Final Exams or NBA Finals? For These Boston Conservatory Students, It's Both Two commercial dance students joined the Boston Celtics dancers for a memorable NBA season.
By
Sarah Godcher Murphy
June 12, 2024
Celtics dancer Sophie Reynolds performs in TD Garden.
Media News Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images
Sophie Reynolds and Isabelle Richards didn't watch much basketball growing up. Committed to their dance training at an early age, they spent far more time dancing competitively than following professional sports. So when the two auditioned for-and won-coveted spots on the Boston Celtics dance team in summer 2023, they were not well-versed in the finer points of the game. And they certainly weren't familiar with the Celtics tradition known as Gino Time, the in-your-face victory dance that accompanies a blowout win in TD Garden.
The 2023-2024 NBA season has been quite an education. Throughout their second year of studies at Boston Conservatory, Reynolds and Richards danced on the parquet-and earned academic credit for it-as the Celtics won 37 out of 41 regular season home games. They watched, courtside, as the team cruised to an Eastern Conference championship and then on to the NBA finals against the Dallas Mavericks. And during a season when the team won 19 games by a margin of 20 points or more, they became very well acquainted with the legend of Gino.
As the tradition goes, when the Celtics take an insurmountable lead (but not a moment sooner, because Boston fans abide by jinxes) the jumbotron in the Garden plays a clip from American Bandstand's disco heyday. The Bee Gees' You Should Be Dancing floods the loudspeakers, and the Celtics dancers lead the crowd in celebration, as a guy wearing a skin-tight shirt that says Gino appears on screen and casually grooves to the music.
When the music plays, everyone in the Garden knows exactly what's about to happen, and we run out there, Reynolds says. It's fun because you rub it in the other team's faces a little bit.
But even during a season loaded with lopsided victories, the dance team takes pains not to summon bad luck. Everybody has their own superstitions, and we're always like, Don't say the word Gino today,' says Richards. No lead feels quite safe enough to speak his name aloud-not even this past March when the Celtics beat the Golden State Warriors 140-88, according to Reynolds. We can have a 50-point lead and there's two minutes left, but we're still not going to say Gino.'
The Celtics won the first two games of the championship series at home, and will play games three and four in Dallas this week. Although neither student wants to start counting chickens just yet, they can't help imagining what it would be like to dance in a duck boat victory parade, should the Celtics go all the way. Nor can they contain their gratitude for front row seats to this championship run-while continuing to study for their bachelor's degree. I really think I lucked out, Reynolds says. What a year to be a rookie.
Isabelle Richards, left, dances with her teammates during a Celtics game.
Courtesy of Celtics Entertainment
In September 2022, Reynolds and Richards joined the inaugural class of a brand new, three-year commercial dance B.F.A. program at Boston Conservatory. As their first school year came to a close, they began a lengthy audition process with the Celtics, enduring multiple rounds of callbacks. Joining the team required a contractual commitment to practice several times a week at the Auerbach Center for the duration of the school year, in addition to 41 home-game performances. To make this schedule work, they devised an independent study, earning credits that would enable them to stay on track to graduate in just three years.
The commercial dance program's emphasis on professional preparation was a huge draw for both students. You can get good dance training from a lot of places, but you can't get good industry knowledge and mentorships from just anyone, Reynolds said.
During their first year in the program, both dancers studied with Associate Professor Anthony Burrell, a former principal for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater who first crossed over into commercial dance when he choreographed Beyonce's MTV Music Video Award performance in 2003. During their time in Burrell's Pop Diva Repertory course, they learned some of his best-known choreography, including steps from Beyonc 's Formation halftime show at Super Bowl 50 and Mariah Carey's Las Vegas residency #1 to Infinity.
I try to be like a sponge in his class because I only get so much mentorship and critiquing when I'm here, Reynolds says. Once you're out in the industry, you don't get that; so I'm trying to soak it up while I can.
Reynolds says her training with Burrell and other Conservatory faculty made her feel equipped for the Celtics audition process. Although she has loved her experience with the NBA, she chose not to re-audition for another season because she wants to spend her final year at the Conservatory focused on her dance studies, improving her technique and laying the groundwork for a career based in Los Angeles or New York after graduation. This past May, the Berklee Career Center connected Reynolds with pop singer MARIS for a performance at Boston Calling, and she intends to pursue more work with touring artists.
Richards did re-audition for the Celtics and made it to the final round in May-along with five other Boston Conservatory students from the commercial dance program. She hopes to stick with the team for at least one more year, and will find out later this summer if she made the cut for 2024-2025.
For Richards, dancing with the Celtics is a childhood wish, granted. Although she grew up in San Diego, her fa
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
19/05/2026
Mago Studio Moves AI Video Beyond Prompts with New Production-Focused Tools
Brie Clayton May 18, 2026
0 Comments
New Capabilities Bring Controllable, ...
19/05/2026
It May be Time to Stop and Take an AI Breather
Brie Clayton May 19, 2026
0 Comments
If the rock you stay on starts to roll, jump clean. Or you'll...
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
18/05/2026
Skyline Communications has announced an integration between its DataMiner xOps p...
18/05/2026
eCLUTCH, the hybrid esports platform powered by iKOMG, has announced an expansion of its distribution across Europe, MENA, Africa, and Asia, along with new cont...
18/05/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/05/2026
With 22 games this season, the production team looks forward to tweaking and enhancing the coverage
After 8,660 days off the air, the WNBA returned to NBC yest...
18/05/2026
(L-R) Midori Francis and Natalie Erika James attend the Saccharine premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 22, 2026, in ...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
Delta Goodrem shines for SBS as more than 3.27 million Australians tune in for E...
18/05/2026
The Australian Defence Force uses L3Harris T4 and T7 robots for explosive ordnan...
18/05/2026
Continued investment across Europe and Germany is expanding local teams and improving access to stock, regional expertise, and specialist broadcast support.
CV...
18/05/2026
Agentic AI inference at one-tenth the cost per token with NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL7...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
17/05/2026
Back to All News
Oasis Premieres on Netflix June 19
Entertainment
17 May 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Summer, sunshine, the beach, parties. T...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
15/05/2026
Netflix has announced an expanded NFL schedule for 2026 and beyond under a four-year partnership extension with the NFL through the 2029-30 season. Each season,...
15/05/2026
Ateme is supporting TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) with a contribution and d...
15/05/2026
Concacaf has announced the launch of a new website and mobile app built on Deltatre's FORGE platform. Concacaf.com and the mobile app, available on iOS and ...
15/05/2026
Eutelsat has announced the launch of QBC Business Economic Channel by Qatar Media Corporation, broadcasting in 4K/UHD via Eutelsat's 7/8 West video neighbo...
15/05/2026
Major League Soccer has announced four original content series timed to the 2026...
15/05/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced it will exhibit and present at InfoComm 2026, taking place June 13-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Cente...
15/05/2026
InfoComm 2026 will take place June 13-19 (exhibits June 17-19) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show will include sessions and exhibits covering broadcas...
15/05/2026
Tracy McGrady's Ones Basketball League (OBL) and FuboTV Inc. have announced ...
15/05/2026
Disguise has partnered with Creative Technology (CT) to deliver visual playback ...
15/05/2026
Sony Electronics has announced two new products for professional imaging: the Alpha 7R VI full-frame mirrorless camera and the FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS super-te...
15/05/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
15/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
Final Exams or NBA Finals? For These Boston Conservatory Students, It's Both Two commercial dance students joined the Boston Celtics dancers for a memorable NBA season.
