What to Know
- The Queens Crew is a new 19-member and co-ed hype team for the Mets that will be entertaining crowds at Citi Field
- Long Island mother Gina Mormando is the head coach and choreographer of the squad, made up of members from the New York City metro area
- The Mets join other MLB teams, such as the Braves and Astros, in launching their very own dance team
The New York Mets are bringing a new type of entertainment to Citi Field that will have fans dancing from the Jackie Robinson Rotunda to the dugout.
Meet The Queens Crew, a 19-member co-ed hype team for the "Amazins" aimed to keep visitors feeling uplifted — even if what's going on the field isn't necessarily a home run.
Long Island mother Gina Mormando is the head coach and choreographer of the squad and comes with decades of experience in sports entertainment and dance, including working within the National Football League, National Hockey League and National Lacrosse League.
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"The styles that I was working with previously are completely polar opposite of what I'm doing with this. However, in the dance world, I've done everything from breakdancing to ballet, so I used to hone in on one style, and now, it's all making sense to me because they're [The Queens Crew] is so different with styles," Mormando told NBC New York during an interview before practice.
Mormando sees this new opportunity as a "dream come true" and embraces the diversity in dance styles and in the members of the team, all of whom are from the New York City metro area.
She practices new freestyle elements and choreographed routines with the crew once a week before home games.
News
At the home games in Queens, 10 of the dance members will join together and perform before the game as fans enter the stadium, on top of the dugout and along the stadium aisles in between breaks during the game.
"At the end of the day, just like the NFL and the NBA, we're all trying to build space between live action. This seemed like an obvious opportunity, and we wanted to bring something that was really going to bridge generations," said Trisha Donlin, the vice president of brand marketing for the Mets and one of the pioneers of the new concept, to News 4.
The Mets join other MLB teams, such as the Braves and Astros, in launching their very own dance team.
Auditions to join The Queens Crew were held in January, which brought in hundreds of local contestants. According to an expired job posting found on Backstage, the dance team is meant to reflect "the diverse culture, edgy style, and vibrant spirit of Queens" with compensation of up to $255 per day.
