Newcastle Knights cheerleaders to become dance squad with males allowed

It's now known as the Newcastle Knights Dance Squad.

Director Alexandra Tsambos said dance squad was "a broader term that covers the dance styles we'll be doing next year".

The squad will continue to perform cheerleading with pom poms, while adding commercial jazz and hip hop.

Alex spoke ahead of auditions for the squad beginning on Tuesday.

"We're not just advertising for cheerleaders anymore. We're opening it up," she said.

"I believe it's a bit of an NRL first."

In opening the squad to males, she said: "I just wanted to follow the way of the world".

"I feel like it's a constantly evolving culture in the NRL cheerleading world. I want to stay up to date with it," she said.

"I didn't think we should eliminate cheerleaders altogether, but I did think it was time to bring in something new and show more talent of dancers around town."

Asked how male performers would go down with the crowd, she said "I think it's no dramas. It's 2021. It's pretty normal. I think it'd be well encouraged and everyone is excited to see more of that."

She pointed to the women's rugby league competition to show that gender roles were expanding.

"I feel like, why can't we just do it? I want to spruce it up.

"It'd be nice to have some crazy choreography and more exciting stuff, put the males on the field and add some variety."

She also wanted to show the NRL "we can do more than just pom-pom style".

The Melbourne Storm has a hip-hop crew with males, but no one had "incorporated three different styles, with three different costume changes".

"We want to do it all - be cheerleaders and dancers," she said.

"Bringing it all in and doing the different styles means we can use different music and we can open it up to different people.

"It doesn't limit us to that one cheerleading type, or someone who only has experience in cheerleading. We can do it all."

This meant that during auditions she could "look for people who can specialise in one style".

"They don't have to be doing all three styles. It gives us the opportunity to put people on the field to perform and offer a game day experience that isn't so limited."

She said squad members were expected to be club ambassadors, as well as cheerleaders and dancers.

This involved representing the Newcastle Knights on game days and at corporate, community and charity events.

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