Jesse White Tumbling Team
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Jesse White Tumbling Team is an internationally renowned team of acrobats that was founded in 1959 by Illinois athlete and politician, Jesse White. Their acrobatic performances can frequently be seen during half-time shows for the National Basketball Association, the National Football League and Major League Baseball games. The team entertains at business and sporting events year-round, including colleges and universities nation-wide. They have quite a rich history of annual appearances at various festivals and parades. In addition to performing at numerous civic and sporting events, they have performed on national television and at the White House.
Jesse White, founder and coach, created the team in 1959 to provide a recreational, athletic, educational and cultural enrichment experience for the team members. White has volunteered with the team to help kids stay away from gangs, drugs, alcohol and smoking, and to help set at-risk youth on the path to success. The program has received international praise. This is a juvenile delinquency prevention program. The members are required to abide by Jesse White's strict rules, which include staying in school, maintaining a "C" average in academic coursework and staying away from gangs and drugs.
The team serves as a positive alternative for children residing in Chicago's inner city public housing communities and as positive role models for youth wherever they perform. Since the team's inception, over 10,000 young men and women, beginning as young as 6 years old, have benefited from the program. Jesse White's key to success is "tough love." He serves as coach, teacher, friend, mentor, confident and surrogate father to the members.
The group is extremely exciting to watch perform as a form of exhibition entertainment. They have appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show starring Jay Leno, Good Morning America, The Jenny Jones Show, Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club, CBS' How'd They Do That, as well as several performances on Nippon Television in Tokyo. The team has also been featured in commercials for Coca-Cola, Jewel Food Store, the Chicago White Sox and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. In addition, they have appeared in the movies Heaven is a Playground, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and performed stunts in the movie The Meteor Man starring Robert Townsend. The Tumblers also performed during the 52nd and 53rd Presidential Inaugural Parades. Fifteen current and former members of the Team have toured with the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus as the Chicago Kidz. The tumblers have also toured and performed with the Harlem Globetrotters. They have performed at the half time of every NBA team except the Los Angeles Lakers who only use the Laker Girls at half time.
The Jesse White Tumbling Team makes over 1000 appearances each year.
The Jesse White Tumbling Team Organization consists of four components:
- The Tumbling Team
- The Training Program
- The Tutoring Program
- The Scholars Program
