The Orlando Magic Dancers

Location: Orlando, FL
Website: www.nba.com/magic/dancers

The Orlando Magic’s inaugural season was in 1989, which also marked the beginning of dancers on the sidelines at every home Magic game! Under the current direction of Manager/Choreographer Jeanine Klem-Thomas, who has been with the team since 1995, the Magic Dancers entertain arena audiences with high-energy and fast-paced routines. In addition to performing at all Magic home games, the Magic Dancers add excitement and class to special and charitable events, grand openings, corporate meetings, conventions, trade shows, and many other promotional functions...over 250 events per year in and out of Central Florida! In addition to all of the different events the Dancers can be found at, the team also has its own designated charity program, the Challenger Little League. The Challenger Little League is a program for children with mental and physical handicaps and the Dancers volunteer at every game each fall and spring mentoring the children and assisting them in the game of baseball! As a matter of fact, the Dancers contribute over 650 hours of service to the Central Florida community and abroad each year through their volunteer work and appearances at various functions!

The current Orlando Magic Dancers range in age from 20 to 31 and are all either full-time working professionals or full-time college students! The team includes working professionals in the fields of sales, marketing, real estate, massage therapy, theme park performance, modeling, and dance education! They are all multi-talented, highly educated, philanthropic, athletic women with a passion for dance and sports! It takes dedication, determination, and discipline to be a Magic Dancer. The Dancers rehearse 2-3 nights per week for 2-4 hours a night year-round in addition to their rigorous work, school, appearance, and game schedules.

Because of their discipline, popularity and spectacular dance style, the Magic Dancers have traveled to, appeared at, were featured in, or accomplished the following over the years:

• NBA All-Star Game hosted by Orlando in 1992
• Wembley Arena in London, performing at NBA exhibition games in 1993
• Tokyo Dome in Japan, performing at a Magic vs. Nets game in 1996
• The first NBA Dance Team to rappel from the rafters of the Arena in-game in 1997
• Planeta Sprite, a traveling basketball festival in Mexico City hosted by the NBA in the summer of 2001
• ESPN’s Pro Dance Showcase, 2002
• A segment for the Animal Planet's Pet Psychic, 2002-2003
• An episode of NBC's Fear Factor, 2003
• Muscle and Fitness Magazine, when former Magic Dancer Nekesha was selected as one of the most beautiful and talented Dancers in the NBA during the 2002-2003 season!
• The first NBA Dance Team to perform in an opera (Orlando Opera’s Season Opener ‘Carmina Burana’) in 2003 with an encore performance in Orlando Opera’s ‘Salome’ in 2004
• The first NBA Dance Team to perform trampoline dunking in-game in 2003 beginning the league wide trend of creating ‘Dunking Dancers’
• Las Vegas Tradeshows with Everlast Worldwide (numerous times)
• Sundance Film Festival in 2004 to assist Player Magazine with the launch of their new publication that Magic Dancer Vanessa was featured in!
• Magic Dancer Deanna was a featured competitor in ESPN’s Reality Show I’d Do Anything in 2004
• Three separate Armed Forces Entertainment tours performing at 26 military installations throughout Bosnia, Kosovo, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland, Poland, and Norway from 2004-2006
• Dunking Dancers were featured in the NBA All-Star Game hosted by Houston in 2006, the NCAA Final Four Weekend Events in Indianapolis, during halftime of an NBDL Florida Flame Game, and the 18th Annual China Sports Convention in 2006
• Jr. NBA and Asia Madness events held in Guang Zhou, China and Hong Kong the summer of 2006
• Dance Retailer News Fashion Show models for Capezio in Las Vegas, 2006
• Sun Sports’ Making of the Magic Dancers
• Southern Living Magazine, Dime Magazine, Orlando Style Magazine, and the Villages Magazine in 2005-2006

Thank you for supporting the Magic Dancers through the years! Should you have any questions regarding the history of the Magic Dancers please send your inquiry to magicdancers@orlandomagic.com.