For some, dancing on the field at the Super Bowl halftime show may be a dream, but for Pace University dance team coach Christina Manno, it was a reality. With Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers alongside, this performance was a part of her first of two seasons as a Gotham City Cheerleader, the professional dance team in support of the New York Giants.

With Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers alongside, this performance was a part of her first of two seasons as a Gotham City Cheerleader, the professional dance team in support of the New York Giants.

“It was so much fun.  It was an unforgettable experience,” Manno said.   Growing up in Peekskill, New York, and then moving to Carmel in the middle of high school, Manno only danced, with the exception of trying softball, but when her parents told her to pick one, she

Growing up in Peekskill, New York, and then moving to Carmel in the middle of high school, Manno only danced, with the exception of trying softball, but when her parents told her to pick one, she chose dance.  She switched dance studios pretty often, before ending up at the Pulse Performing Arts Studio in Bedford.

After graduating high school, she went on to Manhattanville College in Purchase, where she was a dance and theatre major with a concentration in dance therapy, along with a minor in Psychology.

“I didn’t even think about majoring in anything else besides dance.  Maybe education, because I like working with kids, helping people, and teaching,” Manno said.

After college, her first goal was to be a professional dancer, so she began working out and auditioned for the Gotham City Cheerleaders.

“I loved it so much, so I really gave it my all.  I treat auditions as a dance class, and how you would work in a dance class.  Now, being a coach, I want to see the person that’s asking questions, paying attention, and being focused.  That’s the people I want on my team, so that’s how I want to be when I audition,” Manno said.

Callbacks were picked, and went through a three-week boot camp, with workouts and practices in both Bryant and Battery Park.  The team was picked three weeks later and Manno had made it.In addition to the Super Bowl, the Gotham City Cheerleaders opened up for Meghan Trainor and Nick Jonas’s concert at Nash FM’s The Ultimate Tailgate Party at the Best Buy Theatre in Times Square.

In addition to the Super Bowl, the Gotham City Cheerleaders opened up for Meghan Trainor and Nick Jonas’s concert at Nash FM’s The Ultimate Tailgate Party at the Best Buy Theatre in Times Square.

“Being on the Gotham City Cheerleaders was an unforgettable experience. I met so many people.  I met players like Tiki Barber and Rueben Randle,” Manno said.

In addition to coaching the Pace dance team, Manno is in her seventh year of teaching lyrical, ballet, jazz, and hip-hop at Cinzia’s Dance Studio in Eastchester, where she also co-founded their competition team.  Among her favorite styles to teach are jazz and ballet.

“My favorite style to dance is hip hop, but with jazz and ballet, there is a specific technique that is passed on, so I love passing on that technique.  Ballet is very rigid, while with hip hop it is up to your own interpretation,” Manno said.

She also works for a traveling dance program called the Little Dance Company, a “studio on wheels,” where she drives to different schools to teach kids from ages Pre-K up to the fifth-grade level.

Manno now hopes to continue following her passion for dance, with both performing and teaching.