dancerfan

Spot on comment. I'm surprised there hasn't been a concerted response within the pro sports team dance industry to try to stem the elimination of opportunities for female dancers. This letter is a good start, but it only mentions three NBA teams--nothing about Spurs Entertainment, which started this phenomenon, or NFL teams that jumped on the bandwagon this season, such as the Titans, who replaced about half their spots for female dancers with co-ed stunters. For the record: I'm all for ADDING gender-inclusive opportunities in dance/cheer/spirit teams. But not by ELIMINATING opportunities for female dancers.

That's fantastic! Having two separate teams is the best of both worlds. Most college teams follow that game day entertainment model: A cheer squad and a dance team, each made up of members with advanced skills in their field.

Titans finals were last weekend. Check out their social media pages. They split tryouts into dancing and stunting groups. They took around a dozen rookies from the co-ed tumbler group, including 5 male stunt bases. They also took 1 outstanding male dancer who stunts too and kept 10 or 11 or so of the current cheerleaders. They only hired 1 or 2 rookie female dancers after holding a week-long dance final. That's a big change from the 27 spots they typically have for female dancers. The Spurs started the trend 2 years ago by getting rid of the Silver Dancers. They also disbanded their AHL all-female dance squad. The Cleveland Cavs are also disbanding their female AHL team (Monsters). But they are adding the Dancing Dads to their entertainment roster: "a group of fun-loving dads with extraordinary dance moves." These are seismic changes for female dancers in the sports industry.

This week, several NBA and NFL teams disbanded their longstanding all-female dance teams in favor of co-ed hip hop teams or stunt squads, including: Dallas Mavs Cleveland Cavs Tennessee Titans Sacramento Kings Four teams in a week?! That can't be a coincidence. Was there a sports industry-wide consensus to get rid of female dancers over fears of potential wage or harassment lawsuits? That's sure what it smells like.