EricaShadows

Yes she should, but this is Victoria we're talking about and if she's not front and center (or otherwise the center of attention), she's not going to post the picture.

I know this is going to shock some people but she looks so pretty in this picture. In some of her DCC pictures, she looks SO over-the-top with over-processed, dried-out, bad hair and makeup that walks into a room 10 minutes before she does that I sometimes have to wonder who she is (at least until I see the gummy, full-of-teeth smile). I won't take your bet because I can just about guarantee that, should Victoria get married (especially if she retires just before she does), she'll get a special as well. I remember when Cassie's then-boyfriend proposed, he got to do so on the 50-yard-line. The only reason I remember that was because I remember Judy, Kelli or someone similar saying that they've had people (from the general public) ask to propose to their significant others on the 50-yard-line and they're always told no.

She was cut for things other than dancing because there was no way she could be on Show Group for 2 years and then her technique and everything else plummet so drastically they had no other choice then to cut her. If such a thing actually occurred between last year and this year, it would be obvious and, given the praise she was receiving, that doesn't seem to be the case. Thus, it was most likely NOT performance OR technique related, no matter what Kelli says.

If Brennan and/or Hannah had said "You know, I don't feel comfortable with this, I'd like to hit pause and come back next year", they might have a guaranteed spot in Finals (or its equivalent), but they would have been guaranteed cuts anyway. Kelli would not have been happy that they dared take a pass and let everyone know that DCC is so important to them that they would risk their health to audition again (or whatever would go through her mind). So much this! It should be all about what the problem is and how to fix it in the shortest period of time. If it doesn't get fixed, the girl gets nixed. That exit interview should be quick, concise and to the point. I think it was Judy who said in one of the earlier seasons something along the lines of "I shouldn't have to tell them more then once that they're making mistakes and how to fix it. If I have to tell them a second time, they weren't paying attention or they haven't fixed it so they should be cut." I'm not sure if a two-strikes policy or a three-strikes policy is better because it could go either way. As for meetings in the office, texting's a good way to let them know, but not every girl would check her phone before leaving. I'd say texting as well as leaving notes in a discrete, but obvious, place in the lockers would be another way of doing it. That way, a girl has two notifications and if she STILL brushes Kelli off, she gets a call or text to not bother showing up at the next practice. I like the "showing video" portion, but have Judy explain it because Kelli is not good at telling girls what the issue is and how to fix it. Each practice should already be filmed and, if a girl is having issues, then Judy can queue up the relevant portion of the video and explain down to the smallest details exactly what has to happen. If the girl is STILL having issues after that or doesn't seem to understand it, then maybe she's not right for the squad.

I think that, if this had been a normal Training Camp, Meredith and MAYBE Lily would not have made it in and I think girls other than Hannah and Brennan would have been cut for different reasons because the things that affected Hannah and Brennan would not have happened. There would also not have been as many rookie candidates taken into camp as there were this year nor the quality we saw.

Yes, they might have been given a "choice", but it seems likely Kelli would have held it against any vets who took advantage of said choice because that would mean the DCC wasn't the most important thing in their life, the thing that must be absolutely priority over health, personal safety, jobs, and everything else. We've seen Kelli get after girls who have full-time jobs to pay the bills because they don't have a spouse, roommates or anyone else to help foot the bills and cut them because they're not dedicating every spare millisecond to the DCC. We've seen Kelli get after girls who have the gall, the sheer NERVE, to get sick or injured (especially during Training Camp when they haven't even made the squad) because it means they weren't 1000% ready to be on the squad and has cut them for it. We've seen Kelli get after girls for the slightest thing out of their control and cut them for it so what's to say that, should Hannah and/or Brennan took advantage of that, they wouldn't have been cut the next year for taking the time off. Many people would have said that they would have deserved to be cut because they weren't dedicated enough to the team (or whatever "excuse" is used) but they're getting roasted now for being entitled, over it, weak, exhausted, whatever. There was more then enough reasons to keep Brennan and Hannah, but it was a no from Kelli for reasons that don't pass the smell test for me. 2020 wasn't a normal year so Kelli shouldn't even have had a Training Camp. There was no evidence that they were even following approved guidelines in any sense of the word and only doing the bare minimum for appearances. She should have kept veterans only, but that wouldn't get her (Kelli's) face on television nor would it put people's eyes on the DCC. Too bad the Cowboys had such a bad season that even the fans who attended looked bored and like they were only doing it to get out of the house/away from the family and not because they were actually interested in the game/the team/the cheerleaders (plus all the photoshopping of masks onto the fan's faces when they obviously weren't wearing them in pictures). I like this idea and wish that Kelli had gone this route, but then it wouldn't mean television appearances or any other benefits from having a television show and Kelli seems to have a hard time giving any of those benefits up.

Agree that lots of people doing something doesn't make it right or classy, but neither does staying quiet and letting people say things about you that may or may not be true because it suits them. Speaking out and speaking up has also led to others realizing that their treatment at the hands of certain people or businesses (not just Kelli, Judy, Charlotte or the DCC) aren't right and that could lead to change actually occurring. Speaking up has risks but so does staying silent and whichever one a person chooses, they have to deal with the repercussions.

I think they all handled it very professionally and took everything seriously. In my opinion, Kelli was the one who handled things unprofessionally.

Hmmm, you call Hannah bitter and passive-aggressive when we see Kelli and Judy complimenting her to her face (and others around her) that she's a great dancer who rarely makes mistakes yet cut her without warning and claim it's due to performance issues that have never been addressed publicly? Hannah's rebuke strikes me as someone who was blindsided by her cut and their reasoning why she was cut as they never said ANYTHING about her pom technique or any dance-related technique as far as we know. If there was an issue with Hannah's attitude, it should have been addressed right then and there, even if it was something Kelli'd heard about second-hand. Given the fact that Kelli has allowed girls with bad attitudes to stay on the team LONG past their expiration dates tells me that she's good with bad attitudes as long as the girl is one of her favorites. No, given what we've seen on the show, it's getting clearer that Hannah's and Brennan's cuts were more for drama then for any other reasons. Even Kelli's response of "It's performance related" rings so hollow it should be an echo chamber as we saw absolutely NO evidence whatsoever that there were performance-related issues. Hannah had issues with ONE new dance and that could have been corrected easily enough given her history with the team. If both Brennan and Hannah had so many performance-related issues, why didn't we see FAR more of them then were shown or why weren't they cut earlier? I'm not mad that she didn't break down, cry or beg. At best, she was trying not to show how hurt, mad and upset she was that she was cut. At worst, she was trying not to say something that could come back to haunt her in so many ways. The fact that she was polite and neutral was to her benefit. I don't think she had attitude on the call and I think her Instagram calls out Kelli's hypocrisy and other issues without really pointing a finger or doing it in a way that she could legally get in trouble for. Social media is FULL of people calling out their former employers for far worse things and the fact that Kelli STILL has issues with proving that Hannah's cut wasn't BS is rather funny. Didn't come across passive-aggressive to me, but see above as to why. Hannah could have said far worse things then she did and could have done something along the lines of Megan Flaherty but she didn't. She was polite and pointed which rubs people the right way.

Too bad that Victoria didn't seem to have benefitted from some of the good things that come from a competition studio (though performing to a large theater where the dancers can't even see in the front rows much less the last row, and performing under pressure, to a degree, are all things she learned). When training for the stage, it's easy to overlook other aspects of technique and performance. Granted, there are many good/great performers that come out of competition studios, but even the judges for some of these competitions say that they're seeing dancers heading more for tricks and showy things and focusing less on the actual dancing, steps and the meanings behind both the stories and the steps.

While the "studio-hopping" may have been cleared up, I could point out MULTIPLE issues of bad technique (including falling out of turns, sloppy kicks, poor leaps/jumps, timing issues like when she came up early in Thunderstruck, etc.) as shown on the show and her own social media but it's not going to convince the people who don't want to be convinced. Sure, it could have been a "moment", but she seems to have a lot more of them then most of the current girls on the squad. That indicates more then merely having a mere "moment". It's definitely NOT show group worth and some might say it's not even DCC-worthy. I can see she's improved SOME since her first year trying out, but I see she still has some major issues and kicks are just one of them.

From what I remember hearing of Victoria and her training (just rumors, but still. . . . ), she wasn't listening to, or accepting critiques from her teachers. Supposedly, she wasn't allow to be critiqued or corrected, only praised. So, dancing heavy, not using her core, having bad technique in various moves, etc. was never corrected because it was never allowed to be corrected. Thus, she wouldn't just be listening to the non-dancers, she wasn't listening to her teachers (or ignored them).

VK doing pom is okay. She's definitely NOT the best and it shows (popping up early at least a couple of times where it was VERY obvious that she'd done so, dancing so "big" that she is off-beat/off-tempo and looks sloppy, etc.) but she's cleaned SOME of that up, not all, but some of it. However, she's supposedly done lyrical a LOT and it is supposedly her best style yet so many girls on the squad also do it and blow her out of the water while so doing so due to her lack of technique, lack of core strength, lack of control and SO many other things. Not only that, Kelli holds her up as the gold-standard girl on the squad, the one who everyone's supposed to emulate. World-class? I don't think so. While Caroline's solo might not have been everyone's cup of tea, she showed everyone how it's done in terms of dancing to the very tips of her fingers and toes. Erin has also had some VERY pretty lyrical pieces that also blow Victoria's best performances out of the water. Several other girls as well.

I could see Maddie staying another year as well for all these, but I don't think she's going to get as many "honors" as you mentioned. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't return to solo point for a while and all the rest will be farmed out among the rest unless they give everything to Victoria over Maddie. I just hope that Maddie knows when it's time to quite and move on with her life. However, she strikes me as a lot like Jenna in that DCC is her life and that she won't know what to do with herself when it's over. I also hope that there's "a big surprise and upset" and that it involves Kelli retiring with new blood (not connected to Kelli in any way) coming in and cleaning house. Failing that, I would like it if Victoria retires or otherwise ignored the rest of her time on the squad (which includes not receiving any so-called "honors" like Group Leader/2nd Group Leader, Pro Bowl, etc.).

Ah yes, the same ol' song-and-dance from TPTB about no one wanting to be near her because she's one of their so-called rock star performers/dancers. However, nothing we've seen from Victoria shows that she's the best girl on that squad. Decent dancer/performer/pretty girl? Yes. Blender? BIG yes! Should she be anywhere near the front? Nope, not a chance! She deserves to be buried where she is because she's consistently inconsistent yet we'll likely see her as point before any of the other girls who deserve to be there, the image we saw above proves that. Her kick technique is HORRIBLE (as is her technique for turns, jumps, leaps, and every other aspect of dancing).