The Nets’ move to Brooklyn in the proposed Barclays Center arena may be stalled due to ongoing litigation and a crumbling economy, but two of the team’s star dancers have already made the move to the Borough of Kings.
Jerese Kimbough, 26, originally from outside Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Allison Barnes, 22, originally from Birmingham, Alabama have both decided to call Brooklyn their home since moving to the area and successfully auditioning to become part of the dance troupe, which entertains fans during time-outs at all Nets home games.
“I love Brooklyn and I love the nature when I look out over the (Prospect) park every morning,” said Kimbough, who lives along Ocean Avenue near Parkside Avenue in the Flatbush/Lefferts Gardens section of the borough.
“There’s a lot of community, whether Russian or other ethnicities, but it’s somehow integrated at the same time. When you go to the park you see it all. The dog community gets together, and artists get together. It’s always a parade down there and very festive,” she added.
Kimbough said her favorite food she found in the borough is a small wing shop on Washington Avenue near the Brooklyn Museum, and that she came to New York City to pursue a career in dance.
“My ambition is to continue to grow as a person and as an artist and see where it takes me,” she said.
“The Nets have me training very hard, and have helped me develop strength and in so many aspects of who I am as a woman, as a dancer and as a professional,” she added.
Kimbough also supports the team’s move to Brooklyn, saying it will be good for the borough to have a team of its own.
“Hopefully it will provide more jobs in the community as well and more activity in general,” she said.
Barnes, who moved to the area just six months ago and lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, said she thinks the team coming to Brooklyn will offer a major boost to the borough.
“It will be a great opportunity for Brooklyn fans to have a team of their own to look up to,” said Barnes. “Kids get a chance to see something positive and have an opportunity to go to local games and see how we do it. The family that lives below me asks all the time about when the Nets are coming to Brooklyn, and they’re real excited about the move.”
While Barnes lives in Bed-Stuy, she said her favorite place to hang out is in nearby Fort Greene.
“My cousin’s girlfriend lives in that area, and I stay there a lot and fell in love with the area,” she said, adding her two favorite spots to eat are across the street from each other on Myrtle Avenue.
“Being a southern girl, I love the southern food at the Five Spot and right across the street, (Big Jimmy’s) Kum Kau has the best Chinese food,” she said.
Barnes said she came to the city right after graduation from the University of Alabama to pursue a career in dance and quickly passed the audition to become a Nets dancer.
“Before the season started we rehearsed on Tuesdays and Thursdays so it wasn’t too stressful, but now we’re into the season and sometimes we do back to back games so we’re at the arena almost every day. It’s fun though. We love the girls. We love the team and we just work very hard,” said Barnes.
“My ultimate goal is to be fulfilled in every sense of the word, and dancing is my ultimate fulfillment, so just making it to the very top is my goal,” she added.
Brooklyn bachelors who may be wondering on their chances of dating either of these two beautiful and talented ladies should know that Kimbough is spoken for, while Barnes, flashing a pearly white smile, said she is “definitely single.”
