Meet Wizdom: Washington Wizards’ Newest Dancers

One dancer is a former Redskins cheerleader, another (LaVeta) once cheered for Washington’s NBA team when it was called the Bullets. There are lots of grandmas, a few cancer survivors, and plenty with chronic health conditions — though you’d never guess it from watching them on the court.  

Lenora, 76, the eldest on the team who's known as “Nana,” has knee problems, and several years ago underwent brain surgery for hydrocephalus. “I started thinking, I can’t just lay around and have a pity party,” she says. When she heard about the auditions from her grandson, Marcel, who’s on the Wizards’ main dance team, she went for it and aced the auditions. “I love it,” she says.

Nana’s best buddy on Wizdom is Wanda, 65, a retired sign language interpreter with short gray hair and an easy smile. She may be the most enthusiastic dancer on the team, despite her fibromyalgia and plantar fasciitis, among other health issues. “I wake up in pain and go to bed in pain,” she says. “But for two to three hours [during practice] I am having the best time. It's a joy. You’ve got a bunch of old women twerking!”

They practice once a week — officially, but the dancers often get together at each other’s homes for extra practices. Though the performances are only a minute to 90 seconds long, they need to learn a new routine for each of the six or seven games they’ll appear at throughout the season.    

The attention the team has received, including performing for local TV news and receiving a shout-out from Ellen DeGeneres on her national talk show, has been a blast, says LaVeta. “I now know what the Kardashians feel like.”