FLUSHING, N.Y. - Naomi Lucas was completely shocked. Around her were 40 of the most talented and disciplined dancers she had ever seen. Yet all that stood between her and her ambition of becoming a professional dancer were two routines, one of her own creation and another choreographed by the team's directors.
Lucas was in this position before; though this time was of a different magnitude. This was the final round of auditions for the New York Jets Flight Crew, her gateway to performing in front of more than 80,000 fans week-in and week-out during football season.
"At the moment, it's all about beating yourself out," Lucas says of the final round. "The whole process is progressive, and by the time of the finals, you've already done the routines, now the judges want you to perfect them."
Lucas, a Queens College senior and a co-captain on the Knights' dance team, was already in a whirlwind. At first she could say she was one of 80 young women to advance past the preliminary round of auditions on April 2nd. Impressive by itself considering over 300 hopefuls had turned out. The very next day with the stakes higher, Lucas excelled out of her group of five while performing the small portion of a dance and kick-line taught to the group by the Flight Crew's directors. Again she made the cut, this time one of only 40 to do so.
Then the audition process went on a bit of a hiatus. Interviews were carried out in the near-two-week interim, during which Lucas travelled down to Daytona Beach, Florida with the Queens College dance team to compete in the National Dance Alliance Collegiate Championship. There the Knights reached heights unprecedented for the program by placing third in the POMS event and fourth overall in the Team Challenge Cup. Of course Lucas thought about her forthcoming audition for the Flight Crew, but during the entire trip to Florida she was focused on her team's performance.
"Everyone was really supportive," she says. "But at the same time, I kept to myself – I didn't want to take away from the team's mindset and achieving our goals.
It was a demonstration of Lucas' professionalism and maturity as a leader, qualities she says were impressed upon her by being part of the Knights' dance team and dealing with the added time commitment and responsibilities for all college athletes. She credits her coach, Shawn Garnier, for instilling belief in her and her teammates. Belief that surely ended up playing a critical role in her final audition.
In front of the Jets Flight Crew judges on April 16th, Lucas nailed her two routines. She made the team, displaying to the judges that she had the personality and ability to handle the rigors of professional dancing.
"All the hard work that Ms. Lucas put into the practice mat and gym workouts paid off," says Knights' head coach Shawn Garnier. "She was an alternate when she made the team, eventually becoming a great captain as a senior. The work was well worth it."
Now with the Flight Crew, Lucas expects to work even harder.
"There's a quicker learning curve, greater expectations," Lucas says about her new team. "Queens College was definitely more nurturing. But with the Flight Crew, between the three practices a week, all the strength and conditioning sessions in between and learning the many different routines, it's a complete lifestyle.
"But I love dancing no matter what it's for. Whether it's during halftime of Queens College games, in competition or now for the Jets. It just fulfills me. It makes me happy."
The Queens College dance team is hosting college auditions on May 4th during free hour and a high school audition on May 7th from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. Both auditions will be held in the Fitzgerald Gymnasium Dance Studios.
