Today was a blast! After we were done performing at the NBA 5 United Tour and taking photos at the Footlocker tent, we decided to go sightseeing. (more…)

If serious basketball withdrawals are starting to get to you, check out My45 this Tuesday night for a Suns doubleheader, starting at 9 p.m.

First up is the “Suns’ Sizzling Summer Special.” Host Tom Leander sits down with team President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr to discuss the “State of the Suns,” including the re-signing of Steve Nash and Grant Hill, the acquisition of free agent Channing Frye, the return of Head Coach Alvin Gentry and the drafting of Earl Clark and Taylor Griffin. Also featured, Eddie Johnson talks to All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire about coming back from a devastating eye injury and returning as the focal point in the Suns offense. Second-year man Goran Dragic walks us through the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. And then, EJ and Tom preview this year’s Suns squad and discuss all of the big changes around the NBA. 

Next up is the “Making of the Suns Dancers” at 9:30 p.m., chronicling the hectic week endured by the dancer hopefuls. It includes a behind-the-scenes look at the two-day dancer auditions, the lengthy selection process and four off-the-court finalist profiles.

If you miss Tuesday’s telecasts (or just love watching repeats), the specials will re-air on Fox Sports Arizona in HD starting this Friday at 5 p.m.

Our experience making the Suns Dancer Verve calendar was so fun, especially since all 16 of us were featured in the calendar.  When plans were first made to have the calendar we immediately thought, “Wait! There are 12 months in a year but there are 16 dancers on the team!?” So we were so excited to know our calendar was a 16-month calendar. (Plus it saves the fans a few months before buying a new one next year! Ha!)  

The first thing we did was set up times for us to individually meet at Everything But Water (our bathing suit sponsors for the calendar). We tried on just about every suit in the store!! With the help of our coach, each of us chose our top three swimsuits and on our shoot date we would be surprised with the one they picked for us to wear. 

We had two shoot days where half of the team shot one day and the other half shot the next day.  I went on the first day and when I got to Barry’s studio downtown, I was so impressed by how cool and spacious his studio was. We had a separate place for makeup and hair where our own dancer Kayla did all of our makeup (she is an awesome makeup artist!!) and Dolce had two of their stylists ready for hair (they didn’t have to do much to my big crazy hair haha!).  

When it was my turn I had my fingers crossed that the zebra print bathing suit was the one I got to wear and sure enough they picked it as my suit!! I was so excited! Kayla did everyone’s makeup opposite of what they usually do – which turned out amazing and gave us a different look!  Those who wore dark eye shadows she gave light eyes, and those who normally wore light eye shadow she gave dark shadow! I was so excited, after I finished, that I stuck around after my shoot so I could see how awesome the other girls’ shots turned out! 

After that we didn’t know if we would get to see the final shots that they picked of us.  But we were in for a little surprise at our holiday party!  We watched a slideshow and finally found out who was the cover girl, Kayla! And we also saw our three calendar shots along with which month each of us got. I loved every single picture and month! At the end of the slide show we found out what our center page was going to be since everything was a surprise. But I was speechless when my picture came up on the screen as the centerfold!! I definitely didn’t expect it at all!  

We are all so proud to be the first set of Suns Dancers to have ever been a part of a calendar.  I still get so excited each time a fan approaches me at a door with a calendar and marker in hand because this is one of the coolest things I have been a part of.  One day when I have kids I will be able to say to them, “Hey look at what your mom did!” Haha!

Known for her moves on the court, Suns Dancer Kayla is also making moves off the court.

The world-famous Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition chose Kayla to be one of the 10 women featured in its section of NBA dancers this year. Although it was a huge honor for the Gilbert, AZ, native, she found the entire ordeal to be a bit overwhelming.

“It’s kind of nerve-racking,” she said. “Because in my interview they asked me how it would feel to have your picture seen by 50 to 150 million people.” (more…)

Ever since I was a little girl I loved being a dancer and had always dreamed of dancing for my profession. However, it wasn’t until this year that my lifelong dream was realized. I was named one of the 16 women to become a Phoenix Suns Dancer! All those years of training had finally paid off and my journey with the Suns had just begun! (more…)