Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’ longtime director Kelli Finglass is no longer setting the game plan when it comes to her dancers’ bodies. And, as she told E! News, “I think we’re better for that.”
There’s a reason the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are often imitated, never duplicated. Donning those spangly stars takes work.
Before the squad of 36 can leave football fans thunderstruck, “A lot of preparation, dance rehearsal and work goes into a near flawless performance,” longtime director Kelli Finglass detailed in an exclusive interview with E! News. And she hopes that those who watch all seven episodes of Netflix’s new docuseries America’s Sweethearts will “walk away with a great deal of respect with what great athletes and artists they are as dancers.”
Because their making-the-team process begins well before quarterback Dak Prescott and co. report to training camp.
Several rounds of interview- and dance-based virtual auditions culminate with a select, talented few making their way to the team’s Frisco, TX headquarters ready to dance for their lives with a 90-second fully choreographed and costumed piece.
“And then we go to the field and compete with our exact choreography on our turf, inclusive of our kickline,” Finglass shared, detailing the nearly five-minute kick-filled pregame routine that ends in that daunting jump split. “And that’s when people make the team.”
Or, training camp, rather with hopeful DCCs having to tackle another seven weeks or so of tryouts that see them learning and perfecting the roughly 50 dances they’ll perform during each three-hour game.
What’s no longer in play, however, is any talk about weight.
Though the famed midriff top and hot pants combo isn’t exactly forgiving, Finglass noted that she and choreographer Judy Trammell “really have moved away” from discussing candidate’s particular body types.
Article by Sarah Grossbart
