The Golden State Warriors audition finalists for its dance squads in front of Chase Center in San Francisco on July 31, 2021. Matt Pang and Onome Uyovbievbo/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — While NBA basketball returned in 2020, and arenas throughout the country allowed fans to attend by the last month of the season last spring, most of the “extra” entertainment features remained visibly absent, including at Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors. That will change for the upcoming season, and the Warriors took a step forward on Saturday as the organization held a public final audition at Thrive City, the plaza outside the arena, where about 50 finalists performed in front of a judge panel to make one of the team’s two main dance squads.

Onome Uyovbievbo/STAFF.

“Last season, we weren’t able to audition our team with everything that went on with COVID,” said Sabrina Ellison, Warriors Entertainment Teams director. “To get back and have an amazing live event right here at Chase Center, our home ground, is very exciting. … It’s our first time doing it. Usually auditions are closed. We were like, ‘You know what? Our dancers are very talented; let’s share it with family and friends and people that want to attend.'”

To even get to the final audition, dancers went through three virtual sessions and preliminary and semifinals auditions early in July. That was followed by three to four days of in-person final auditions last week. At this point, the female Gold Squad finalists were cut to 37, and the male hip-hop Blue Crew finalists were cut to 16, Ellison said.

“This past week we did rehearsals, bootcamp and really put them through the grind so they could understand what it means to be a pro dancer for the Golden State Warriors,” she said.

One of those finalists included Fresno native Courtney, a 2019 and 2020 Gold Squad member (the organization does not release the names of its dancers to protect their privacy).

“One of my favorite things about dancing for a pro team is performing in front of a live audience. There’s no other matched feeling of it,” Courtney said. “You just get this big adrenaline rush, and it’s exhilarating.”

Golden State Warriors Entertainment Teams Director Sabrina Ellison. Onome Uyovbievbo/STAFF.

Last season, rather than disbanding the dance teams, the Warriors invited the 2019 members to go virtual, recording performances for the website and social media.

“It’s great the organization values its dancers and have us still be able to dance,” Courtney said. .”It was a big learning curve for everybody. We would bring in choreographers virtually and learn from them online.”

In the public finals audition, all of the dancers, in various bright, neon outfits, performed one opening routine and then took turns, two or three at a time, performing nearly identical (and complex) short choreographed routines to a Sean Paul tune and MIMS “This Is Why I’m Hot.” The Blue Crew dancers, more so than the Gold Squad, took more freedom to improvise their moves, including some tumbling, to the same hip-hop song.

“When we dance, it’s a minute-routine, and we make it look easy, but there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes to make it to this final product,” Courtney said, adding that she prefers more traditional jazz-influenced dance because of her technical ballet background, while hip-hop routines are also fun because “they always get the crowd engaged.”

Matt Pang/STAFF.

Perhaps as interesting as the dancing itself were the breaks between each audition where dancers spoke about their backgrounds. Some had experience studying abroad, some had second language skills, some were classically trained ballet dancers, while others had danced for other sports clubs from the NCAA to other NBA teams and even in the NFL, including the 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Football Team. There were some former Warriors dancers as well, but everyone had to try out to make the teams for next season.

“It’s not just about being on the court,” Ellison said. “Our dancers typically do 200 events a season—when it’s not a pandemic. They’re ambassadors for the organization. These dancers come from really amazing backgrounds: studying at Duke and Stanford and Cal; they’re business owners. And of course, they’re really talented and technically skilled, and someone you can’t keep your eyes off. Our fanbase can really enjoy it and have fun, and it really raises the spirits here at the arena.”

While some of the attendees were Warriors fans or walked up after hearing music, many were family and friends who came to support the finalists. Some brought flower bouquets, pompoms and even signs to cheer on their favorites.

Sam McLeod came to support her friend, finalist Savanna Dunaway.

Matt Pang/STAFF.

“She’s been wanting for this forever. If your family can’t be here, then your friends need to,” McLeod said.

Following the audition, the organization screened “Grease” on the arena’s huge outdoor screen as part of its Cinema Nights series, with all of the finalists participating by dancing along with the film.

The Warriors will announce the Gold Squad and Blue Crew members Monday at 3 p.m. on the team’s website. The two squads will be joined next season by the Hardwood Classics team and Jr. Jam Squad youth dancers.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Onome Uyovbievbo at Twitter.com/byonome and Instagram.com/by.onme. Follow photographer Matt Pang at Instagram.com/mattgods and Twitter.com/mattpangs.