Dancing as a Cheerleader for the First Time

Cheerleaders wearing blue and gold will strut their stuff during the Hartford Colonials' home opener on Rentshler Field Sept. 18, kicking off the 2010 United Football League season.

Kristin Wassell, 22, will not only be shaking pom poms as a cheerleader for the first time, she'll also lead the dance routines as one of the team's three captains.

Though the Class of 2005 Masuk High School graduate had never tried out for cheerleading, she has been dancing all her life.

"Since I was two, that was all I really ever knew," Wassell said during a recent interview at Starbucks, 525 Main St. "In high school I had no life. I went to dance classes at night."

Her mother Dona is a dance instructor and owner of Studio D Center for Performing Arts, 380 Monroe Turnpike. She enrolled her daughter in dance classes at the YMCA at an early age.

Wassell's being named a captain of the Colonials cheerleading squad should come as no surprise to those who followed her dancing career.

Wassell was eight when her mother was director of the Trumbull YMCA's dance program, and helped her teach when she was 10.

"I worked with her from eight to noon every Saturday and I had a class in the afternoon," she said.

By age 14, Wassell taught her own class under her mother's supervision.

"In high school, I always had a solo and was in a group number," Wassell said of her Masuk days, adding she enjoyed dancing to jazz the most.

"A close friend danced with me," she said. "We did a duet before college."

There are no solo routines in college, only team competitions, according to Wassell.

She went on to perform on Eastern Connecticut University's dance team for five years — the extra year was because she changed her major. The last two years, she filled the void when her team had no coach.

"At Eastern we had a small dance team," Wassell said. "We were like a family."

Eastern is a Division III school. Wassells' team was ranked ninth in its division in her sophomore year.

"In my last year, we ranked seventh in the nation among schools in our division," she said.

Dancing in Daytona

Competitions include routines in different categories including tap, ballet, jazz, and hip-hop; and teams compete against other ones with the same average age.

Wassell said schools submit a video to compete in the preliminary competition, from which judges pick half of the squads to go to the National Dance Alliance Championships in Daytona, Fla.

"The competition was huge," Wassell recalled. "There were teams from Japan there. Everywhere you looked, you would see people in cheerleading and dance uniforms."

Once a team makes it, Wassell said a choreographer must be hired to come up with a routine the women can practice until it can be done in exactly two hours and 15 seconds.

She said routines include 30 seconds of pop, with cheerleading-like arm movements; 30 seconds of hip-hop and 30 seconds of jazz.

Aside from timing, judges closely watch dancers' movements to ensure they are technically sound: Are the feet pointed? Are the knees straight on leg kicks?

Even facial expressions are scrutinized.

"We had to smile at all times," Wassell said. "You try to fight through a yawn to keep smiling."

Even after hours and hours of hard work, just one misstep can make it all for naught. Wassell remembers when a teammate did a "leg up turn, turn, turn and turn" and fell out of it.

"We're not crazy like grrr," she said of teammates' reaction to the mistake. "She was upset. She was crying."

The Hartford Colonials

After graduating from college in May, Wassell was waiting tables at Presto Pizza in Stratford and teaching at her mother's studio.

She recently accepted a part-time job as an assistant dance instructor at Fairfield University.

It was a hip-hop class she had taken at Eastern Connecticut that got her the cheerleading tryout.

The instructor, Beth Girard, it turns out, is now the coach and director of the Colonials new cheerleading team. While starting up the squad from scratch, she remembered Wassell.

"She told me about it," Wassell said, "and a couple friends from my dance team tried out and they all made it — so we're dancing together again."

Of the 33 women on Hartford's cheerleading team, Wassell said four are from her team at Eastern.

Wassell went to the tryouts in June. She is by no means lacking in the looks department, but it takes a lot more than a pretty face to make a professional cheerleading squad.

"It was nerve wracking," Wassell recalled. "There was a lot of talent at the audition."

Each dancer had to think quickly on her feet.

"It's not only about showing what your ability is," Wassell said, "but how fast you can pick up the choreography."

The cheerleaders also have to know the basics of football.

"I like baseball and football," Wassell said. "I do have to say the Colonials are my favorite team, but I like the Yankees for baseball."

As a cheerleader, Wassell has taken part in promotional events.

"We had a promotion at Riverfest in East Hartford," she said. "There was a tent set up and food. We got the word out about the new football season and tickets could be purchased there. It's all about promoting.

"When people see the football team and cheerleaders, they know it's real. You really can't care about approaching people. You can't take it personally if they don't want to hear about it."

The Colonials' cheerleaders will only perform at home games this season, but Wassell hopes they can travel with the team next season.

Her mother and father, Bud, and brother, Jack, should be in the stands to watch Wassell cheerleading. Though, she'll always be a dancer at heart.

"It's a release for me," she said of dancing. "It just makes me happy. I like to do it. It's almost therapeutic. If I had a bad day, I want to go to dance practice."