Feel like a slave to problem sets? The thought of another paper makes you ill? Add two crazy weeks of dance auditions and interviews with the Stanford Band and you have the life of a Dollie dreamer.

In the wee hours of Feb. 20, five Dollies emerged victorious from a group of 23 women. The process included both friendly workshops and clinics led by the now-former Dollies and three rounds of dreaded cuts.

In the traditional order of height from shortest to tallest, the new Dollies are freshmen Maili Alvarado, Lauri Anderson, Liz Schackmann, Katie Ambrose and Stacie Vilendrer. In order to give Daily readers an idea of what it takes to become a Dollie, we followed the aspiring women through the process.

Information Session: Jan. 31, 8 p.m.

Assistant Band manager Mike Priest, a sophomore, dubbed the girls at the information session “Pro-Dos,” which he said was “the cuter version of a Prospective Dollie, and the greatest thing to be besides a Dollie Proper,” or official Dollie. The current Dollies — sophomores Megan Hoarfrost, Lisa Asari, Nicole D’Arcy, Jessica Whitten and Carrie Edwards — outlined the audition process and encouraged the Pro-Dos to come to them with whatever questions they had.

“I came here to find out more about what being a Dollie is like,” said freshman Sarah Schoknecht. “I’ve done ballet, modern dance and jazz since I was five, but I’ve never been a cheerleader. I wanted to try something different and dance for the Band.”

Junior Megan Heinan, who was a cheerleader in high school, said that being a Dollie was a lifelong dream.

“I was born in Stanford Hospital, so I’ve been here for a while,” she said. “I’ve wanted to be a Dollie since day one. I’m also friends with [2003-2004 Dollie] Melanie Atmadja. I borrowed her Dollie dress for Halloween last year, and I wore it for three days straight.”

The current Dollies emphasized that they were not part of the selection process.

“The older Dollies will be the ones deciding, so we don’t want you to feel intimidated if you have any questions at all,” Whitten said. “We’re on your side.”

Workshops and Clinics: Feb. 2 to Feb. 15

Pro-Dos were required to memorize three dances: an easier, “traditional” Dollie dance, a more technical dance choreographed by the 2004-2005 Dollies and one they choreograph themselves to a Band song. Pro-Dos were given CDs of the music to practice to between the five workshops offered to work on the dances.

Each 2004-2005 Dollie also hosted a clinic, which were sessions smaller than the workshop and designed to give Pro-Dos a chance to ask questions or learn difficult choreography on a one-on-one level.

“It’s nice to have the current Dollies be so informal, so excited and so supportive of us,” Anderson said. “They really want to see us succeed.”

Ambrose came down with bronchitis after the first Dollie workshop and was sick for the duration of the audition process, often left sitting out with an inhaler for much of the practices.

“It was difficult being sick and kind of stressful,” she said. “But you could still tell what my dancing abilities were. A lot of the other girls were really sweet and supportive of my illness, though, and I just had a lot of fun getting to know the rest of them.”

First Cuts: Feb. 16, 6 p.m.

More people auditioned this year than in years past. This year’s 23 auditioned in front of former Dollies and Band management at Elliot Practice Center for the first round of cuts, which focused mostly on technical ability.

Vilendrer said that Band members, who also attended the first round, promoted a relaxed atmosphere.

“It was a really laid-back performance,” she said. “The Band threw food at the outgoing Dollies as a joke, and there were skits and little performances in between the auditions. Somebody performed a song, one kid got a haircut.”

Some Pro-Dos were excited to meet former Dollies, and others enjoyed what they felt was a family environment of the “mom Dollies” — the 2004-2005 Dollies and the “grandma Dollies”” — the 2003-2004 dollies.

Alvarado said that she was more nervous going into the first round of cuts than she was at any other time.

“I didn’t know what to expect at all,” she said. “But the old Dollies were great. They obviously know how to judge dance.”

Second Cuts: Feb. 19, 8 a.m.

Twelve Pro-Dos were contacted and informed of their advancement to round two shortly after the first round ended. Second cuts took place on Saturday morning, Feb 19, appropriately dubbed “Dollie Day.” The auditions for the second round had a greater focus on performance than on technical ability.

“I thought it was more about personality,” Alvarado said. “It was kind of like [the Band] was testing us to see if we had enough stamina to put up with them.”

Anderson was already a drummer in the Band and auditioned because she got a first-hand view of what the Dollies did. She said she especially liked how vocally responsive the Band was to the performers during this portion of the auditions. “I’ve never experienced anything like that in an audition ever,” she said.

Third Cuts: Feb. 19, 10 p.m.

Eight women were called back to the Band Shak for the final round of auditions several hours after the second round of auditions. Instead of dancing, the Pro-Dos were interviewed by Band members, who asked questions to determine each candidate’s ability to deal with the busy, hectic lifestyle of a Dollie.

Vilendrer said that the purpose of the interviews was to introduce the Pro-Dos to the Band and to make sure that they were “compatible” with Band members. Alvarado agreed.

“All of the girls were so talented,” she said. “I really didn’t know what was going to happen, going into the interview. I didn’t expect anything at all, but obviously I’m glad it turned out the way it did.”

The interviews ended at 2 a.m. and by 6 a.m., the five chosen ones were rolled out — they had been selected to be the official Dollies for the 2005-2006 school year.

Life as a Dollie

Starting last week, the 2005-2006 Dollies held practices four days a week for two hours a day in preparation for Dollie Splash in May, the official 10-dance initiation of the new Dollies that will take place in White Plaza. Being a Dollie is an enormous time commitment, since all five are expected to accompany the Band and attend certain rallies and events.

“I’m still not sure of everything [being a Dollie] entails yet, but I know that we’ll be dancing anywhere that the Band is,” said Vilendrer. “And the Band really loves the Dollies, so they’ll take good care of us.”

Ambrose, who has no other cheerleading experience, danced for her high school varsity dance program, which was cancelled before her senior year because school authorities felt that the team’s dances were “too sexual.” Next year, she looks forward to cheering on the sports teams, especially the menís basketball team.

“I would love to perform for the Sixth Man Club,” she said.

Anderson, who was already part of the Band, said that she hadn’t really thought about becoming a Dollie until the audition process.

“I went to the first rehearsal and thought I might as well go to the second one,î she said. ìAnd after I went to the second one I thought that I’d just go to the next one. As the weeks went on, I became more and more excited. It’s so apparent from all the old Dollies — none of them would have been Dollies if they hadn’t loved it.”