As long as I can remember, dancing has always been a part of my life, mostly due to my mother who was a Miami Heat dancer for the city’s basketball team from 1998 to 1999 and a Miami Dolphin’s Cheerleader for the city’s football team in 1994–1995 and 1996 to 1998. Although she’s no longer part of either team, her previous affiliations with them have provided me with numerous opportunities to dance and perform before a crowd.  
 
   About every 3 years around September, the Miami Dolphin Cheerleaders reunite with previous cheerleaders from generations past to put together a half-time show. During this half-time show current cheerleaders, former cheerleaders, and their daughters all get to dance side by side in front of thousands of people. Having a former Dolphin Cheerleader as my mother, I’ve been able to participate in this reunion for years. The most recent one took place on September 25th, 2022, during the Miami Dolphins football game against the Buffalo Bills. 
 
Preparing to Perform 
     The manager of the Miami Dolphin’s Cheerleaders, Johanna Torres, sent the choreography out to all the dancers prior to practice so that everyone could begin to familiarize themselves with the steps. On Saturday, September 24th, the day before the big game, everyone who was going to be dancing in the halftime performance met up at the Dolphin’s training facility to run through the performance in groups, and each group had their own choreography. 
 
   The Junior Cheerleaders was the youngest group to perform and is comprised of girls younger than 18 who are a daughter, granddaughter, or someone with any form of relation with a former cheerleader. The youngest alumni group consisted of women who were cheerleaders throughout the 90’s, 2000’s, and 2010’s while the oldest group contained women who were cheerleaders throughout the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. The final group was the current Dolphin cheerleaders. 
 
   Throughout practice the alumni cheerleaders enjoyed catching up with one another and dancing together for the first time in years. Practice lasted about four hours as all the groups received their uniforms and worked diligently on formations they couldn’t organize when everyone was practicing at home through video. Despite Covid-19 cancelling the reunion in a previous year and changing the way practices had to be handled, this year everything fell into place.  
 
Game Day 
   The day of the big game, Sunday, September 25th, everyone performing was told to meet by the end of the game’s 1st quarter at one of the tunnels that lead onto the field. Personally, my family was running late due to stopping to pick up my grandmother along the way and hectic traffic surrounding the stadium. We eventually were able to get in and get to our seats, eating a little bit and watching the remainder of the 1st quarter before heading down to the designated meeting spot. 
 
   Down in the tunnels, we were each provided with our pom poms and excitedly lined up at the various tunnels we’d each be entering from. While exciting, it was nerve-wracking as well, and even after hours of choreography and practice, many dancers confessed to messing up or forgetting parts of the dance the moment they stepped out onto the field. Despite a few bumps in the road, everyone enjoyed being reunited for this occasion for the first time since the pandemic, performing and having fun together. 

Fun Facts about the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders:
-They’ve existed since 1966 but were officially formed in 1978.
-They were formerly known as the Dolphins Dolls, consisting in 125 girls ranging from 8 to 18 years of age. They were later known as the Dolphins Starbrites from 1978–1983 prior to their current name.
-The MDC has a youth cheer squad and help mentor young girls in the Miami area
-The squad hosts auditions every May.

sourced: https://www.miamidolphins.com/cheerleaders/