Friday, April 17, 2009

Cheering for cheerleaders

Another event from our busy, busy, busy break last weekend. It's taken me a bit to get this organized because I wanted to link to websites to give proper credit - not difficult, but I've been distracted :)

We just happened to be at the club when a show started on the lawn. This was not a show I was interested in when I heard of it. It was advertised rather simply. Something about cheerleaders visiting. I thought, "So what?"... I am not at all interested in sports, therefore the actual sports, or the related sport and show of cheer leading was not of any interest to me. I'm glad that the military and Embassy brings these various entertainers around, but not all are what we find entertaining. What I wasn't aware of though, was this wasn't just a bunch of pretty girls doing cheers about a sport I could care less for - this was a show troupe, and these ladies truly did put on quite a show.

The event was sponsored by the Armed Forces Entertainment agency, and the Show Troupe are members of the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders. Honor was definitely enthralled by the pretty ladies in sparkly, glittery, feathery costumes... all the little girls present seemed to be. A whole squad full of smiling, dancing, real-life Barbies - what more could a little girl want? Brian thought they were great too - especially after he managed to catch one of the small plastic footballs! The show was about an hour(?) long with many songs, costume changes, different types of dance routines, etc. I had fun sitting with the kids and answering their questions - as well as just watching them as they watched the show.

This is a good age for this. I am not from a sports fanatic family. We did not watch any team sports and this has been a fine life-style to continue as far as I am concerned. But I do remember meeting some sports players when I was their age - players with the St. Louis Cardinals in Florida for spring training, and players from the Tampa Bay Rowdies. I'm not so sure WHY it was so interesting to meet these sports players, but it was - and I saw that same excitement with our kids when they met these performers.

One bit of the show that struck me as funny was when the emcee had a bunch of kids up in front and was asking them where they were from. Instead of the state name answers that she was obviously expecting, each child answered with the name of the country they were born in. Most were from America, so eventually, she asked a child - who had answered with yet another "America" - where in America was she from, what state. The child just looked at her. Fortunately mom was in the audience to loudly stage-whisper the answer.

Honor (on the left, wrapped in a towel as she ran out of the pool to come see the show) and a friend watch the show together. All those feathers and sparkles - she was instantly smitten.
Brian sat back with me.
A salute to the troops - Brian liked the Army girls the best. Go Army!
Even 'Tina' showed up. This was one of the many small group or single performer/singer routines included in the show.
They even did actual cheerleader-like stuff.(sort of, it was mostly song and dance)
The ladies gave out flags, as well as T-shirts and toys.
From Whale Ears and other Wonderings
Getting kids up to sing a patriotic song was just one of the many audience-participation things they did.
By the end of the show, the kids were eager to line up for autographs.
Not sure if they knew what 'autographs' actually were before this, but they lined up eagerly to meet the ladies, and were happy to get the signed photos!
Thanks to AFE and the Colts Cheerleaders!

11 comments:

José Ramón said...

A good story and comments Cheers

Anonymous said...

Hello. Are your children both girls? I wasn't sure because there names are Brain.. Is Brian a girl or boy?? I cannot figure it out..

Tina in CT said...

I can bet the kids enjoyed the show. It looks very entertaining.

Anonymous said...

wow oh what a hot chicks, i never though this is happening in Egypt!

Heather said...

I really enjoyed reading your blog, my sister us a member of the Colts Cheerleading squad that you are talking about, and she has been gone about 2 weeks, so it was neat to see what they are doing there and how it is being perceived. Glad you all enjoyed it, they have worked very hard to put the performance together!! Thanks for posting the pics also

Connie said...

Hi Heather, it is very good of your sister and the rest of the troupe to make this tour. As much as we love to travel, and as much as we love our host country, it is very nice when a little bit of home comes out to visit us. :)

marina villatoro said...

I'll tell you one thing, you don't have to be a young girl to be completely enthralled! I'd have a blast being there at my age.

From your comment on my blog, you sound just like my husband. he's born with a compass too. and he still doesn't get it that i'm not:) he gets super frustrated with me when we drive by the same place a million times and i still don't know where the heck we are ;-)

The Travel Expert(a) - Living and Traveling Central America

3 Bay B Chicks said...

Hello, I am smitten by these lovely ladies. What is not to love about pom-poms and glitter? It makes me nostalgic for the days as a cheerleader that never happened for me! :)

-Francesca

rachaelgking said...

While I despise the Colts, I AM glad your munchkins had a blast.

:-)

Expat Mom said...

What a great day! It does look like fun and it`s so cool that the kids say their country of birth . . . totally makes sense when you have lived in several different countries!

I have to laugh at Anonymous . . . how many times does the same person have to ask if Brian is a girl? He`s OBVIOUSLY a boy, lol. I expect people will soon start asking about Dorian, too, with his long hair. ;)

Connie said...

I wasn't a cheerleader, and as I said before, I simply don't 'get' sports, but I was very pleased with this show... esp. as the ladies seemed to have a great time and were good with the audience. You ever watch a show where the actors seem bored? Or like they could care less about who is watching - I could just walk out... and have done so. These ladies were not like that at all :) the show was so much better than its content, simply because of the performers.

Lilu - a big benefit of not being a dedicated sports fan means I do not have to be loyal... I can support who ever pleases me whenever they please me. No commitment ;)

Expat Mom... Anonymous should be laughed at. I mean seriously, as if we can't tell this was meant as a back-handed insult... I can see making the mistake in person. It happens all the time and Brian, very politely, makes corrections. The language use of Anonymous indicates that he/she can read quite well enough to know better. What does he think our response should be? "Oh my goodness! Some anonymous person on the internet doesn't like my kid's hair! Oh the horror! Oh the shame! Oh my! I should immediately go out and change myself and my whole family to please Anonymous!" pffft! ;-D !!! puh-leeze! Some people simply never mature enough to quit basing their perceptions of others on their appearance. As for Dorian having long hair (and with those gorgeous eyes!) I say go for it - if he wants it. I think that letting kids have choices about themselves, their appearance, etc. as early as possible, is the best way for them to learn to be responsible... I mean, should we wait for them to be teens? Rebel? Be so unsure that they give in to peer pressure? Break away and do everything they've always wanted with no control, no practical conversations with mom or dad, or practice? Start now. That, and the chance to learn how to totally blow off negative people without a second thought, those who think it's ok to make snide judgmental comments about kids to their face or behind their back, yea, that's a very handy life-skill...