KCD Sarah in Vegas Blog - Feb 2007
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LAS VEGAS, NV
February 12, 2007 - Hi guys - I've arrived in Vegas!! My flight left JFK on Monday morning at 9:30am. Of course I was sitting at the airport at 6:30 am, but that's just me being paranoid! I had to catch a connecting flight in Miami, and I finally arrived around 6:30 pm at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas.
At 7pm I had to quickly get dressed for our meet-and-greet dinner where I officially met all the All Star Dancers. I am rooming with Karin from the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, who is oh so sweet.
 The Eastern Conference All Star Dance Team poses for a group shot. MSG Photos |
The next day, some ladies were up for an appearance at 5 am! Luckily, I was not one of them. I’m pretty sure I will be on an early morning appearance on Thursday, though. We had a costume fitting at 8 am. Our costumes are so great – I’m very excited for that part! They are a little different than what we’re used to in NY, but that's what I expected. We also received tons of apparel from adidas to rehearse in.
We rehearsed from 10 am to about 9 pm. It was intense, I can't lie! My back is killing me, almost as much as my neck, BUT its so, so worth it. All the dancers learned one routine together. Then the Eastern Conference dancers got together to learn their own routine.
The ladies are all great, extremely professional, and they know how to get things done. It’s great that I now have friends all over the US and Canada. I just have to say thank you again to all the fans and the Knicks organization for sending me here to represent. I am making history on the NBA's first ever All Star Dance Team and it’s probably something I will never experience again. And no worries…what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay here. You will hear ALL about it!!
XO, Sarah
SARAH'S BLOG - Day 2
LAS VEGAS, NV
February 13, 2007 - Today started at 4:30 am for some ladies. I will admit I am a little excited it wasn't me. I think they tried to pick the ladies who were from the West Coast and more adjusted to the time change.
Either way, we started early in the morning with the costume fittings. We have so many stylists working around the clock to get our costumes finished. They had a little trouble with mine, I think the jersey they bought was for an extra small child. They had to go get themselves some more material. Haha.
 KCD Sarah lights up the room with fellow dancers Lindsey from the Clippers and Jaclyn from the Nets. MSG Photos |
We then continued on to rehearsals. We had to learn a total of 4 dances each, 3 together and then one dance each for the Eastern and Western conference. At first it took a little while to get the ball rolling, but after a bit we got going. I think this group of ladies was a little different than those that Laurie Ann is used to choreographing for. Our days were extremely long, I'm not going to lie, but I will say Laurie Ann made the time fly. She is so entertaining, I really think every word that came out of her mouth had me dying laughing. There were 30 ladies so it was hard to get everyone’s name. Laurie Ann went around the room and got everyone’s zodiac signs, lol. So you were either called by your team, zodiac sign, or a few names here and there. After that moment, we decided on name tags :)
We all had a break and then it was 3 more hours of rehearsal left for the day! It was extremely interesting to hear about how each team varies. We all swapped stories about everything from costumes to rehearsals to auditions...the audition process for some teams was over a week long! Imagine the stress of that!
Well that's all for now. Time to hit the sack…I'm beat!
Shout out to NY!
SARAH'S BLOG - Day 3
LAS VEGAS, NV
February 14, 2007 - Happy Valentines Day!!!
 Lady Liberty is an Eastern Conference fan. MSG Photos |
I don't think this hotel has ever seen so many flowers delivered at one time to the people in their hotel :) The day started off with rehearsal again. We got pretty far with everything and we only have one more to learn, which is great. The choreography is amazing. Some of the choreography is slightly different than what we’re used to but we’re all getting more acquainted with each other and I think we’re finding out who we mesh with the most. Some girls are just passed out on the floor on our water breaks…it’s actually quite funny. We did the same thing today – we rehearsed and got fittings done in between. We finished our Eastern Conference dance today. I love love love it! It’s a mix of Jay Z and Nelly Furtado…it’s hot!
We had a dinner break and then headed over to the Thomas and Mack Center for the first time. That's where the game will be held. It’s so great how all of the city is decked out in All Star gear. Everywhere you look there is something about All Star Weekend. On our way to the arena there was a huge replica of the Statue of Liberty and a lion statue in front of 2 different hotels, each with a giant NBA jersey on. The Statue of Liberty had the Eastern Conference jersey obviously. So cute!
We finished up at the Thomas and Mack center around 12:30am, I believe, and then headed back to the hotels. I grabbed some food, and now I'm off to bed! Night all!
SARAH'S BLOG - Day 4
LAS VEGAS, NV
February 15, 2007 - So my day started of with an appearance at the Carnegie Deli in Las Vegas. They requested me for the appearance because, if you don't know, the Carnegie Deli is a famous Deli in NYC. Today we were there for the unveiling of the new sandwich that was named after us. It was the All Star dance team’s "Vivacious Vegas Sandwich." I think it's pretty cool there is a sandwich out there named after us, right? It was made up of turkey, roast beef, corned beef, pastrami, cheese lettuce tomato and OF COURSE fat free honey mustard. And each sandwich was four pounds. :)
 Sarah made fast friends with the All Star Dancers. MSG Photos |
Thank goodness I'm not a vegetarian or there would have been a problem. This sandwich was Delicious and also the size of my head. I ended up getting a phone call from the owner in NYC and he let me know I need to stop in and get another, on him of course, ha ha. After that we didn't want lunch…I think we were a little surprised at how much we actually ate. Hey, we've had some hard rehearsals…we’re entitled!
After that, we headed back to rehearsal, finished some dances, learned another one (that we were doing the next day) and headed to the arena again. My body has finally chilled out a little. None of us could move after the first day of rehearsals!
We all had dinner together and then went off to the court. We did a whole run through of everything. It went great for just learning. You can tell we’re all professionals and know what were doing because we got it done quickly!
OK night all!! Talk to you tomorrow!
SARAH'S BLOG - Day 5
LAS VEGAS, NV
February 16, 2007 - Today is the All Star Celebrity game. We headed over to where the Jam Session is being held on their court. We all are a little tense because we are performing the dance we just learned last night – no cleaning or anything, just go out there and kill it or "LIVE!" as Laurie Ann would say. Ha ha! Love her! It helps that Laurie Ann has Manwe, her assistant. They are kinda like ying and yang and definitely balance out each other!
We then had to run and get in hair and makeup: thirty ladies who all need hair and makeup, with an hour to do it. Let’s just say it was a little nuts! Wardrobe has been working all night and they were still sewing ten minutes up to the time we had to be ready!!
 Sarah reps the Knicks uniform - with a twist. MSG Photos |
We did a player tunnel for our celebrities who included Carrot top, David Arquette, Damion Faison, Nelly and a few others. We all had to use pom poms, and you could tell which dancers use them regularly and those who don't. At a few different moments, Miami's Kat and I looked at each other and thought, "What do we do with these things?" Hey, they add color and make it look pretty. We also sat under the basket during the game, which is something that we don't do at Knicks games. We then headed back to get ready for our routine. It went fabulous, such an adrenaline rush!!! We also all got our own introduction at the game. That was great because we had a few Knicks fans out there!!! In the end, the East lost, but that's OK. We still had a blast.
After the game some ladies did autographs at Jam session. Jam Session is a huge interactive area with different games, stores and tons of things to do. It’s a way for the people in the community to get to be a part of All Star weekend because not everyone can actually make it to an event.
After all of that, we headed back over to the arena to rehearse again. This time in our 4'' stilettos. Let's just say it was a whole new ballgame with those heels on, but we got it done anyway !!!
And now its that time again!! Sweet Dreams All!!!!
SARAH'S BLOG - Day 6
LAS VEGAS, NV
February 17, 2007 - Today I left earlier then some of the other ladies to sign autographs at Jam Session. That went wonderfully – we had a great response. It was interesting because some people knew us by our first names and knew exactly what team we were representing. There, I also saw “Junk Yard Dog” Jerome Williams and Allan Houson, who both gave me a warm greeting and asked me how it was all going.
 Sarah and Jaclyn make the All Star uniforms look good. MSG Photos |
From there we headed over to the arena again to get ready for All Star Saturday Night. We got to put on our adorable team jersey dresses. I have to say I was extremely proud to be wearing a New York Knicks jersey. It was a chance for the fans to know who we were each representing. While I was there, I also heard that David Lee was awarded MVP for the Rookie/Sophomore Game, so that was great news for the Knicks. It was such a great feeling to be there on the court and get to watch everything that was going on and to participate as well. Nate Robinson then went up to defend his slam dunk title. He did an awesome job and jumped over David Lee for one of his last dunks!! We got to vote on everyone’s performance and hold up our scorecards. I gave Nate all 10s naturally. There were so many celebrities there, and it was still only maybe a third of what was to come the next day.
At one moment when we were sitting on the court watching the contest, Laurie Ann was over talking to Diddy and pointed at Minerva from Toronto and myself and said "Diddy look!" She was behind him waving, so naturally we waved back at her. Well, Diddy thought we were waving at him, and he was a little surprised I think. But he still gave us a nice hello back. Laurie Ann got a kick out of that one!
We then took a picture on the court all together and waited for things to clear out, then we had another rehearsal for the All Star Game. This week seems like it just started, but really it’s almost over and we only have one day left. We found out a lot about each other. Some live in big cites and we even knew people in common in Boston, LA and Miami. Some ladies, like my roommate, had weddings to plan. Many of the ladies were curious about my life back in NYC. I almost forgot how different my life is in New York from the "normal." They all had so many questions about auditioning and living strictly as a dancer in such a crazy city. I loved answering all of their questions and gave them all the best advice I could. I told them it took me a long time coming from Massachusetts and just packing up and taking off, but in the end, after so many ups and downs I really am so happy to be doing what I love to do for a living. So one more time... I want to thank you guys for sending me here. I'm living my dream and from what I hear, it’s a dream many girls share!! So thanks NYC!!!
SARAH'S BLOG - Day 7
LAS VEGAS, NV
February 18, 2007 - Well everyone, it’s the last day, and we’re all a little sad. Today is the All Star game. We got to the arena early to rehearse being at the front of the stage for Christina Aguilera's performance. It was great. She is the tiniest little thing ever! It was the first time I saw her in person. We then ate lunch and immediately started getting ready. Tonight we were performing our finale routine and then our conference dances.
Once the game started I felt like it flew by. The Eastern Conference dance went first. I got such a rush when I was out on the court. The performance went great, but there must have been dry ice or pyrotechnics because the floor was extremely slippery. But no worries, we killed it.
 Sarah is happy to be representing the Eastern Conference All Star Dance Team. MSG Photos |
While we were waiting to go on we were in the area where the celebrities entered. Let me start off by saying I don't really get star struck. I see a lot of celebrities in NYC. If anyone knows me, they know I'm slightly obsessed with Prince , but in a good way of course. Even the ladies I just met here knew by the end of the week that I love him!!! Anyway, we were taking a break and since my feet were killing, I took off my heels. Then one of the girls shouts "SARAH IT’S PRINCE!" Well, I whipped back into my heels (can’t let Prince see me for the first time without them on!! haha jk...well kinda) and I just stood there and stared. What else can you do? Laurie Ann reassured me that Prince is one of the few people you're allowed to be star struck with.
After that I had to pull myself together and get ready to dance again. That performance was great as well. It’s amazing how we were able to all pull together and make the dances look so perfect in so little time!
After the game we took a picture with the mayor, who by the way goes to all appearances escorted by two showgirls. Only in Vegas!!! We then decided it was time to go out and party for the first time this week!
 KCD Sarah, poses with Kim from Philadelphia and Jaclyn from the Nets. MSG Photos |
Many of us headed to the wrap party for the NBA where we stayed for a little while. There I met 2 New York Knicks season ticket holders. They came up to me right away and went on and on about how I represented the team so well and that they wished James Dolan was here to see it!!! I thought that was funny. It was also very sweet and it reassured me that I did what I came to do!!!
We then headed over to a few other parties and had a blast. There were soooo many people everywhere, the Fire Marshall had to shut a few clubs down.
My flight doesn't leave till 1:45 am the next night. So I will be hanging around Vegas for a little, maybe do some gambling! :) Don’t worry…I will be back in NYC on Tuesday afternoon.
Just want to say thank you to everyone... Tamara, who was so wonderful to us – she was there whenever we needed anything. Our stylists, Laurie Ann and Manwe, and all of the other people from the NBA. I know we all had the time of our lives!!!
Thanks so much to all of you!
Tata, Vegas!!
xoxoxoxo
Sarah
