IRVING, TX - Jay Betsill
The Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue Dancers arrived at the Centre for Dance on Friday evening with the expectations of it being a "social media" day. The dancers were all "camera ready" clad in their matching outfits and prepared to do videos and pictures for their social media campaign centered around building awareness for the squad's new website located under the "Fans" tab on dallascowboys.com. Director Jenny Durbin Smith arrived and surprised the dancers with the announcement that they were all going to be interviewed and that they needed to start prepping for some questions.
What followed was the surprise of a lifetime.
Smith opened the door to Dance Studio C and rather than an intrepid reporter, the dancers were greeted by the famous choreographer Will Adams, better known as "Willdabeast." As the dancers joyously screamed and cheered upon his entry, their emotions swung like a pendulum from the anxiety of dealing with the media to the euphoria that comes with the opportunity to work alongside one of the most respected choreographers in the dance industry.
Willdabeast is known to many fans from his time on FOX's So You Think You Can Dance and MTV's America's Best Dance Crew as well as choreographing for such well-known artists as T-Pain, Tiësto and Colton B. He has also worked with the Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue in the past as he came to North Texas in the summer of 2013 and choreographed the team's popular "Crazy in Love" routine that received such positive feedback from Cowboys fans that the team has kept it in the rotation for their performances at the games for this year's NFL season.
The excitement generated by his surprise arrival transformed into an unmistakeable energy as the next two hours were spent working on a new routine that the Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue Dancers will debut at the Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles game on Thanksgiving Day at AT&T Stadium. Willdabeast personally selected the song "Ice Cream Paint Job" by Dorrough for this routine. Ironically, Dorrough is a noted Dallas Cowboys fan and big supporter of the Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue.
"The Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue Dancers inspire me. I love people that are really excited about dance and this is the first dance team the NFL has had, so it is my two favorite things, sports and dancing," Willdabeast said. "They are super passionate and I honestly feel that most of the team could be professional dancers in LA.
Cowboys fans are lucky to have this team and they may not even know it," he continued. "It is different than cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are awesome, but to have a dance team and a co-ed one, people that dance and make up new routines and get people hyped for the game before they walk in the stadium, I think it's awesome."
The Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue Dancers will a little over two weeks to prepare this routine with the Cowboys traveling to London for their game with the Jacksonville Jaguars followed by a bye week and a road game at the New York Giants before returning home to take on their NFC East rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles. The Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue perform prior to kickoff on each of the stadium's plazas, halftime and after the game at the Miller Lite Corral.
