Brooklyn bound!

An intense two-day audition held by the electric Brooklyn Nets basketball dance team, the Brooklynettes came to an exciting close on Sunday with six female Barbadian dancers being chosen to travel to Brooklyn, New York.

For the first time in history the dance team held auditions outside of Brooklyn and Barbados was their first pick. Initially, two lucky dancers would have received the opportunity to perform with the dance team. However, after the Brooklynettes professed how blown away they were with the talent, the team selected six dancers to dance on “Barbados Night” on April 3 at Barclay’s Center during the Brooklyn Nets versus Toronto Raptors game.

The ladies who were chosen out of the 11 semi-finalists: Zhane Padmore, Aisha Comissiong, Keisha Dowridge, Nandi Yard, Asha Weekes and Shameka Walters. Eusi Skeete, senior business Development Officer, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) USA, said: “We are very excited about this partnership between the BTMI and the Brooklynettes, as we saw this was a ripe market for Barbados to showcase the destination to a very wide audience.

“We wanted to bring the Barbadian flare to Brooklyn and give local talent the opportunity to showcase what they have to offer. Therefore, we look forward to continuing this beneficial partnership to continue to showcase Barbados to New York and to the world.”

During Barbados Night at Barclay’s Center, the entire arena comes alive as the island is showcased from beginning to end through many mediums. Previously Alison Hinds, Nikita and Mahalia from Two Mile Hill sang the National Anthem during Barbados Night and this year the BTMI is proud to announce it will be showcased through dance.

Criscia Long, director of entertainment marketing of the Brooklynettes was moved to tears as she said, “After coming to Barbados for the past four seasons, this particular experience was magical as these talented ladies took it to the next level. Being able to give them this opportunity to bring Bajan flare to Brooklyn and Barclay’s Center is very exciting and we can’t wait to welcome them.” (PR)