Trying out for the Hawks A-Town Dancers

Arts and Culture

The Atlanta Hawks are holding tryouts for the A-Town Dancers, the squad of women who entertain the audience during breaks in the game. Among those showing up for the first day of auditions was Onikka Benjamin, a 29-year-old nurse hoping to realize her dream of becoming a professional dancer.

Each year, the Hawks A-Town Dancers look for 16-18 dancers for the squad that entertains the masses during basketball season. We followed Onikka Benjamin (second from right) through the first day of auditions. Lined up for the audition are, from left, Courtney Atkins, Ramona Dickey, Ebony Williams, Benjamin and Tiffany Ryland.

Showing some moves is Alexis Williams, dancing with an estimated 100 other dancers during the auditions for the Hawks A-Town Dancers at the Peachtree Center Athletic Club. The current dancers are not guaranteed their spots on the team and have to re-audition but do get to advance to the final round. The week-long audition process includes a fitness evaluation, an interview session, a mixer at Ten Pin Alley in Atlantic Station and, of course, the

Onikka Benjamin prepares for her audition. "I am standing out there feeling all vulnerable," Benjamin said of the audition. "That is part of the audition process. I am just happy that I didn't just run out of there in tears, because I was feeling really lost. I am just happy I stuck through it."

"It is just something in my heart and my soul," Onikka Benjamin said of dancing. "I know I need to push harder and make something happen, at least try. That's why I am here. "

Onikka Benjamin stretches her legs showing off her street shoes before her audition "I just found out about the audition two days ago," Benjamin said. "I was this close to not coming because I was so unprepared. My shoes -- I didn't have my shoes together, my dance shoes. I run in these, they have mud and everything all over them."

Onikka Benjamin stretches before her audition for the Hawks A-Town Dancers.

Onikka Benjamin sits in her place in formation holding her glasses before her audition for the Hawks A-Town Dancers.

Onikka Benjamin, 29, practices the dance routine she and the other women have been taught right before the audition. Benjamin has been a nurse for almost nine years and now. This was her first audition in Atlanta. "Somewhere in the middle of it, I was asking myself 'what are you getting yourself into.'"

Onikka Benjamin sits with the other dancers after her audition. "For some reason, I thought I was going to make the team today", Benjamin said.

Onikka Benjamin wipes sweat from her face after her audition for the Hawks A-Town Dancers. "Wow, they are really advanced. My timing was off. I blended in, but I know they look at the exact counts. I was hoping to do better."

Onikka Benjamin fixes her hair after her first audition for the Hawks A-Town Dancers.

Onikka Benjamin fixes her make-up after the audition. "There was a part of me that was just really fighting coming here and another part fighting just as hard, to say, 'you better get your butt down there.'"

Onikka Benjamin prepares herself to go back upstairs after her audition to hear who made the first cut for the Hawks A-Town Dancers. "I need to dance, I really want to dance," Benjamin said of her passion for dance.

Onikka Benjamin walks through the dressing room after her audition. She did not make the first cut. "For some reason, I thought I was going to make the team today," Benjamin said. "It's gonna happen, because I feel it. It's in my heart, and it just didn't manifest today."

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Each year, the Hawks A-Town Dancers look for 16-18 dancers for the squad that entertains the masses during basketball season. We followed Onikka Benjamin (second from right) through the first day of auditions. Lined up for the audition are, from left, Courtney Atkins, Ramona Dickey, Ebony Williams, Benjamin and Tiffany Ryland.

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