By Jay Betsill
With the temperatures in North Texas at a sweltering record pace, the heat was on inside Elevation Fitness for the Dallas Mavericks Dancers Training Camp that was held July 25-28. The gathering was all about who would be a part of the ‘Hottest Dance Team in the NBA’ in its second season under Mavs Dancers Director Mallory Mills.
The Mavs Dancers auditions began Saturday at the Hilton Anatole with over 200 girls arriving to the Coronado Ballroom with dreams of joining the world champions. Sunday brought the final auditions that featured the returning veterans from last season’s amazing squad and the survivors from Saturday’s preliminary tryout. Many of the girls had actually been going full force for the past few weeks as the Mavs Dancers offered prep classes leading up to the big weekend.
The 30 girls who remained from the weekend event simply advanced to the training camp portion of the auditions that took place from Monday through Thursday evening from 7:00 to 9:00. In Mills’ first campaign, there were only five returning veterans which translated to a wide-open competition for a spot on the team. On the heels of the franchise’s first NBA championship and with most of the squad returning to the audition process, the job of selecting the upcoming season’s team was much more difficult. In addition to the solid two hours of practice each evening, the girls went through interviews with Mills and other Mavs front office personnel on why they wanted to be a Dallas Mavericks Dancer and how they would handle the responsibility that comes with the honor.
The 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks Dancers are:
1. Lauren Castillo (veteran)
2. Whitney Foster (veteran)
3. Paige Jones (veteran)
4. Helen McDaniel (veteran)
5. Lauren Gibler (veteran)
6. Rachael Harpe (veteran)
7. Meghan Hodge
8. Chantel Jones
9. Natsuki Kaito (veteran)
10. Shameika Kirklin
11. Savannah McElveen
12. Kenley Menchew (veteran)
13. Sequel Molina (veteran)
14. Emily Morales (veteran)
15. Bonnie Ohlig (veteran)
16. Paige Phillips (veteran)
17. Grace Sells
18. Ashley Wade (veteran)
19. Jenna Zmolik (veteran)
20. Paula Tabares (veteran)
For more photos and videos from the Dallas Mavericks Dancers, visit HERE
