2007-08 Nu Skin Jazz Dancer Diary: Jocelyn

ENTRY 14:

Hey Everyone! So, I am sad to say that I have finally accepted that summer, for me, has officially come to an end! I have school all day, everyday (literally) and when I wake up, it is dark outside. I don’t know about you, but I think that summer should not be over. It is only September. It is supposed to still be hot until October! Ha. But it’s all good because fall is next, and along with fall comes the SEASON!! Hooray! I am SO excited for another year. It is crazy how fast time goes by. I remember this time last year, freaking out because practices had just started and I was a rookie and super stressed. And now, it just feels like its starting all over again. Practices have started, and I think all of the girls can agree with me when I say they are stressful and hard! We do kick-butt work outs with a few hours of dancing on top. It’s fun to be with all the girls again and it’s fun to get to know the rookies (one being my new roomie) I am excited to get close to everyone again and to have the games begin!

Although my summer is over, this last Saturday was a perfect ending! We had a Jazz dancer car wash! We washed cars for 6 hours but we had a blast doing it! We helped raise money to go towards a very good cause! One of our dancers has a very close friend who has a brain tumor. She and her family are going to be buried in medical bills so we wanted to help out as much as we could! We had such a good turn out! We had to set up another station on the other side of that gas station because we had so many cars backed up! We all got good sun (except for me--I’m still white as can be) and had the music blasting. We busted out a dance or two. If any of you came to support, thank you so much!

Another fun thing to add to my summer ending was doing some golf appearances. Golf appearances are always a blast! We get to meet so many people! A few weeks ago I was able to work with the some of the people from the Special Olympics at the Utah Open. They were so much fun and so happy to be there! One of the girls loves Kyle Korver (who doesn’t?) and it just so happened that he was golfing in the tournament. It made her day!

One last event of my summer was going to Vegas to visit my sister, her husband and their baby! They will be moving to Oklahoma and I won’t see them again until Christmas, so I needed to get one last visit in before they were off. It was so much fun, but like my summer, it was too short!

I hope for you, your summer can stretch out a little longer, but for those of you who are right there with me, it’s okay. Fall is a good season. You’ve got Halloween, Thanksgiving, THE SEASON...It’ll be okay. Haha! See you all soon! GO JAZZ!!!!!!!!

ENTRY 13:

Hello again! I hope all has been fantastic for everyone, because it sure has been fantastic for me! In my last blog I mentioned how I stay in a class room all day every day. That wasn’t exactly the case this last month. Let me explain…

The day after I last wrote, I got an invite to Lake Powell. I couldn’t be rude and say no, so I said yes. It was the polite thing to do. Haha!! I had a blast! We were there for 4 days, and I didn’t want to leave! Then, the day after I got back from Powell, I had a trip to Florida.

MY trip to Florida had been planned for weeks. Once again, I couldn’t be rude and cancel, so I went. Ha! I went with my sister. We went over the 4th of July and over my Birthday—the 7th! Hooray!! We met up with my sister’s husband and his Air Force buddies who were in training in Alabama so they drove to meet us. We stayed at one of the guy’s parent’s house. They were so nice to all of us and so kind to let all 15 or so of us stay there! They had so many hookups planned for us. For example, I haven’t been in a limo since ... my trip to New York in ’03. That weekend we had one each night!!! I felt like a rock star! Anyway, that entire trip included laying by the pool, very nice clubs and restaurants, fireworks over their backyard lake, and my birthday celebration (the guys thought it would be funny to throw me in the pool at midnight---ya!)

Next, a few days after my return from Florida, off to Bear Lake it was! The Jazz girls had planned a “bikini boot camp”. It was AWESOME!!! Each morning we had a work out—killer! Then the first day we went on a 10 ½ mile hike, the second day we played a volley ball type game with a weighted ball, and the third day we went on an 8 ½ mile hike. Then at night we would have another work out. These were still hard, but they were more relaxing than the morning work outs and afternoon hikes. I think I can speak for everyone when I say we were sore for DAYS after! The second day, most of us couldn’t walk, which made everything so much harder! A ski boat and jet skis were brought up for us to enjoy, so we did have some play time. It was fun to spend time with the girls one last time before tryouts. Yikes.

Last of all, the day after Bear Lake, I left to meet up with my fam in San Diego, California. We went to Sea World, the beach, shopping, etc. It was a perfect ending to a month long vacation!

Now it’s back to real life! We had tryouts already, and I am SO happy to say that I will be able to enjoy another year with you all watching the Jazz rock it!! I am so excited! I have my last final for school, today actually, and then aside from appearances for Jazz and 1 night class for school, I have a 2 week break until I’m back full time at school and the Jazz stuff really starts up again! Wish me luck! Haha. GO JAZZ!!!!!!!!!!!

ENTRY 12:

Hello Everyone! It has been so long since I updated my blog, and I am sorry! I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and I hope you are all living it up a little bit more then I have been. Ha!

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What I mean by that is I have spent everyday inside a classroom….yes, I am taking summer school at the wonderful SLCC.

Since my last blog, I can only think of two big events that have come my way. One of them that Arial talked about a little was our Jazz year end party with all the girls! It was a blast! It was fun seeing everyone again! It’s so weird going from seeing everyone at least twice a week to not seeing them at all. I miss them all so much and I can’t wait for tryouts to see them all again! We had wonderful food, did some gift exchanges, revealed our “Secret sisters” to one another ( I had Tina and Deeann had me—she spoiled me!!) planned some upcoming appearances, parades, get togethers, etc. The best thing of the night besides just hanging out was the awards ceremony. It was HiLARIOUS! Some of the veterans (Ricci, Crystal, Deeann, Jessica J. and Brindie) acted out skits and we all had to guess which girl they were acting out! Then the girl got a goofy award that went along with the skit.

Everyone had a good sense of humor and the vets did a good job putting it all together. My award was the first and the best, of course! I am just going to put this out there--I think Morris Almond is beautiful. It has kinda been a joke all year, and I won’t go into too much detail so that I won’t humiliate myself, haha, but my award was something along the lines of my loving tall, dark, handsome men. I got an Almond Joy with my certificate. It was perfect!

The next event, which isn’t huge to anyone but me is that I sold my car! Hooray! I had a little beetle, and now I am a proud owner of a Mazda 3. Both white ( I am a white car girl). Going from 2 doors to 4 is GREAT!

I am going to try and get out a little this summer. I have trips to Florida, California, and Bear Lake planned so my summer won’t be all work and no play. And, best of all…My birthday will be while I’m in Florida. My parents are actually sending me there with my sister, just us two to celebrate ( Thanks Parentals! Love ya!) So, as I head off to enjoy my summer, I hope you’ll all do the same! GO JAZZ!!!!!!!!!!

ENTRY 11:

Hello Everyone! This has been an AMAZING year! For those of you who were at the games or watched them, you know what I mean when I say amazing.

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I am so sad that the season is over! It doesn’t feel like it should be! It feels like I just made the team yesterday and now auditions are coming up in July for next year! It’s crazy! I have made 18 awesome friends and will never forget the time I spent with all of them!

This playoff season for me has been the best ever! Not only were the games here crazy, but Brook, Brittney (from Jazz) and I were able to go to LA to see game 5 against the Lakers. Some might say we were very daring because we went decked out in Jazz gear but it was so worth it! It was a very different arena experience than here, but we still had fun!! We flew into LAX on Wednesday Morning and then flew home Thursday afternoon. It was a very short trip but we managed to get lots of stuff done. We did some shopping and swimming, held a boa constrictor, but the game was by far the best thing about the trip, even though we came up short of the win. Those of you who were at the game on Friday night already know what a heartbreaker it was. We were robbed! Haha. I can’t wait for the Jazz to play the Lakers next year. The Lakers had better be prepared because the Jazz are only going to get better.

I don’t know if any of you remember my blog about how I was in the Disney movie, “Hatching Pete” but I couldn’t get enough of the movie scene so I decided to join the High School Musical train! Haha. They wanted me to tumble in it so I have been filming for that for the past few days and let me tell you, it has been hard work and long days! We didn’t get done until 1:30 am last night and 1am the night before! It has been cool to see all the action and I can’t wait to see it all put together when it comes to theaters. No photography was allowed, so I have no pictures to post. But, I can tell you Zac Efron and Corbin Bleu are SWEETHEARTS!

So now that the season is over, we have no more practices. We still have a few appearances but I am going to miss seeing the girls every Tuesday and Thursday and seeing all of you at the games! I have enjoyed being involved in this amazing organization and I hope to see you all next season!! GO JAZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ENTRY: 10

The playoffs are in town and can I just tell you I have been waiting for this moment since I was 5 years old! It has always been a dream of mine to be a Nu Skin Utah Jazz Dancer. This year I was able to catch my dream as well as experience one of the most exciting home seasons ever! Now, to be part of the playoffs?

Who could ask for more?

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My family has always been faithful Jazz fans so I grew up in a crazy Jazz family. One of my pictures is of me, my siblings and neighborhood friends back when we played the Chicago Bulls in the final round! I was about 9 years old and I so badly wanted to be there. So did the rest of the kids and we let our neighbors know it! We went door to door, and when they would answer, we would yell “GO JAZZ! GO JAZZ…” and scream until we got them to cheer with us! We all had our faces painted and had so much fun! While our parents were watching the action live at the arena, they were missing all of our action at home which I think was pretty awesome! Haha!

Another Picture is last year during playoffs! My family has season tickets, but we only have 4. There are now 8 people in our family and somehow I lucked out and was able to go to almost every playoff game! I am so glad my brothers have sports conflicts of their own.

For the games last week, some of the Jazz dancers went to dinner at Iggy’s where we could sit and watch the action together. It was so much fun and EVERYONE in the restaurant was cheering along with us. They were such exciting games. You gotta love the heart that the Jazz are showing right now. I may be biased but I really think we have the best team in the league. No question!!

I am so excited to perform at my first playoff game TONIGHT!!! I had a feeling we would win both games in Houston and we did—I would tell you my feelings for all the games, but for those of you that are superstitious, I won’t jinks anything. Haha! I hope to see you all at the playoffs wearing your blue and cheering louder then ever! GO JAZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ENTRY: 9

Hello again everyone! I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe it’s April already! This year has gone by so fast! I remember the first Game I danced at, I was so nervous! Now, I feel like dancing at the games is second nature! And after Monday, the season is over! Not entirely, because playoffs, here we come!! Woohoo!!

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Other then the Jazz having an exciting week, I have had an exciting/crazy past 3 weeks! I have played mom. And can I just say to all you mothers out there, you are amazing! My parents decided to up and leave to Israel and left me in charge of my brothers! Whoa! I couldn’t believe how long I spent in the laundry room and kitchen! And I was there private taxi. Ha! It was tough.

An exciting thing that I was able to do was to go to an appearance at the EnergySolutions Arena as part of the 'Leapin' Leaners & Low Tops' annual event. It was so much fun! We had to wear dresses with tennis shoes…We all felt pretty cute. Haha! The Jazz players were there with us and it was fun seeing them interact with their fans. They are all so incredibly nice and personable! I think everyone there had a very good time!

I can’t wait for this weekend, and for the playoffs to start! It is going to be such an awesome experience and an unforgettable one at that! Oh, by the way-no teams want to come play on our court, you know why? Because of you guys! They say the crowd here is just too awesome! So keep it up!!! Have a good week!!! GO JAZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!

ENTRY: 8

Hello Jazz fans!!!! Wow it has been way too long since I last posted a blog! Have you ever had one of those weeks where you feel like you need to remember to breathe? Well let’s just say that’s how my last two weeks of life have been!

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The main reason I have had a crazy life is because I, along with some of the other Jazz dancers, are going to be in an upcoming Disney movie!!! It is called “Hatching Pete”. It is about a rooster who is the school mascot of Brewster High School. Usually the school mascot is awful, but this year he is amazing. So, with him being amazing the basketball team gets better, the cheerleaders (played by us) get better, and it’s all because of the rooster! It is going to be super cute, and super Disney. Our Jazz coach, Jan, is choreographing the movie. Go Jan!!

You know, I have always appreciated movies, but now after being in one I am going to appreciate all the different angles, different scenes and all the extras!! Let me tell you, it is more work than play! Ha-ha. We have had a blast but I know most of us are waiting for the day they say “that’s a wrap”!!!

Let me tell you about a day on the set----first, you have call time which is usually before the sun comes up. Or at least it feels like it. First, you have to go through wardrobe, hair and make-up, and then you sit there until they need you to film. Then you do the same scene over and over and over again. And THEN you do the SAME EXACT SCENE from a DIFFERENT ANGLE over and over and over again. Then from another angle….you get where I’m going. And that is what you do all day. The best part of the day is LUNCH! However, lunch feels like dinner because it is 6 hours after the actors’ call time which is usually a few hours after ours. So around 5 pm we eat lunch. Then, we film the rest of the day/night. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we leave a little early from filming because we have to go to our practices for Jazz so that we can have dances ready to perform at the games. And on days that there have been Jazz games, we leave filming early to make it to the game on time. Not an easy task. But so worth it! So, basically I am out of my house by 7 am and don’t get home until around 11pm. To some of you that is a normal day, but for me…it really has worn me out!!!!

This week is going to be another crazy week with filming plus Jazz games or practice everyday but Friday!!! Wish me luck and I’ll hopefully see you all at the games!! Cheer loud and if you see me faint from exhaustion, don’t be alarmed. I’ll be fine! Haha! Just kidding. Anyway, have a good weekend!!! GO JAZZZ!!

ENTRY: 7

So, the new kid in town is a good luck charm! Well, at least his socks are.

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I’m speaking of Kyle Korver, of course. I heard an interview that he did recently. He was asked why he wears his goofy knee-hi socks. Kyle said that during college he and his friend tried to think of something that they could wear to the game that would be sort of different. They decided to wear knee-hi socks.

Well, Kyle went on to have his best game ever, so of course he wore them to the next game as well. This time, he had an even better game, and the socks have been with him ever since. Since Kyle arrived in Utah, Utah has been winning like crazy so obviously his good luck socks are rubbing off. Each game has a different stand-out player. In fact, my family has bets each game who’s going to be the star that night. What can I say? The entire team is AMAZING!!

For those of you who weren’t at the game a couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the Bear’s 15th birthday (yes, it has been the same bear all these years!) The bear invited several other mascots to celebrate with him, and we partied the night away! We had a dance routine with them and I was with the Phoenix gorilla. He was a very good dancer and an awesome partner. However, if any of you happened to watch the Chicago bull, he was pretty good at shakin it! Haha! Of course the bear was a head above the rest with his never ending skills. And those spilts at the end? I don’t know any bear that can do the splits besides him!

This week there are no games because of the all-star break. So Congratulations to Boozer, and to the rest of you, enjoy your week and Happy Valentines Day!!! GO JAZZ!!!!!!

ENTRY: 6

So…the Jazz are on fire!! This last week for them has been awesome! The games have been so intense at home, and even on the road! They have definitely got their groove back on!

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It is so much fun dancing at the home games, especially when they are close games with the crowd as pumped as they have been! We have learned new dances to perform and they are so cute! The rookies all learned a new routine in one practice and had to perform it at the next game, and of course because of crazy Artest, right when we were about to show off our new moves, he got a technical and so our dance got cancelled. We are doing it again soon and I am going to be in it, so everything is okay. It was just a bummer that we all worked so hard and got so excited and nervous and Artest blew it for us! Although you’ve got to admit, he is very entertaining.

Besides the Jazz having a very eventful, amazing week, my home life was a bit low key. Not much happened for me this week. I miss the warm weather and the beach in Ixtapa, Mexico, and I bet the other 65 members of my family that were there with me agree. But back to real life it has been. I am not going to school this semester, instead I nanny at night and some early mornings and I am a substitute teacher for elementary, junior and high schools during the day. It’s a lot of fun being around kids all day. Call me crazy but I love them! Haha.

As most of you have probably heard, that the beloved prophet of the LDS church, Gordon B. Hinkley, passed away on Sunday. For those of you that were at the game Monday we had a moment of silence for him before the anthem and I thought that was very neat. What an amazing man. Also on Sunday, we had a bunch of friends and family over to enjoy dinner and to celebrate my new nephew! His name is Brayden Michael Hadley! He is the first grandchild in my family so he is spoiled rotten. But he deserves it. He is so stinkin’ cute! My sister, her hubby and baby are leaving us in about a month. My brother-in-law is going to flight training in the Air Force so we are trying to get as much time with them squeezed in before they are off.

There is a game Wednesday and it is going to be a good one I already know it! We will be celebrating the bear and how he is such an awesome mascot! For all the cuts and bruises he gets and for all the crazy nerve-racking stunts he pulls, he deserves some type of recognition! So, whenever the bear comes out, get on your feet and help cheer on our Utah Jazz! GO JAZZ!!!!!!!!!!

ENTRY: 5

January 2008. Wow did that last year go by fast! They usually do but dang. I cannot believe it! I hope Santa brought you all that you wanted! He sure did for me! Not only did he spoil me, but my grandparents did too! Merry Christmas to us, they took my entire family to Ixtapa, Mexico!

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We started our adventures the 26th and then headed home on the 1st. Our family, well it is pretty large, so those of us leaving from SLC took up the entire back of the plane. We range from 3 months old up to adults who are…getting up there. Haha. It usually is out of control but that’s what makes us a family!

None of us ever had any idea of the time or date, but who cares? We were on vacation in Mexico. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort which is like a cruise on land. It was fabulous! Every day, the girls who wanted to work on their suntan would find our Uncle Randy or my dad and assign them to wake up as early as possible to go save us chairs. They got us the best pool side chairs every day. (Way to go you two!) So then, after breakfast we would go start the day with some nice rays and reading!

The lay-out-bathing-beauties were all reading the same book series. Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. AMAZING! For those of you who have read them, you know what I mean when I say amazing. Those of you who haven’t, I strongly, strongly recommend reading these books. It is about a girl who falls in love with a vampire. Let’s just say I want to fall in love with a vampire! Hah!

Anyway, the rest of the day we would read, eat, swim, lay-out, read, eat…plus an activity. One day we did a bike ride, one day we went kayaking, then snorkeling, there was plenty to do! Two of the coolest things we did were releasing 150 baby turtles into the wild and visiting our live, crocodile friends just down the beach. At night after dinner, we would go to the shows that the entertainment staff would perform. Some nights they were a bit too risqué so we would play games instead. Before bedtime, the lay-out-bathing-beauties would all sit on the same bed and read some more (it’s a really good book alright?) then the slumber began.

New Years Eve was amazing! They had a huge outside buffet set up, along with a dinner show. It was very entertaining! The best part was dancing until 6 am! It was a very memorable holiday break for me and I hope you can say the same!

After a week long of unlimited food, drinks and laying out, I am in the game on Saturday. I have got to work out a bit and maybe go over my dances but I’ll see you Saturday! I hope you are all as excited as me to watch the Jazz do their thang! GO JAZZ!!!

ENTRY: 4

Hello Everyone! I don’t know about you, but I am ready for Christmas. And for those of you that were at the game Saturday, you know that the rest of the dancers were too! It was a Christmas game for us and we totally rocked our Santa outfits and brought out the Christmas dances! It was a lot of fun!

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As for the Jazz, what a week! I knew that when they came back to their home court on Saturday that they would win. They proved me right! It was a close game in the beginning but they broke away and they won easily. It was awesome!!

All the players are amazing on the court and off. For those of you who didn’t hear or watch the news, the team, coaching staff and dancers were able to be part of one of the most touching, amazing appearances! Tuesday we went to Primary Children’s Hospital to visit with the children and their families. Two dancers were paired with two players or some of the coaches. I was lucky to be paired with Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur. The bear was also there and he always makes things fun! When he’s around you can’t help but smile! It was really cool being with the players. I haven’t had the chance to really meet or interact with the team so this was a lot of fun getting to talk with them outside of the Energy Solutions Arena.

They are some of the nicest guys I have met. Boozer and Okur were so kind to all the kids and at the same time so funny. They put a smile on mine and Bridget’s (the dancer I was paired with) faces, along with the families we visited. I’ve never really talked to someone that was as ill as some of the children I met that day. It was amazing how happy, grateful and strong they were. It was incredible meeting and interacting with all the people, and being this time of year, the appearance was particularly touching!

The Jazz are on the road until after Christmas, and well, so am I. Therefore I won’t be at the games until the 12th of JanuaryL! I am very sad that I am going to miss out on all the games until then, and I won’t be posting again until after the Holidays, so..Have a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!! GO JAZZ!!!!

ENTRY: 3

Happy Thanksgiving Jazz Fans!!!!

I hope you all had a great holiday and ate lots and lots of Turkey. Gobble, Gobble!
This week was pretty relaxing. I always love having a holiday, but who doesn’t.
Our practices were great and a little shorter on Tuesday and then with Thanksgiving, we didn’t have it on Thursday. But being the holiday feast it was, I tried to watch that I didn’t eat too much because of the Jazz game on Friday. I don’t think I succeeded very well! But I did try to jog some of it off! J I ate way more than I should’ve and I tried covering it up at the game. Ha Ha …… at least most of our costumes for that day covered our bellies.

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The game was so much fun on Friday. It’s even more fun when we are able to do a half time performance and then pass out fun things to the best fans in the world! Being dancers and not baseball players, sometimes we can’t throw things as far as we hope, but we try! Jocelyn and I got to take many pictures with the fans before the game (be sure to check out the “fan zone” on the website for your photos!). There are so many great Jazz fans that come to the games. So many were really excited to be the game, and some were really excited to take pictures with us. Some of the fans are great jokers, but some don’t pay much attention to us so I’ll try some tricks to get their attention and say hello. The Jazz Dancers aren’t so bad and we love to mingle with the fans.

After Fridays game I had one more great thing to look forward to this weekend and that was the BYU vs. UTAH game! Boy I was so nervous for our team, and I was lucky enough to go to the game and experience all that excitement. I do have to say I was extremely sad over the outcome but Utah was AWESOME and still number one. It was so fun to be there and cheer on our teams.

I hope all of you are looking forward to Christmas! I sure am, it’s always been one of my favorite holidays. I encourage you all to get in the Christmas spirit as early as possible and give as much as you can especially to those in need. I look forward to a great week and seeing you all at the next game. And, if you see us Jazz girls, remember to say hello!

ENTRY: 2

This was an exciting week for the Jazz (close wins, amazing plays…) however an exhausting week for us dancers. The Jazz were on the road so that made practices even harder than usual. Normally we use practices to focus on setting dances for the games during the week, but having no games to set, practices included a more than normal amount of conditioning!

Practices are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30-9:30 pm but everyone normally shows up at 6 to go over the many numbers that we have learned. Sometimes we stay until 10 to make sure everything is perfect! From our first practice this summer to date we have learned around 20 numbers plus hot time outs(when we have to run out during a time out and do a short combination) and we still have many more to learn.

Everyone always asks me how we remember them and keep them all straight. In the beginning I told them it was so hard but we practice so much so it has become a little easier. Not much. Haha! Plus, the amazing, incredible, not to mention beautiful veterans already know some of the routines so they are extremely helpful to us rookies! Thank Heaven!

This is a typical night at practice. First, we get out our calendars, book appearances and decide what costumes are going to be worn for which numbers at which games. If you write down the wrong costumes, it can be disastrous. Then we get up and get ready to condition. Oh man. It is tough. Our coach is really good at switching up what we do. For example, Tuesday we did step conditioning along with jump roping and running. We also worked on abs and arms. Then Thursday we did a lot of stairs, running and weights. Conditioning is always very hard, but I feel great when I’m finished! Until I realize I have to go dance for 2 hours. By then my body is saying “I’m done”. But I have to keep chugging and go do whatever dances we need to clean and sometimes we learn new numbers. All I can say is by the time practice is over, I am beat!

That is just a little overview of some of the work that goes on behind the scenes to get us ready to perform our best and to help get the crowd pumped! There is a home game Monday and another on Friday so hopefully you’ll all be there! Be ready to cheer loud and witness another amazing game! GO JAZZ!!!

ENTRY 1:

Hi Jazz Fans! Our names are Arial and Jocelyn, and this is our first year as Nu Skin Jazz Dancers. Yes, we are two of those so called Rookies!

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I’m Arial and some things I love to do is boating, snowboarding, reading, working out, DANCING (of course!) and teaching dance. I love the outdoors; hiking, river rafting and camping. I love to travel (lived in Hawaii for a year) and hang out with my friends and family. I’m a big UTAH football fan (GO UTES!) and I attend school full time and teach dance twice a week. I’m working on a degree in special education and love working with kids.

And I’m Jocelyn and some things I love include my family and friends, food - especially sushi, vacationing, the beach, Lake Powell, boating, roller coasters, holidays, any kind of music unless it screams. I also love the TV shows “The Office, Heroes, Who’s Line is it Anyway and Friends. I’m into Cosmetology and Esthetics, Tumbling, and obviously being a NUSKIN JAZZ DANCER for The UTAH JAZZ!

It has been such an amazing experience to be a Jazz Dancer! Aside from the adrenalin of being of the floor with all you WONDERFUL JAZZ FANS, it’s great camaraderie and fun to make public appearances and get to know people.

Before we made Jazz Dancers, we had to go through Tryouts which was physically and emotionally exhausting! All kinds of things go through your head … “am I good enough”, how could I “stand out” and show how much I wanted to be a Jazz Dancer? And butterflies – millions! Anyway, the tryouts consisted of three cuts. The first one was freestyle. The judges watched about 200 dancers in the freestyle portion and then cut it down to apx. 75 girls.

After that we learned a routine from Jan (our coach). It was very up beat and fast, and we danced in groups of four for this cut. After the routine tryout we waited around for what seemed forever! Then top thirty were picked and announced and amazingly enough both of us were in the top 30!!! We can’t explain to you the feelings that went through our bodies while we sat and waited for our numbers to be called. Once the top 30 were picked, we came back a second day for the interview segment and a last dance tryout. This was a little nerve racking, because your in a room with all the judges and your trying your best to have them get to know you in a short amount of time, all while feeling REALLY nervous!

After interviews we had one more dance tryout and then our tryouts were over. They announced to us at the end, that later that day (what seemed like hours if not weeks) we could check on the website or call in on a phone number in which you heard a recorded message with all the names and numbers of the girls that had made the team. For me, (Arial) I was so nervous I just couldn’t bring myself to call in. We couldn’t find anything on the internet either. While we frantically searched the Jazz website, I started to receive some text messages from my friends saying “Congratulations Arial” and then my stomach starting turning upside down! Finally, I settled down and called the number and heard for myself the AMAZING news!!! When it finally sunk in I couldn’t stop jumping around and crying and I just felt so honored, and excited!

As for me (Jocelyn), I was exhausted - not saying I wouldn't do it again but I was glad when it was all over! The night before the interviews and the last part of the dancing auditions, I probably did the try-out dance like 100 times at home because the first day in front of the judges I kind of froze up and I was not going to let that happen again! Thankfully it didn't, and everything went well! So then, as Arial said the results were posted on the web later that day or you could call in for the message. Well, I couldn't find the number anywhere and our internet was having troubles. I was freaking out! Finally, at 5:45, we got the site up and my picture was the first thing I saw! But, there's one more thing that had happened that day. I guess before I got to the computer my dad saw that I had made it! Right after that my internet started struggling. And of course he didn't tell me! He knew all along! He's such a dork! ya gotta love dads. Anyway, seeing that I had made it was awesome! Growing up in a Jazz fan family, it was the best feeling ever to know that I had accomplished something that I have wanted since I was a little girl! Well, ever since then, we’ve been in heaven, but certainly working hard!, and LOVING it!

Our practices can be pretty hard. After our conditioning (which is hard but awesome) we do some intense workouts like running the track, Indian runs, “snaking the hill”, sprinting or running the bleachers. After that we do lunges half way around the track, and then high knee skipping and squats. After our run we do a number of sit ups and push ups to help us get in the best shape possible. We then set our dances for the upcoming games. We may learn one or two new dances as well as cleaning others we already know. But our team is so great that we get it all done! J The girls on the team are so fun to be with and amazing to be around. The veterans, and even the other rookies, help you so much with everything you need to know down to critiquing you in the routines. We can tell we are creating some life long friends and memories! As part of prepping for our season we have the opportunity for our hair and makeup to be done by the professionals! Many of us have some different “do’s” -Arial is now a brunette – check it out! and Jocelyn, well still a beautiful blonde! We have to say it’s really fun to have our hair and makeup done by the pro’s!

The first pre-season game and the opener has come and gone. We didn’t know what to expect when we got into that arena. It’s huge – especially from down on the floor!! Being on the floor and looking up at the crowd gives you a rush of adrenaline. It’s so fun to perform for that many people – especially the loud & supportive Jazz Fans! We have about four dances we do for each game and they are all different; a few that are only a minute long, a few hot time outs, and then some free style dancing as well. You Jazz fans make it more fun for us when we hear you cheer or see smiles on your faces!

We have to say opening night was crazy! They had huge bags of balloons drop along with amazing fireworks booming throughout the arena! The game was sold out, and the crowd was so loud! It was awesome (except for the disappointing outcome) BUT it’s ok because we kicked it against Golden State – YAY! ….. And the season has just started.

Along with all the dancing we get to do we have the opportunity to go out in the community for certain events as well as do some service. So far, we’ve made appearances at golf tournaments and. Jocelyn and I did a performance at the special Olympic opening ceremonies. We also did an appearance for the PARC. It’s so fun to see what we can do for our community and how much others appreciate you. You get the greatest feeling after helping others and being, hopefully, a fun part of their day!

We look forward to many more WINNING games, and dancing and entertaining our hearts out, so be watching for us, you can’t miss us girls down there dancing away, rallying the crowd! We’ll keep you posted on different things we are doing and our journey as UTAH JAZZ DANCERS!! See you all at the games! And . . . GO JAZZ!