Being a Patriots cheerleader more than just kicks for Swampscott native

SWAMPSCOTT – She is a football fan studying broadcast journalism at Emerson College. But Swampscott’s Michelle Nigro gets most of her camera time not by reporting but by performing from the sidelines of Gillette Stadium as a New England Patriots cheerleader.”Every game day is amazing,” Nigro said. “To cheer in front of the best fans in New England, it’s been amazing.”The 2008 Swampscott High School graduate said that the part-time job is way more than showing up on game day and asking fans how to spell “offense.” In fact, Nigro considers herself primarily a dancer rather than a cheerleader.Nigro explained that she has been dancing since the age of 3, but only began cheering her senior year in high school. Instead, she focused on dance while a member of the Swampscott High School Dance Team. Nigro said that her coach, Danielle Lannon, fondly recalled her experience as a Patriots cheerleader and Nigro was intrigued.”I always looked up to her as a great dancer and she always told us how fun and amazing the experience was,” Nigro said. “Sophomore year (in college) I decided to look into it? and fell in love with the dance style that the Patriots use.”She added that, although the Patriots cheerleaders are one of the only squads in the league that still performs cheers, being able to dance seven routines per game is much more important than having strong vocal chords.”It’s not all glitz and glamor,” Nigro said. “The routines change every year and we have dozens of dances that we do per season – basically there is always something new for the fans to watch. The only things that stay the same are the cheers, so fans can remember them.”And learning and performing those routines, as well as making personal appearances in the community, takes a lot of time and dedication, Nigro said, especially when taking a full course load at Emerson College and adding an internship and another part-time job once classes end.”In addition to being strong dancers, maintaining high levels of physical fitness, being social, personable and eloquent, Patriots cheerleaders must also be exceptional,” wrote Patriots Cheerleaders Coach Tracy Sormanti in an email. “Each year, the squad makes hundreds of personal appearances throughout the community representing the New England Patriots organization, while at the same time balancing their practice, work and school schedules. So excellent time management skills are crucial for Patriots cheerleaders.”The team had its first meeting and practice Tuesday night, and now begins twice-weekly practices. Practices typically involve lots of physical conditioning (the football players aren’t the only members of the Patriots organization “running the ramps” at Gillette or practicing their “kicks”) as well as learning the dance routines that mix hip-hop and jazz dancing techniques.Although the squad performs only at home games, they also travel to appearances throughout New England and even overseas, including a week-long trip to Aruba to shoot the annual swimsuit calendar.”Any opportunity to get yourself out there, engage in conversation, it’s good practice for anything because it gives you confidence and poise,” but it is also essential for broadcast journalism, Nigro said.Her former high school dance team coach and Patriots cheerleader alumna Lannon agreed.”It definitely will help her,” Lannon said. “A lot of being a cheerleader is getting to know people and getting comfortable talking with people?with all the promotions and everything they do, it’s a great way to build your personality and conversation skills.”Indeed, Nigro has already had an opportunity to develop those skills on camera. She won the Totally Patriots Talent Search last summer, which allowed her to guest host episodes of the Totally Patriots pre-game show. In a video biography on the Patriots Cheerleaders website, she also asks her broadcast journalism professor to note the improvement in her voice-over delivery.And while she said that she is unsure if her c