We recently connected with Sabrina Ellison and have shared our conversation below.

Sabrina, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I am likely going to approach this topic in a slightly different way as I would say that “the most meaningful project” that I’ve worked on has actually spanned my entire career and furthermore is still “on-going.” The goal has always been to create and maintain a safe, loving, supportive and hard-working family environment for all my performers across all my entertainment teams and push my dancers to new heights as people and performers. The emphasis on “family” can not be stressed enough – it is the North Star for the program which creates the foundation for the chemistry these teams exhibit when performing on court and in their everyday professional/personal lives. This level of mentorship and support which extends far past the court is something I have always taken great pride in delivering to all my performers throughout my career and is by far the most meaningful project Iv’e worked on to date. The results of which created a very high demand of dancers from different states and countries who specifically want to be apart of one of my entertainment teams. Furthermore by being able to attract and retain such incredible talent it has allowed the space for me to spend more energy on creating entertainment shows that have never been attempted in the NBA thus pushing the creative envelope not only on what can be done on court but also elevating the type of entertainment traditionally seen by fans to new heights.

Sabrina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Those who don’t know me might be surprised to learn that I actually don’t come from a highly trained or technical dance background. My love for performance came from family parties. It’s very ingrained in the Filipino and Pakistani culture to have singing and dancing performances at our family events and festivities so those experiences ignited my love for dance. It sounds funny saying this now but I learned to dance from my uncle who used to love going out dancing on the weekends and from my best friend who lived in the same cul-de-sac when we were younger. Then in high school I decided to try out for the song/pom dance team and that same best friend who was able to take dance classes would teach me what she had learned in my garage and outside on our neighborhood street. This is how I prepared in time for the high school dance auditions – I took every opportunity I had available to learn and grow as a dancer regardless of any obstacles that came my way. Coming from a background where my family moved here from other countries is where I got my determination to dream big even though I really didn’t have a lot of experience with sports until I was able to make the song/pom team and from that moment fell in love with not only being part of a team but also performing at sporting events. This experience lead me to establish the first ever dance team at the University of San Francisco and gave me the confidence to tryout for the San Francisco 49er Gold Rush program.

I tried out several times over a four year span to make it on the Gold Rush until I made the team then and the rest is history. I went from dancing in the NFL for eight seasons to starting dance teams from scratch both abroad and in the United States and doors just kept opening and my passion only continued to get stronger because I love to create through my passion of dance, but to also push my dancers to grow as individuals and as teammates. As I started to get into the pro dance space I quickly realized it is a very male dominated industry however these organizations and fan bases have changed overtime and now professional sports has definitely become more family friendly over my time in the industry. From the beginning I felt the need to push the envelope and help others recognize that these amazing female performers are not only amazing dancers but amazing, strong and hardworking humans. Therefore I took it upon myself with my role in this industry to really create a space for these women to grow and create messaging around showcasing how the stereotype of cheerleaders and dancers are are actually inaccurate and that the women in pro sports dance are intelligent, kind and incredibly hard working.

My whole entire career has centered around pushing dancers to evolve while showcasing how inspiring they are on the court and off the court. Through my ability to create a family atmosphere/culture within these teams we are bringing in some creative firepower to develop new ways of storytelling through the art of dance on an NBA court. What we are doing now is much more than just performing dance routines. I’ve been able to create teams with a dance family ranging from age 8 years old to 80 years old. While also tapping into some incredible creative minds that I work with at the Golden State Warriors to storytell our routines and create custom LEDs, brainstorm and develop props, etc to elevate our performances so that we are really engaging our fan base, but also constantly pushing the envelope on the entertainment value of what can be done in a pro sports environment.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal, or mission, has never wavered from the time I was first introduced to dance as a young girl to the business woman I am today – use my passion for dance to inspire the very best out of others so that they too can see the greatness in themselves and grow into the people/performers/creatives they were meant to become. And take the knowledge I gained watching my immigrant parents stretch themselves in business and push myself to never settle but continue to improve as a creative while locking in with other creatives to collaborate in bringing what I envision to life. An upcoming example of this is a collaboration I am doing with SF Ballet and my dancers to bring the Nutcracker to an NBA court,

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is that there is nothing that makes me feel more alive than expressing myself through my own creativity and letting other artists/creatives have a vessel to create with me to bring unique perfirmances into existence in the pro sports space.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nba.com/warriors/danceteam/home
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gswdanceteam/?hl=en

Image Credits
Josh Leung