Taylor (S13 Rookie)

* 23-years-old from Texas. She went to Texas A&M and was on the Aggie Dance Team for four years. She tried out for captain her junior year, but didn’t make it, but regardless she did her best to be a leader without a title. She did end up becoming the captain her senior year. One day, her dad got sick, so she took him to the hospital. There, they talked about loving A&M and how she wanted to keep dancing after college, which he encouraged her to do. Two days later, she learned he had end-stage cancer and was by then on a machine. She had taken him to the hospital one Saturday, and he passed away the following Saturday. It didn’t set in for her until after he passed that he wasn’t going to be there anymore, and it’s not fun. Dance is a place she can go where everything else in the world doesn’t matter. She misses him every day, but he has a front row seat to the tryouts and can watch her, and Taylor knows he’s proud of her. She knows he would love to see her become a DCC more than anything. If she’s going to keep dancing, what better of an organization to represent?

## **Confessionals**

Total: 19

Season 13: 19 (7th most)

Season 14: 0

### **Season 13**

**(13.1)**

* Being in Texas, I feel like every little girl wants to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.

**(13.2)**

* You know, it’s tough. The DCC style is different than anything I’ve ever done. But hopefully if we just practice it enough, get it in our bodies, and we’ll be able to perform it later.
* Biography
* I just made it into finals, so I’m really excited. I have to make sure my solo is the best that it can be.

**(13.3)**

* [Invited to training camp] It’s the beginning of a dream come true, so I’m so excited.

**(13.4)**

* I’m nervous. It’s going into the unknown. I’ve never been here before. I’ve never gone through the process. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to sleep tonight.

**(13.7)**

* My relationship with contemporary dance has been an on-and-off relationship over the years, so I’m not as comfortable with it.

**(13.11)**

* I was a little bit nervous. I’m not a super adventurous person when it comes to food. I said, “I’m just going to go for it, I’m going to try it.”
* It was super incredible having Colleen’s time today. I really loved hearing everything that she had to offer.
* I’m trying to be cautious. I’m trying to be a smart dancer with my knee, making sure that I don’t make it any worse. So, it’s hard when you get called out for that, but they’ve gotta make a team, so I gotta keep going.
* [Before office] I got called into the office tonight. It is my first time this season. I’ve been lucky enough to kind of go through the season almost flying under the radar. We’ll see what happens when they call me in.
* [After office] Kelli and Judy just wanted to talk to me about my knee. They really just wanted to make sure that we squish this bug, make sure it’s not an injury, make sure that it doesn’t become an injury. It’s definitely something that could prevent me from making this team. They’ve got some hard decisions, and something as simple as an injury could make that decision easy for them.

**(13.12)**

* If this was my last night, it would be devastating. We just all worked really hard.

**(13.13)**

* The rehearsal’s pretty intense right now, you know. We’re all really tired, but we’re doing our best.
* The cuts definitely run through my mind. I think they’re running through everybody’s minds right now.
* I keep looking up, and it says, “Congratulations, you made the team,” and I keep having to remind myself that that’s referring to me.
* It is our time to show exactly what we’ve been working so hard for. We’re not training camp candidates anymore. We’re all Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders now.
* These last few minutes are a little bit crazy. Everyone’s trying to make the final touches. I have been living all summer for this moment.
* This is absolutely the biggest performance of my life, and I am so incredibly thankful for my journey. It wasn’t always easy, it wasn’t always fun, but it is just incredible. Go, Cowboys.

## **Commentary**

### **Season 13**

**(13.2)**

* This one’s a little cutesy-ier – K

**(13.9)**

* When you walk in a room, you have this aura and this stature, because you’re just tall and you’re beautiful. Own it; you’re like the 50-yard line girl. That’s who the tallies are, so the eye is immediately drawn to you. So, go in with that mentality. – Melissa Rycroft
* Your smile comes and goes. You lost confidence, and I don’t even know if you knew it was happening. I could just see your face drop. – Melissa Rycroft
* See, now in boots, I like Taylor. I was starting to think she’s too tall. – K
* She looks good on this. – K

**(13.11)**

* Is Taylor running out of steam? – K/ Yeah, her kicks need to be higher. – J
* A rookie candidate could get cut if she doesn’t have good height in the kickline. – J
* Your jump split… – J/ I’ve been stepping out of the jump split just because of my knee, to make sure things are okay… – Taylor/ Have you gone to the doctor? Is it an old injury and is it just aggravated? – J/ We’re not really sure exactly what it is. Every time I try and lock out my knee, it kind of pops. – Taylor/ Still think your kicks aren’t as high as others in the group. – J
* It’s been a frustrating night. Someone like Taylor, who has not been on our radar, might have an injury, and if we put 36 girls on the field, and she’s one of those 36 that can’t even do kickline, we’re in trouble.

**(13.12)**

* Taylor looks winded. – K
* Taylor was late on the pose. – K

**(13.13)**

* Where’d Taylor go? – K/ She was in the wrong spot. She did the exact same thing last time. – J
* Taylor looks pretty up there right now. – K
* We’re going to re-look at Taylor on execution, style. – K
* Taylor is all over, fighting her yard lines. Come on, girl. – J
* I feel like Taylor was a little better tonight. – J
* There’s something contagious about Taylor, in her energy. She earned her spot on this team. – K

## **Office Visits**

### **Season 13**

**(13.11)**

* [End of episode, second of three] Kelli welcomes her to the office for the first time, and has her talk about her knee. Taylor says it began acting oddly, and she’s noticed that when she straightens her leg, it popped. She’s not worried, since it isn’t painful anymore and restricting her activities. Kelli suggests a medical appointment, and alerts her that they are going to be kicking and jump splitting with increasing frequency, so they don’t want her to further aggravate it. Taylor says she’s been trying to manage it personally as much as she could, and Kelli says that she’s a teacher, not a doctor. Taylor will do whatever it takes. [*Taylor leaves*] Kelli hopes it’s the support garment, or something.

## **Other**

### **Season 13**

**(13.1)**

* She’s shown introducing herself to the judges at preliminaries: she was the captain of the Aggie Dance Team

**(13.2)**

* Nick Florez does a short little “interview” with her and Alanna before they perform at semifinals
* Shown being invited to finals

**(13.3)**

* At panels, she’s asked what she would choose as a cause for her personal philanthropy, and Taylor chooses the American Cancer Society because of losing her dad four years prior.
* Shown being invited to training camp

**(13.4)**

* Shown introducing herself at the opening meeting: she was an 11-pound baby

**(13.9)**

* When Melissa Rycroft asks the rookies for their weaknesses, Taylor says hers if figuring out how to bring levels into the dances without losing performance.

**(13.11)**

* On the board, it can be seen that she’s received stickers from 5 of 6 evaluators (everybody but Nick Florez)

### **Season 14**

**(14.4)**

* She’s revealed to be in the top 17 based on how the TCC’s were ranked at finals (receiving a perfect score)

**(14.5)**

* She is revealed to be an “entertainer” based on her personality test results

Season 14 Stickers
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