New management takes over local dance troupe

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The Las Vegas Goddesses, the supportive dance troupe for the Las Vegas Gladiators, the city's Arena Football League team, have undergone a few operational changes this season that has brought them closer to the community.

The key change was in the Goddesses' management. Mary Vail, who has spent many years working in public relations and marketing in the valley, became their official manager.

"There have been several changes," Vail said. "Last year they were the Gladiator Girls, and we changed that to the Goddesses. And last season there was a choreographer who had a heavy dance background that kept everything going. I don't have a dance background, none whatsoever. But I do have the PR (public relations) background, and the management background and the marketing background. I wanted to make the dancers community ambassadors."

Vail said before she came on board, her daughter Ashley, a member of the dance troupe, shared her frustrations of being on the dance team.

"So I already had ideas of what I wanted to do to make them a business, rather than a rogue group of dancers," Vail said.

Vail, who accepted the position in August before the 2006 season began in January, decided to create three team captains who could lead the other women and focus on a specific duty. The three team captains are Victoria Franklin, who is in charge of dance camp coordination; Sondra Mize, who handles presentation and serves as the programming director; and Ashley, who is the wardrobe stylist and has designed the troupe's new uniforms.

Mize described the new garb as "a short red skirt, a one-sleeved, mid-drift, red shirt and a little black pleather skirt and vest."

"We love the new uniforms, Ashley did a great job," Mize said. "They're very hot, they portray the gladiator image and I think that says it all. They stepped up our image. All I can say is they're hot."

With captains overseeing designated areas, the troupe has time to focus as a unit on choreography.

"And now all the girls share in contributing the choreography," Vail said. "This way we have a lot of different styles and all the girls get to bring in their talents."

Vail also worked with the girls so each of them would be sponsored throughout the season. The sponsorship helps to cover the expense of their trading cards, calendars and all other team-related activities.

"The change has been good," Mize, 22, said. "We've attained a higher degree of class, stepped up the sex appeal. We're not high school girls. And it's always good to have people delegate, it keeps conflicts down. It's a great team this year, we just have fun and love working with each other."

One of the most notable changes to the Goddesses' schedule is the amount of community work the girls are now involved in, Vail said.

"Since August the girls have probably been involved in 30 or 40 community activities," she said. "Things like Opportunity Village, the Shriners and dance camps for young girls."

The Goddesses consist of 14 dancers who range in age from 18 to 28, and although it is not a requirement, it turned out that none of them are married or have children, Vail noted. There also are about 14 Gladiator Pom Girls, who cheer from the stands during games.

"They are a diverse and great group of young ladies, I'm like a mom to all of them," Vail said. "We have girls who work at Hooters to girls who have been accepted to Juilliard. They are really a great group of girls."

More information on the Las Vegas Gladiators and the Goddesses, can be found by visiting www.lvgladiators.com.