) that there aren’t socioeconomic reasons for why greater percentages of white girls may partake in formal dance training than woc, which in turn affects rosters, on a macro level. I certainly agree that there are. Dance training can be expensive, and there are clear wealth and income disparities in this country. What I am saying is that 1) you can’t remove the preferences of the decisionmakers for certain looks from the ppl who make the team and those who show up in the first place, and 2) socioeconomic reasons don’t explain why the DCCs only have 3 black girls (thats the biggest regression Imo) in training camp. There are many, many middle class, upper middle class, and wealthy black families who can afford to send their daughters to dance class, and others who are talented enough to not need uber expensive dance classes from age 3 in order to dance in the DCC style. The talented black dancers are out there. Many other pro teams (NBA and NFL) have them. Why don’t the DCCs - the so called America’s Team? Even going to other levels and types of dancing -do you think Alvin Ailey, or the Hamilton productions, or Beyonce, etc, are having to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find a diverse array of dancers? The groups that make diversity a priority are finding the people. I don’t know what the numbers of applicants for the DCCs look like. It’s possible that far fewer woc showed up the last few years for no discernible reason. It’s possible that the DCCs had a bigger focus in the past on diversity than they do now (wouldn’t surprise me in the current political climate). It’s also possible that fewer woc will continue to show up. People want to be successful. If they think directors for other teams are more likely to take girls who like them, they’ll go there. I obviously don’t have all the answers. With that said, I’ll move on. Unless Kelli or Shelly or someone else addresses the issue (which is highly unlikely), this will just continue to be an issue that lurks in the background. Diversity on the DCCs is not the biggest issue in the world or country by any means, but representation always matters.

Right! And this isn't a professional ballet company anyway. This is basically power, pom dancing. Hell, ABT, which is a top professional ballet company where all of the dancers have to have years and years of extremely expensive, elite training has more woc than the DCCs, and the ballet world is notorious for a lack of diversity in the female ranks. As @loveaux stated, there's no reason for the DCCs not to have diversity.

Good. It's embarrassing, and I'm glad to see Khalyn and others call it out. I'm actually curious if this is discussed during judging. The DCCs seem to be going backwards in terms of diversity the last few years. It wasn't that long ago that Mia, Jackie, Jenna, Jacie, Jasmine, Carissa, Kim, Jessica, and Veronica were all on the team together, and that was considered one of the best teams in recent years. The regression is odd.

Absolutely. If something is going to be brought up before the judges as a reason not to bring a vet back, then it should have been brought to the vet's attention before finals (directly and 6 months before). On some level however, I think it's strategic and some of these things are purposely not brought to their attention, so the vet won't decide to not audition again. Therefore, Kelli can survey the new candidates first before kicking out a vet who can actually dance.

Agreed. Also, I don't know what the traffic rules are on this specific issue. However, leaving your car in the shoulder or emergency lane, which I assume she would have to do, when there is a terrible accident, and emergency vehicles will like need to travel in that lane, seems problematic. My guess is that she was just stuck, unfortunately.

I agree that I doubt that they're told about body type or personality conflicts to their face (actual weight issues - yes). I do think these things (personality conflicts) can have a way of filtering through the grapevine IMO. I could definitely see a situation where girls may have heard that K or J didn't care for them personally, but because it was never told to them directly, they didn't think it's a dealbreaker or a big deal. Then, they find out that their attitude or professionalism got brought up during the judge's discussion. I think Milan's podcast confirmed that K&J are not hands on, so I can believe that some of the vets are blindsided when they get cut for reasons other than getting outdanced by the other finalists.

Agreed. It should be easy enough to determine if there was truly a bad accident on the highway, and if 2 girls had the same issue, then it is what it is. Certainly, each should have called once they realized the situation (if the story is true). One time I was on the way to a very important work meeting. Luckily, I was able to see that traffic was completely stopped on a long section of the interstate (that also happens to be a bridge), and I managed to divert and go a different way. However, had I been on that bridge two minutes earlier, I would've been stuck up there for hours because thats how long they had traffic stopped. I get Kelli's zero tolerance policy to an extent. Most people who are late typically are just late because they didn't leave early enough, and no one has time for excuses. However, there is a reason why companies/schools/etc have moved away from zero tolerance policies. Sometimes things truly do happen that are beyond someone's control and not due to carelessness. Final interviews are also on a Friday, a work day, and someone may not be in a situation where they can take the entire day or morning off to camp out at Starbucks near the stadium (which I agree is the smartest thing to do if thats an option). This goes back to the absurdity of treating this like a part-time job, which I won't rehash again lol.

Thanks for positing this. I guess this confirms that Lacey didn't make it. Ugh!

The powers that be.

Moving away from the diversity talk, I'm glad that Brennan made it back. I have a soft spot for her. I'm also glad that Malena did not make it back. I have nothing against her at all, but I think she would have wasted her own time only to get cut again. Better for her to move on!

I think we're talking about two different things. I'm simply saying that there are plenty of woc on college and pro dance teams (not that they're overrepresented by any means - i absolutely agree with on underrepresentation), so the argument that the DCCs can't get talented woc just don't want to be there doesn't ring true to me. I'm an attorney. POC are seriously underrepresented in law, but there are plenty of minority attorneys out there at firms (and many more who apply), so the argument that minority attorneys just don't want to be there is not reality. ETA: I'll also say that in my experience, places that prioritize diversity miraculously manage to find people, with the exceptions being geography (small/isolated areas) or a very highly technical/specialized field. Neither applies to the DCCs IMO.

Hence, the soul searching lol. Although there are plenty of woc on college and pro dance teams (NFL and NBA), and some of the best DCCs in recent years were AA girls. So, I don't really buy that these women want to be on every team, except the DCCs. However, I do think Jerry Jones and just the general old fashion-style and management of the DCCs could be a turnoff.

If they don't have enough woc trying out to have more than 3 to 4 girls in the training camp class (this isn't even the final team - it could end up being just Ashlee and Brianna), then they should do some soul searching about why that is and/or recruit better. This is supposedly the top NFL dancing team that there is. This is also Dallas, TX, the fourth largest metro area in the United States, not a small town in Idaho. It should not be that hard. But beyond that, we know that they take girls with a variety of issues every year. It's not just VK. Girls make it into training camp and on to the team all of the time with issues, so it's all subjective as it is.

It's pathetic. No other words for it. I thought it would be difficult for them to manage to field a team with less diversity than last year's team, but they managed to do just that. I hope Gabby was cut for something other than weight. Did Lacey (tried out 2 years ago) make it? Yay for Kristin and Lily!

It was posted 6 days ago, and she's tagged in it, so I' assuming not. I just cant figure out what they were going for in the picture.

Yeah, agreed as well. Last year, we were told that VK was guaranteed a spot right up until she wasn't... I expect Kelli to give her every chance again (far beyond what anyone else will get) and to bend over backwards to see that she makes it, but if by the last night of training camp, she cant fit into the uniform, it wouldn't shock me to see her get cut again. Yep. I don't like Maddie's solo, but what style someone danced to in a prior year really should have zero bearing on anything. It's certainly boring to see the same thing year after year, but if Maddie's hip hop is one of the top routines on that day of finals each year, (shouldn't be, honestly), then it's one of the top routines. ETA: I'm not a Rachel W fan, but of the few clips we've seen, she looks the best IMO.

Yep! Same lol.