Never too old to twerk: Senior cheerleaders dazzle the courts to support the Washington Wizards

Record ID: 1406612

  • Title: Never too old to twerk: Senior cheerleaders dazzle the courts to support the Washington Wizards
  • Date: 5th April 2019
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHOREOGRAPHER DERRIC WHITFIELD, HOUSTON NATIVE AND CHOREOGRAPHER OF THE WIZDOM DANCERS, SAYING: "I taught them how to twerk, which was fun. The crowd loves it when they kind of get down and dirty and get a little current and new and stuff like that so yeah, twerking. We mix kind of old school hip-hop with new school hip-hop moves and do a big gel and mesh of those together and that's kind of like their style that works for them so it's fun, it's fun. We're having a blast." (LAUGHS)
  • Embargoed: 19th April 2019 11:14
  • Keywords: Washington Wizards dancers cheerleaders senior dance team Wizdom dancers
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C. AND BOWIE, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C. AND BOWIE, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Society/Social Issues,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA002A96O8QV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Washington Wizards basketball team may be out of the play-offs but this season marked a new lease on life for 20 seniors who wrapped up their first season performing on the team's seniors-only dance team, the Wizdom Dancers.
    The team, the brainchild of director and choreographer Derric Whitfield, is composed of 19 women and one man, ages 50 to 76, who rehearse weekly and perform every three to four weeks, at home games.
    Whitfield, who has been choreographing for over a decade, said he has to break down the dance steps a bit more for the older dancers, but is impressed with their enthusiasm and how hard they work. He said he particularly enjoyed teaching the women to twerk, a move that brings the audience to life.
    "I taught them how to twerk, which was fun. The crowd loves it when they kind of get down and dirty and get a little current," he laughed.
    In 1966, Vivian Lewis was captain of the Prospect Heights cheerleading squad in Brooklyn, New York, Now, the 71-year-old attends cheerleading competitions where her granddaughter and great-granddaughter perform. Lewis said joining the Wizdom Dance Team was like stepping back in time.
    "Is it harder? No, because I'm very agile. I keep very, very busy. I'm a busy person," she said. "Everything works on me so it's good. I don't really have any hang-ups. I love it really. It's good for me."
    The sentiment is echoed by 55-year-old LaVeta Burke, who danced two seasons for the Washington Bullets, as the team was known in the 1980s.
    The mother of three said that by the time the women have reached their senior years, they have all gone through difficult experiences that have taught them to support each other and value their friendships.
    "Oh my goodness, there's so much synergy. We've all been through something, whether it's some major health-related something, death or just some journey where we've overcome," she said. "Even though we were all strangers when we met, we are so close because a pulse check on each other at this point in our lives, it starts to look like that after awhile. It's just so much fun, yeah a lot of fun. It's like we're family for sure."
    At home in suburban Maryland, Burke showed her son, 26-year-old Paris Burke, memorabilia from her youth.
    The former beauty queen held up her old Bullets uniforms, posters and even the tote bag she carried.
    Over the decades, she has kept fit dancing and jogging but said the opportunity to perform for the city's professional basketball team again was irresistible.
    "At the end of the day, there's just something contagious about a 75-year-old cheerleader dancing at half-time during the Wizards game. You just can't turn your head to that. You can see that written all over the faces of the audience. You got to bring it, you got to give it. You got to let them know that we've still got it and it's really okay. That's like the high of everything, just being able to perform and getting that affirmation from folks in the audience. It just really makes you feel like you brighten someone's day," she said.
    Nervous energy went through the dancers as the team prepared to hit the court. One man sitting in the bleachers called out, asking if the women would twerk tonight. Several of them laughed and shook their hips.
    As the announcer encouraged the audience to welcome the Wizdom dancers onto the court, the women ran out with high spirits and wide smiles.
    In their red, white and blue uniform, the team danced an energetic, rousing performance to Peaches & Herb's 1970s classic, Shake Your Groove Thing.
    As the song ended, the women ran off the court, waving to fans, before collapsing into each other arms in hugs and a few tears.
    (Production: Rodrigo Gutierrez, Arlene Eiras)
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