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MY PRODANCE CAMP EXPERIENCE by Claire It was entering Mid-August when I had all but resigned to the fact that this was going to be a summer without a beach, a pool, a hotel, fun, sun and so on, basically all the comforts a summer holiday can offer. What I had not bargained for was Debbie Jackson ringing me up, out of the blue and asking if I would be able to go away for a few days the following week. Feeling down and reminding myself I could afford time off, since I was not going away anywhere, I explained that would not be a problem. My jaw hit the floor when she informed me that I was to attend a three day dance camp with her, in TEXAS!!! Yeee-haaa!  I was on the flight to San Antonio, in what felt like ten seconds later.
Debbie had clear in her mind what was required of the Scottish Claymores
2003 Cheerleading squad and the answer was in Texas. We giggled and chatted,
LOUDLY, forgetting we had our headsets on during the entire flight, much to
the annoyance of other passengers and to our own daft amusement. However, it
was neccessary and an important business matter for Debbie to explain the
whole project and our mission in Texas (well that's our excuse). Firstly, we
couldn't actually believe we had the go ahead to take part in the Prodance
camp, things like that just don't happen to Scottish Cheerleaders. We were
more likely to be seated on a mini-bus on the M8, with a can of Irn-Bru and
a soggy sandwich to amuse us, on our way to dance at an event, where the
pitch would be awash with rain, hail and thunder and our gleaming white
uniforms would be ready for a daz doorstep challenge afterwards. Instead
here we were preparing ourselves to dance with and learn from the USA's
finest choreographers and top dance professionals, enjoying in flight
entertainment and fine wines, with the hot sun of San Antonio, Texas as our
backdrop! We could not imagine that it would get any better......Until we
arrived in our fantastic hotel, situated facing the famous "Alamo", with a
king size bed each, awaiting us, after of course our luxurious bathroom and
jacuzzi had been investigated.The next day we woke bright and early with the hot Texas sun and made our away to registration. By now the excitement had given way to some nerves. As we approached the registration area, we noticed the hotel was filled with beautiful, slim, welcoming goddesses-the other squads. We were a little apprehensive and unsure of what to expect with so many amazing and well known squad names appearing on the welcome letter and thought we would slip in and out with no-one batting an eye lid. WRONG! We met Angela from Prodance. She had helped her "sister" Rosalind, founder of Prodance, organise the three day camp for professional dance teams. To say she was a larger than life character, was an understatement! The first word Debbie said to introduce herself to Angela was "Hello...,", that was as far as she got, for Angela erupted into a screech of "Oh my God, you must be the Scottish Claymores!" and as she continued for a good high-pitched ten or twenty minutes, heads started turning, groups chattered and smiled over and before we knew it, jet-lagged and startled, there we were giving an interview for ESPN and being told we were going to be a feature throughout the programme. The phrase "rabbits caught in the headlights" summed it up. We gave our interview and made our way to the Alamodome feeling more than welcome and ready to learn "30 routines in three days!" I sang as I read the welcome pack. The Alamodome was a five minute walk away. The route I noticed was mysteriously paved with giant blue stars, not realising until we approached the entrance that THE DALLAS COWBOYS were holding there pre-season build up in the Alamodome. Debbie had known and was armed with a camera and strict instructions to photograph all she could, for all the Claymores staff back home. As we entered the Prodance camp, snapping away and pointing excitedly at the field where the Cowboys were actually training at that precise moment, we were as high as kites and ready to grasp as much as possible to give Claymores fans a game day experience and cheerleader performances they would never forget! We were given a brief introduction to the line up of reknowned choreographers who were waiting to teach us, then it was straight down to business. Our first session of the day was with Jon Peters. Jon had choreographed Superbowl half-times and had a huge amount of enthusiasm to share with us through his routine "Your mama can't dance". Described as "roadhouse jazz" we took to the floor a little unsure and had an absolute ball. Jon was a character, what you would imagine a broadway choreographer to resemble, with a quick wit and amusing outlook, we laughed and sweated shoulder to shoulder with girls (and boys) from the Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders, San Antonio Spurs Cheerleaders and Orlando Magic. With the ESPN cameras filming our every move, the pressure was on to keep up and look relaxed and glamorous all throughout the learning process( oh what a laugh!). Even when the heat was starting to get the better of us. However we survived and left thirsty for more. It was now time for session number two. We re-assembled in the main studio hall after lunch, where all the choreographers gave a short sample of the routine they would be teaching next. We had enjoyed Jon's style and routine so much we decided to go back for more, and so our second routine was "Whip It". This was genius, described as "thrash punk" and danced to a frantic paced punk song, we crawled home that evening into the rooftop pool and jacuzzi with some serious whiplash. (Lookout for this one at Hampden!) It wasn't all work and no play, however. We ventured out through the famous Alamo on the way home and had a fantastic meal on the Riverwalk (where a lot of the film "Miss Congeniality" was filmed). The Riverwalk is a hive of restaurants, pubs, music, boats, lights and wonderfully friendly Texans, stetsons and all who just loved our accents. We stopped by the official Prodance party that evening and before mingling with our fellow cheerleaders we were whisked onto a local radio station to give an interview and yet again caught by the ESPN cameras. At least by evening we felt much more glamorous and not as sweaty. Bearing in mind earlier that day we had been filmed crawling along floors, hair hanging over our faces, rosy cheeked, in absolute hysterics and all whilst trying to get to grips with tricky choreography. You can understand why we were starting to dread these cameras. 
Day two was spent learning the final sections of our routines, formations
and some tough practice time before we were filmed performing them and
attending seminars on a variety of topics including make-up lessons by "Mac"
(with freebies might I add), health and nutritional information, sideline
routines, leaps and turns and music editing. Oh and I almost forgot to say,
dancing with and being taught an eye-catching funky routine, by none other
than Mr Brian Friedman, Ms Britney Spears' personal choreographer. This guy
had to be seen to be believed! We were gobsmacked that someone of his talent
and stature was in our presence, sharing his ideas with us. We felt
unbelievably fortunate, as did the entire camp. It was awesome to be able to
join in this experience and see Debbie's ambition and enthusiasm returned
with knowledge and advice. To share thoughts and ideas with top NFL and NBA
teams and confirm that the Claymores Cheerleaders are ready to deliver a
game to rival the best squads in the USA. What a buzz!We sat in daze as we prepared to perform our routines with our session group, in front of the entire camp, not to mention the ESPN cameras, which by now had been with us so much, we were on first name terms with the crew. They always came out of nowhere, Debbie and I almost found ourselves checking toilet cubicles before entering them at one stage and our hotel room before entering. I wouldn't have been suprised if I woke up and had that camera pointed in my face. You can bet they were there to capture every bite of my lip or nails, every time we went to touch up our make-up or last minute practise we had, it compounded our growing nerves. The dancers we were to share the floor with were the best we had ever seen and that was enough to make the nerves kick in and worry about making mistakes. Then it was our turn, trembling and still suffering from whiplash, we took to the floor to perform, but gladly we left exhilerated. Exhausted also, but we loved every minute of it. In fact when all the filming was over we wished we had the entire squad with us so that we would have been able to perform in the slick, professional show, put on inside the dome at the closing ceremony (maybe next year!). Instead we settled in, sat back enjoyed the show, said our farewells to friends we had made, swapped squad photocards and gave a final interview for our ESPN friends, before hitting the malls to spend every last dollar we had $$$$$$$. All in we had the experience of a lifetime, in a few days we had an entire seasons worth of fabulous routines, knowledge beyond our expectations, new skills and ideas to work on at home and a confidence in ourselves and that what we the Scottish Claymores Cheerleaders with Debbie Jackson, our manager, can bring the absolute best World Bowl Final this league will ever have seen, in Hampden Park, June 2003. Lets hope the team makes it to the final also! BRING IT ON!! Claire |
