Let’s Not Dance Around It; Dallas Mavericks Troupe Needed to Go

Just a year after Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynthia Marshall ordered up more skills and less skin from the team’s dancers, the franchise is dropping the troupe — at least in its current form — along with the ManiAACs, in favor of a more diverse, family-friendly entertainment lineup next season.At the risk of offending every high-kicking, pom-pom-shaking reader out there, I couldn’t be happier to read this news. We can all cheer about our local NBA franchise leading the too-often-stuck-in-the-70s pro sports world into the 21st century.The Dallas Mavericks issued a news release Friday that promised a new three-ring circus of fun with all forms of dance, magic tricks, daredevil stunts, ventriloquists and — perhaps best of all — dancing animals.No one at Mavs headquarters — not Marshall nor team owner Mark Cuban — wanted to talk further Friday about what’s behind the change. But the news release tracks closely with the one the San Antonio Spurs put out almost exactly a year ago when it eliminated its Silver Dancers squad and shifted to a coed team of stunt artists, tumblers and acrobats.The Mavs statement emphasized the desire to show off “the wide variety of high-caliber talent that exists in the DFW metroplex.”  Continue reading...