What’s it like standing on the sidelines of an NFL football game? University of Arizona School of Dance grad Talia Hintermeister can tell you. As a Vikings cheerleader, she gets a front row ticket to every game, but how did she get this opportunity?
“I never knew that I would be doing this, it honestly was a spur of the moment thing,” Hintermeister said. “My sister, who is a senior in the School of Dance, sent me the Vikings Cheer Instagram post about an open class and I was like ‘sure I’ll see what it’s like, at least it’s a jazz class.’ After I went, I was like ‘oh it’s similar to the jazz that we did at school, it’s kinda fun,’ and then I went to try outs, and … here we are.”
After graduating in 2020 from the University of Arizona, with a BFA in dance and a BA in business from Eller College of Management, Hintermeister was all set for a completely different career path.
“I had agreed to a contract with the Norwegian Cruise Line,” she explained. “When that was voided because of the pandemic, I kept in touch with them for a bit to see how long it would be before their operations would be back in full swing.”
While she was waiting to hear from the cruise line, she decided to pursue a career as a business analyst with United Health Group in Minnesota, her home state, with the company she had interned for the summer between her senior year.
The Vikings gig came from a desire to dance.
Double major Talia Hintermeister tries two careers in Minnesota
“This year, when I was missing dance, I had been taking classes to keep that dance flame fueled. But, when I found out there were auditions for the Vikings, I did a dance prep class, submitted an audition video in April of 2022, and then found out I made the team at the end of May. We started practice right after that in June and I have been doing that since.”
Hintermeister is nothing short of busy. She’s at the office doing business analysis from 8a – 5p and then off to cheerleader practice from 6:30p – 9:30p three times a week in full side-line-ready makeup. On top of that, she is committed to community appearances as well.
“We are really involved in the community. We do appearances at different events. So far I have done a few appearances, one was the training camp held by the Vikings, a lot of others are different charity events, different parades, and volunteering.”
The skills to juggle her double life came from her experiences at the University of Arizona.
“Both of my major studies prepared me, I was ready to jump into a dance career right out of college, I had a contract because we had such great connections through the School of Dance. The core business classes that I took at Eller are super applicable; I use a lot of the broad business skills that I learned in my day to day.”
She also acquired business skills beyond the classroom.
“Being involved in Dance Collective (the School of Dance affiliated ASUA club) and being an officer challenged me to take on a leadership position and pushed me to coordinate events, communicate, and lead a group,” Hintermeister said. “Those lessons have been really applicable to both my dance and business career. It was nice to be able to foster those skills while I was still in school and get a taste of a leadership position before graduating.”
The Dance Collective gave Hintermeister a sense of community throughout her college experience.
“As an underclassmen, I would sell merchandise at shows, usher, just help out in whatever way I could. I met a lot of people that way, both Dance Collective members and leaders of other groups.”
The Dance Collective also built community by organizing welcome bonding events each year for incoming first-year students to meet their new classmates at the school.
“Having someone to look up to is so important. Even though the dance school is relatively small, it can be overwhelming at first, so it’s nice to have upperclassmen that you can turn to with questions, especially at the beginning of the year.”
Hintermeister’s time at the University taught her a lot, but most importantly it gave her a community of people that to this day she calls her best friends.
Notes from her Vikings’ bio page …
- Talia is a dance teacher at Spotlight Productions Dance Studio, where she grew up dancing for 13 years!
- She works as an Integration Analyst within Enterprise Optimization and Strategy, helping Acquired Entities integrate into the United Health Group systems. She’s responsible for doing analyses of Acquired Entities’ supplier data, categorizing their suppliers, and conducting training for new business users.
- “I am so grateful for my four years in Arizona and always look forward to going back to visit!”