The Soul Sisters: Russia’s ‘most popular’ cheerleaders not fazed by dancing in cold summer weather
'The Soul Sisters', a professional cheerleading team which claims to be 'Russia’s most popular', say they were unfazed while recently performing at Russia’s Beach Soccer Championship, despite temperatures hitting historical lows.
In contrast to a fast-growing tendency to ban cheerleaders at various sporting events, including 'podium girls' or 'grid girls', Russian sports officials still prefer to invite professional dancers to major competitions.
The Soul Sisters are one of the most in-demand groups to perform at sporting events, ranging from the IIHF hockey world championship to local basketball tournaments.
Founded 11 years ago in St. Petersburg, Russia, the team now has 50 members and travels around the country to take part in various shows and competitions.
One of their most recent performances took place at Russia’s Beach Football Championship in their hometown at the beginning of August where the dancers endured cold and windy weather.
Russian summers, especially as north as St. Petersburg, usually leave a lot to be desired in terms of temperature, but 2019 has reportedly been one of the coldest in recent history in the country.
“We had an open-air performance at the beach football championship,” Soul Sisters’ team member Alena Kostrikova said.
“Weather conditions were rather rough: just 13 Celsius, with strong wind. We took warm clothes with us, but I didn’t put them on. When you dance energetically it’s not cold at all,” she added.
After having a short break in June, The Soul Sisters have already resumed intensive training to get ready for the next sports season in Russia where they will perform at football, ice hockey, and volleyball events.
