Round 1 of the NBA Dance Team Contest

Your Denver Nuggets Dancers face the Golden State Warrior Girls in Round 1 this year.

Vote for them here today!

Denver Pro Dance Convention March 26

Don't miss the Denver Pro Dance Convention on Saturday, March 26!

Register online here.

Perfect for current, former and future pro dancers.

AGENDA
** Learn choreography from elite alumni and directors
** Representing the NFL, NBA and AFL
** Get tips from the pros on fitness, nutrition, makeup, attire and communication
** Network with other performers and directors from Denver (and beyond!)

COSTS
Full Day 12:00-5:30pm - $45.00 per person
Half Day 12:00-2:45pm OR 2:45-5:30pm - $30.00 per person
Director's Discount - Bring 2 team members and receive a director's registration for free!

LOCATION
Mountainside Fitness
2751 W 120th Ave, Westminster, Colorado

CHOREOGRAPHERS and STAFF
Going Pro choreographers are top alumni and directors of dance and cheer teams in the NFL, NBA, AFL and other sports leagues. They will teach 4 sidelines and 2 routines in length of 45-60 seconds, representing all major sports leagues. View photos and complete bios here.

** Courtney Conway, Alumni NFL Denver Broncos Cheerleader, Professional makeup artist and hair stylist
** Jacqlyn Conte, Alumni NBA Denver Nuggets Dancer, Fashion design graduate, Model
** Kristin Engler Brooks, Alumni NBA Denver Nuggets Dancer, Former director of the Colorado Crush AFL Dance Team
** Megan Savage, Alumni NFL Kansas City Chiefs Cheerleader, Alumni NBA Nuggets Dancer

PRESENTERS
Because there is much more to the pro dancer and cheerleader role beyond choreography, Going Pro's workshop brings you presentations by experts in related fields.
** Hair and makeup
** Photography tips
** Fitness and Nutrition

CONTACT EVENT DIRECTOR
Email info@goingproentertainment.com

GOING PRO EVENT TOUR
Events coast to coast sponsored by Going Pro Entertainment! Visit Pro Cheer All Stars or Going Pro Entertainment.

Denver Dance Festival 2011

The DDF is owned / produced by Sarah Schachterle and Ken Jimenez. They are only hosting professional groups this year and everyone had to submit a video audition. They received roughly 60 entries and have chosen 10 groups.

This year Dream Project, the RockStarz, and the Damsels all made it in.
Dream project hosts a couple of former Nuggets Dancers, RockStarz is all former pro-sports dancers including Broncos and Nuggets, and Damsels has a few of both as well.

Visit the DDF online here.

The Colorado Eagles Chicks sign up to participate in Relay for Life at Colorado State

Fort Collins, Colorado– April 30, 2011 – Colorado State University walkers and now the Colorado Eagles Chicks go around the clock in the battle against cancer during the American Cancer Society Relay For Life. This celebration of life brings together numerous groups and individuals concerned about cancer in a unified effort to fight back.

Teams of enthusiastic citizens will gather at the CSU Rec Center for an overnight relay from 6:00 pm on April 30, 2011 until 8:00 am on May 1, 2011 that celebrates anyone who has battled cancer, remembers loved ones lost and empowers all to fight back against the disease.

Relay For Life is a unique fundraising event that allows participants from all walks of life — including patients, medical support staff, corporations, civic organizations, faith-based groups and community volunteers — to join together to fight cancer. Relay For Life reminds us that progress has been made in the fight against cancer and that everyone who participates is making a difference.

Relay For Life opens as cancer survivors (anyone who has ever been diagnosed with cancer) take the first lap. This emotional time sets the stage for the importance of each participant's contribution. A festive atmosphere always develops around the track area at Relay For Life events. As participants make new friends and spend time with old ones, the Relay celebration and camp-out begins. Team members come together to celebrate, barbeque, play games and walk the track for a great cause.

The “Fight Back” Ceremony, in which a community leader inspires Relay participants with his/her own commitment to tangibly battle cancer, and he/she challenges them to make a personal pledge to take action (e.g., stop smoking, eat more healthily, exercise regularly, etc.)

Highlighting the evening is the Luminaria Ceremony, held after dark to honor cancer survivors and to remember those who have lost the battle against cancer. Hundreds of luminaria (bags filled with sand and a lit candle) line the track and are left burning throughout the night to remind participants of the incredible importance of their contributions.

The funds raised will enable us to continue our investment in the fight against cancer through educational programs, research and services to patients. The money raised by participants goes directly to the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving programs. The Website is www.CSURelayforlife.org and we need donations!

Visit their Team Page

Thank you for your support!

DND Featured Dancer - Kali

This Minnetonka, Minnesota native, movie-lover and local dance teacher is currently enjoying her second season as a Denver Nuggets Dancer. Check out Kali's Q&A video and profile page and learn about her biggest fears, hidden talent, her two nicknames - and how she stays in such great shape!

Learn more about Kali.

AUDITION FOR THE DAMSELS

THE DAMSELS IS A CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY DEDICATED TO RAISING PUBLIC AWARENESS FOR WOMEN'S ISSUES AND HELPING WOMEN IN CRISIS. WE ARE LOOKING FOR DANCERS 18+ WITH AN EXTENSIVE BACKGROUND IN BALLET, MODERN, JAZZ AND CONTEMPORARY, AND/OR HIP HOP. MARCH 15TH, 7-9PM AT CCDA. CALL 303-333-1885 OR VISIT www.thedamselsdancecompany.com.

Our March It Girl Will Dance your Blues Away

By Jim Wills
LoDo Magazine

Jana Mae Blue

Occupation: Administrative Assistant/Dancer

Sign: Libra

Fourteen years ago, Jana Blue fell in love. Not with a boy or some childhood crush, though. She found her passion- her heart song, if you will. Through lessons and endless practice, Jana realized that she could pursue her love and that it would stay with her for the rest of her life. Fast-forward to today and Jana has combined that childhood passion with charm, grace and a determination that has landed her a spot as LoDo Magazine’s March It Girl.

During the daily 9-5 grind, Jana works her “money maker” job as she calls it. She works as an administrative assistant at Acxiom Corporation. Acxiom is a data solutions company (if you don’t know what that means, you probably don’t have any data that needs solutions). Jana enjoys managing the office, but when work lets out its time to let her hair down and get on dance floor.

Remember the passion that began fourteen years ago? Well, it's dance. Dance, I said (got a little Salt-N-Pepa running through your brain right about now?). Jana has been dancing professionally for several years and absolutely loves it. She was a child with lots of energy and dancing was the one thing that slowed her down and kept her from going a million miles a minute. “It’s where you forget about all the unfair things you went through in the day- the haste and requirements of being an adult,” she says.

If you’ve been to the Pepsi center for a Nuggets game or happened to a catch a Denver Outlaws game in the past couple of years then chances are you’ve seen Jana Blue. She’s danced for both teams in 2009 and 2010. Jana is reaching for the next rung in the dance ladder this year however as she will be auditioning to be a Denver Broncos cheerleader. With the announcement of the return of John Elway to the team in January, Jana is super thrilled and hopes to have many years of success cheering the team on to a future Super Bowl victory.

Jana also works on the production side of dance and has begun choreographing as well. She has worked with local artist Adam Duncan and also has been performing for the past year as part of the John Gillette crew.

Being a dancer means staying in great shape and that shape and Jana’s ability to move has caught the eye of many a local photographer. Dancing has led her to start a modeling career and even though Jana stands only five foot six inches (okay- she says 5’ 6.5”) she has done several professional shoots and will be in her first runway show this month. Through dance and modeling, Jana has also found representation with a local agency as a petite model.

Dancing has also led her to volunteer work as the dance groups she works with often spends time giving back to the community. Most recently, Jana and her fellow dancers spent the day with patients at Craig Hospital, the largest spinal chord and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation facility in the country. Jana said that her time there made a big impact on her, “I’ve been able to meet some great people who share this earth with us, and they have done nothing short of touch my heart.”

Whether she's dancing, modeling or doing admin work, it's clear to us that Jana Blue is still going a million miles a minute.

Photography: Jim Wills- 1World Studios
Designer: Fashions by Rea Marie
Hair: Kimberly Cline of ZandiK Salon
Makeup: Kelly Grady of ZandiK Salon
Location: Big Game Restaurant and Lounge

Denver's Damsels troupe dances to make the world a better place

By John Wenzel
The Denver Post

Katrina Lairsmith had taught dance in nearly every studio in Denver, but in all her time as an instructor — and as one of the original Denver Nuggets dancers — she never found a group that fit her style or mission.

"Other than Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, there was no real contemporary jazz dance company doing what we wanted," said the founder and artistic director of Damsels Contemporary Dance Company. "And finding the amount of talented dancers that had that same vision — that wasn't easy because really good dancers want to get paid."

Of course they do. But Lairsmith's company, which will return this weekend after a five-year hiatus, isn't shy about its goals — or the fact that it doesn't pay its dancers. Damsels is dedicated to raising money and awareness for women's issues, and each of the company's performances benefits a different women's organization.

Damsels' newest show, "State of the Union," debuts at Cleo Parker Robinson Theatre on Saturday, with all proceeds going to Denver nonprofit shelter A Gathering Place.

"It's Denver's only daytime drop- in shelter for women, children and transgender individuals, which is important because a lot of these women have nowhere to go," said Mary Johnston, executive director of the Damsels and a former Denver Broncos cheerleader. "They might ride the bus all night or live in their cars, so there really is a need there."

The 18 Damsels performing this weekend are an all-female crew composed of former Nuggets and Broncos dancers, former students at Lairsmith's Colorado Contemporary Dance Studio and others from around town.

"I basically had a lot of dancers that were over 18 coming to class and wanting to dance," Lairsmith said. "There was no real outlet for them."

Lairsmith, who studied in L.A. with "So You Think You Can Dance" judge Mia Michaels, among others, has taught dancers who have gone on to work for pop stars (Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake) and dance in Broadway shows such as "Billy Elliot: The Musical."

Her choreography is more nuanced than the flashy, matching moves of halftime entertainers and cheerleaders.

"I can see what the perception would be when hearing that I'm a former Nuggets dancer, or that a lot of (the Damsels) are Nuggets or Broncos dancers," Lairsmith said. "But they're all professional dancers, and pretty much everybody teaches currently."

As the Damsels' nonprofit mission and edgy, sexy look implies, it's more about expression than conformity.

"Broncos and Nuggets dancing is about the team and everybody looking the same," Johnston said. "The Damsels is more about letting the individuals shine with solos and small groups, so it's more free-flowing and almost exactly the opposite of what those dance teams would be."

Still, the regimen of dancing for a professional sports team — rehearsing 12 hours a week, going over the same moves hundreds of times — can't help but inform the group's sense of discipline and energy.

"It's so nice to have some young blood in there," Johnston said of the mostly new members of the company. "They're willing to volunteer for anything and always ready for whatever we throw at them."

John Wenzel: 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Damsels Contemporary Dance Company
Dance for a cause. Cleo Parker Robinson Theatre, 119 Park Avenue West. Saturday-Sunday. 5 p.m. $15.

Show Me How You Burlesque - DND

Nuggets Dancers performance on February 24, 2011