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THE DAILY REVEILLE
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
DANCE
Final Tiger Girls audition clinic to be hosted Sunday Tryouts will be held April 30 to May 2 By Rachel Whittaker Chief Sports Writer
Auditions for the LSU Tiger Girls are just more than two weeks away, and prospective team members have one more chance to gain hands-on preparation for tryouts. The Tiger Girls and LSU cheerleading staff will host their final audition clinic Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the main floor of the PMAC. Tiger Girls coach Denise Galjour said the clinic is open to more than just high school seniors who plan to audition for the 2010-11 team. Tryouts will be held from April 30 to May 2. “Anyone in high school is more than welcome to come, even if they don’t plan on trying out for Tiger Girls,” Galjour said. “If they want to try out for another college team or they just want to dance, it’s still a great chance to come and learn from the Tiger Girls.” While the clinics are not mandatory, Tiger Girls captain Kristen Davis said attending Sunday’s clinic will give dancers valuable insight into how tryouts
will be run. “Pre-audition clinics give you a better idea of what to expect, especially for the younger ones,” Davis said. “It’s very competitive because we have a lot of incoming talent this year. It’s important to focus on yourself and standing out from the others.” Galjour said the format of the clinic will include stretching, jazz and hip-hop combinations and dancing to LSU fight songs. “It’s the best of everything condensed into three short hours to give the girls a taste of what [auditions are] like,” Galjour said. “We stretch the girls out, do techniques across the floor and give feedback on how girls can better themselves as dancers.” Davis said there has been a surge in interest in the Tiger Girls from women outside Louisiana. “We had girls at the first [clinic] from Washington, D.C., Memphis, Colorado, all over the place,” Davis said. The Tiger Girls won the Hip Hop National Championship in the Universal Cheerleading Association’s national championship at the 2010 College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championships in Orlando, Fla., a title Galjour said increased the team’s marketability. “We just won the national championship … and girls from
all over the place are coming in town,” Galjour said. “It serves as a great recruitment tool for LSU because there are girls applying and attending the University based solely on whether they make our team or not, which is fantastic.” Though the Tiger Girls’ hiphop dancing has gained a great deal of recognition with its national championship, Galjour said the upcoming tryouts will not be too hip-hop heavy. “We’ve always prided ourselves on being a well-rounded team,” Galjour said. “Nationals is extremely rewarding, and we love to be a competitive team. But our foundation lies solely in supporting athletics, so we need to pick great cheerleaders who will support the basketball team and gymnastics team and volleyball team since we dance at all those different events.” Davis said every member of Tiger Girls must try out each year along with incoming applicants. “We usually have about 6070 girls trying out, and typically, we’ll take 18-20 total,” Davis said. “We don’t just want a great dancer. We want a great performer.” Contact Rachel Whittaker at rwhittaker@lsureveille.com
J.J. ALCANTARA / The Daily Reveille
The LSU Tiger Girls perform during a timeout Feb. 20 at the LSU-Mississippi State men’s basketball game in the PMAC.