*** Welcome to piglix ***

Saintsations

Saintsations
Saintsations cheerleaders.jpg
General Information
Team New Orleans Saints
Established 1987
Director Lesslee Fitzmorris
Members 32
History
  • Saintsations (1987–present)
Website
www.saintsations.net

The Saintsations are a cheerleading and dance squad that performs at New Orleans Saints football games. The Saintsations are involved in several community projects, and the squad is featured each year in a special swimsuit calendar.

The New Orleans Saints had two different sets of dance teams prior to the Saintsations: From 1967–71, the original Saints dance team went by several different names including the Lousiannes in 1967 (which was changed to the Saints Dancers after one pre-season game for that name had been copyrighted by a Louisiana-based high school), the Mademoiselles in 1968, and the Mam'selles from 1969–71. The roster size averaged 48 active dancers per year (up to 12 "reserve" dancers).

The original dance team was put together by Tommy Walker, the long-time entertainment director of Disneyland who worked for the Saints during the 1967–70 football seasons. His choreographer was Phyllis Nelson, New Orleans based dance instructor and voice coach who worked as a film actress for RKO pictures in the mid-1950s, was Miss New Orleans United States in 1954, and was a frequent on-air personality at WDSU-TV in the 1950s. Mrs. Nelson was also team director from 1969–71, replacing Joannie Husser (1967–68). In 1968, Mrs. Nelson was assisted in the months leading into the season by Tommy Mahoney, a long-time Hollywood choreographer who worked with Tommy Walker at Disneyland. Mr. Mahoney helped stage numbers for the dancers at their practice studio which was the U.S. Naval Reserve Training Center on Lakeshore Drive in New Orleans. Once the season started, Mahoney focused on helping Walker with the production of pre-game & halftime shows.

One Mam'selle that went on to entertainment fame was Rhonda Shear (dancer '70–71), who became a popular TV commercial actress in New Orleans before becoming a national TV star primarily thanks to the USA Network's "Up All Night" series that ran in the 1980s and 1990s. Another Mam'selle was Sandra Labourdette (1967–70), the original dance team's captain and later became the first Saintsations choreographer (1987–93).

The second set of Saints dance teams were from 1975–78 called the Bonnes Amies (French term meaning "Good Friends"). Under the direction and choreography of Dee Kelly Boyd Ervine, who was hired to take the team to a professional level, the Bonnes Amies were the first dancers in the new Superdome. This dance team was very supportive of many charities including the Muscular Dystrophy Association where they annually performed on the local TV affiliate's telethon in addition to having their own exclusive fundraiser for MDA. In 1978, the team was re-organized as the Angels. Unfortunately, this version of the team didn't last very long for in early October 1978 a person who was hired to be a staff assistant to the Angels was discovered to have been arrested for drug possession, but when the New Orleans Saints issued a press statement on this situation the club wouldn't specify that none of the dancers nor their choreographer were involved in the arrest. When the Saints organization refused to allow anyone on the Angels to speak to the press on this matter, the dance team's ties with the Saints ended. The disbanding was so noteworthy that a "radio cartoon" was produced by famed New Orleans broadcaster Ed Clancy called "Saints Angels" which was a parody of the 1950s hit "Earth Angel" by the Crew Cuts where Ed was able to get Crew Cuts lead singer John Perkins to sing lead on his parody as well. The Bonnes Amiees averaged 16 dancers per year on their roster, the Angels 24.


...
Wikipedia

...