Sideline Superstars: Blaize Shiek & Louie Conn

The duo made a splash when they became the Minnesota Vikings’ first male and openly gay cheerleaders on the dance squad last year. Exclusively for Lavender’s Pride Issue, they’re telling their stories for the first time, on their own terms.

Two dancers, both alike in dignity, in fair Minnesota, where we lay our scene.

These dancers are Blaize Shiek, 25, and Louie Conn, 22. They made headlines last year when they made the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders dance squad, the first male and openly gay dancers to do so. Of course, online trolls who have nothing to do with Minnesota came out of the woodwork to denounce their success. At the same time, the headlines, both negative and positive, reduced Shiek and Conn to the boundaries they broke and the hate they clapped back against, instead of the complex people they are.

If Pride Month is about celebrating the strides LGBTQ+ folks have made to demand our rights and lead successful lives, it’s also about celebrating ourselves as whole people apart from our marginalization and struggle against it.

In real life, Shiek, originally from Fargo, N.D., has bright eyes, hair layered in golden waves and a friendly yet outspoken demeanor that screams “diva” (or, as Conn says, “shiny.”) Conn himself comes off as the quintessential Iowa kid, complete with a genuine smile, heart on his sleeve and fascination with the big city he now calls home. 

Blazing trail after trail

Both Shiek and Conn are used to standing out. Both were the first male dancers on their high school teams, and both were the lone male dancers on their college teams. They also each had non-linear paths to dance defined by friendship.

“I grew up playing baseball my entire life,” Shiek says. “I loved it, but it didn’t fulfill me in a way that I was looking for. Then I ended up quitting in high school, and all my friends were on the dance team. When we were hanging out, they were always going over their routines or doing cool things, and I was like, ‘I wanna try that!’ That turned into me actually trying out, and I feel like that changed my life.”

Conn describes getting his start at age 8 in tumbling. At the same time, he was watching his older sister, 14 years his senior, cheer in high school. 

“I remember my dad actually took me to my first tumbling class, and I immediately fell in love,” he says. “That same tumbling studio had a dance competition team, and all of my friends were on both the dance and tumbling teams, so they kind of convinced me to do dance.”

Conn made his high school’s dance team his freshman year, but quit after facing homophobic bullying from his peers. Luckily, his friends came through again, and he returned to the team his sophomore year. 

“I had so many friends being like, ‘You’re gonna love it. Just come on, come dance!’” he says.

A 2020 profile in his high school’s newspaper puts it simply: “(Conn) constantly reminds himself why he keeps dancing and why he will not let other people get in the way of his passion again.”

Finding home in the land of the ice and snow

Shiek and Conn both cheated the system, in a sense, to pursue dance as long as possible. Shiek enrolled at North Dakota State University just for dance, knowing he wasn’t actually going to pursue a degree. After completing his general education credits in two years, he left to attend hairdressing school (the proof being in his own well-kept locks).

“It was a very expensive two years!” he laughs.

Meanwhile, Conn was so focused on dancing for the Iowa State University Cyclones team that he didn’t pick a major until his junior year.

“My advisor was like, ‘It’s time to choose a path,’” he recalls. “She basically told me, ‘The classes you’re taking are on track for a marketing degree.’ I was like, ‘Perfect. Guess I’m graduating with a marketing degree!’”

After dancing for all four years at Iowa State, Conn decided to follow in the footsteps of his team’s captain and try out for the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders.

“We had a good bond. She saw how hard I worked. She was like, ‘I can see the fight in you, and I think you would really enjoy this,’” he says. “I think that kind of drew me into the space of professional cheerleading. Seeing my people that I look up to doing this really inspired me.”

Shiek’s ties to the Vikings go much farther back than dance. (“I have pictures of me before I could even walk in a Vikings onesie,” he says.) But, like Conn, a college teammate, Kira Harper, inspired him to pursue a spot with MVC.

“Seeing her go off and do something like that made me realize that (dancing professionally) was an option,” he explains. “I didn’t always think that the dance career was over after college, but I didn’t really know where I would go or what I would do. Then, the more I talked to her and looked into it, I saw how much (MVC) promotes an inclusive environment. I never even considered another team. It just felt the most like home.”

Indeed, Conn says he learned to drop the competitive mindset he brought into auditions as time went on. 

“When you’re in that room and cheering each other on and seeing the support that we have for each other, it just changes the whole experience,” he says. “It’s all so much more enjoyable when you’re not scared of someone else taking your spot. It’s more like, if this is meant to happen, it’ll happen.”

It seems, then, that the Fates decided Shiek and Conn had not yet had their share of firsts.

“I think I was just in shock, honestly,” Shiek recalls of the moment he learned he made MVC last year. “I remember I made sure I was by myself that whole day. I don’t think my phone left my hand. Every email that came through, I was like, ‘I have to turn off my notifications. I can’t do this!’”

“I think it took a while to realize what was happening, because not only did I make the team, I knew my whole life was gonna change. Like, everything’s real,” he says. “Then I came home, and my family and friends threw me a big surprise party, and it was just the best feeling. Just knowing that all your hard work paid off and you get to just keep living out your dream and doing what you love is just such a special feeling.”

Meanwhile, like any college senior, Conn was on his way to a final class presentation when he found out he made the team.

“I was also looking at my phone and scrolling all day,” he recalls. “I had four roommates last year, so we were all just silent the whole day waiting. So finally, I remember I grabbed my keys, and I got up to go to class, and then I got a call.”

“All around me, people were figuring out where they were gonna be after college and getting jobs and everything, and I had no idea the whole year where I would be,” he says. “It felt like a chapter closed. I just remember the rest of that last month of school was so much fun because I just finally got to celebrate graduating and moving to a place that I’ve always wanted to go.”

That place, Conn says, has welcomed him with open arms.

“I love just lollygagging around the Twin Cities,” he says. “In Iowa, I would literally go drive around the cornfields for fun. There’s so many places around the Cities to just go see live music and eat good food and drink good drinks. I love it here.”

He adds that the Twin Cities introduced him to concerts, his favorite recent show being FKA twigs at the Armory in March.

“I don’t know why, I didn’t think there would be dancers,” he admits. “But they were incredible. I was just crying the whole time. I can’t stop listening to (her music).” 

Steering the Viking (friend)ship

With male professional dancers already a rarity, Shiek and Conn followed each other on Instagram before meeting in person. With the intensity of auditions, they say they didn’t fully connect until a team retreat at the Omni Viking Lakes Hotel once they made it.

“We were in the same room, but we didn’t know each other, so we’re like, ‘Okay, well, we’re really gonna get to know each other now,’” Shiek recalls. “It was exactly what we needed. It just planted the seed to our friendship.”

Though their shared achievement could be seen as a tie that binds, Shiek and Conn say they became fast friends, forming a natural and uplifting bond.

“Throughout the year, you were just so supportive,” Conn tells Shiek. “Whenever I had any concern with anything that was going on, you were the one to just comfort and stick up for me. Just, older brother vibes, all the way.”

Conn also recalls being charmed by Shiek’s sense of humor during the retreat.

“I remember we were at dinner and you took a sip of a drink and you were like, ‘This tastes like a basketball!’” he laughs. “I think of that all the time. There’s nothing I like to do more besides dance than laugh, so anyone that can make me laugh is automatically gonna be my friend.”

Shiek also describes Conn as funny, as well as authentic in a way that feels hard-won.

“Louie is just so authentically himself, like nobody could take that away from him,” he says. “He knows who he is and he’s gonna be him, no matter what.”

Conn adds that, though they see things very differently, the result is mutual appreciation and not animosity.

“I bet we could disagree on every little thing, but we’re still such good friends. It’s amazing,” he says.

Strong bonds on MVC aren’t exclusive to Conn and Shiek, either. Both attest to the friendships they’ve made with their other teammates, too.

“Everyone’s pursuing their own dreams outside of this one, but when we can, we love to get together,” Shiek says. “We obviously love each other, not only just as a part of MVC, but outside of this team, we’re all very good friends.”

Outside of the team, Shiek and Conn both say their families are their biggest supporters, especially their moms.

“She just always lets me know how proud she is,” Shiek says. “She’s very vocal.”

“(My mom) is living for me, I guess,” Conn says. “She just truly cares so much. When she’s watching, I know I do better. We just have that special bond.”

“The hardest part is being away,” Shiek adds. “But it’s not too far where I would have to get on a flight. She can always come to a game, but also even just a FaceTime is so nice.”

Dancing through life

During the offseason, Shiek has enjoyed traveling the world, from Amsterdam to Paris to Hawaii, and he also walked in his first fashion show in Los Angeles. He also keeps up a social media presence on TikTok and Instagram, and says he loves connecting with new people on- and offline.

Conn, on the other hand, doesn’t stray too far from dance. At the time of our interview, he’d just returned from the National Dance Alliance national competition in Florida, his voice hoarse from screaming his support for every team.

Being in the middle of this year’s MVC tryouts, neither said they had any solid Pride Month plans yet. Still, living out their dreams as their full selves is something to be proud of any time of the year.

“I definitely felt more confident this year, and I feel like I showed up as my best self, and that was the best I could do,” Shiek says of his audition. 

The MVC audition timeline begins in early March with virtual audition submissions and runs through May 1, when the final team is announced, per their website. The process includes performances, interviews and a training camp before final auditions at the Mall of America Rotunda.

“The process is definitely the best part,” Conn says. “I always say that being on stage at (the Mall of America) for finals is my favorite time of being on stage ever.”

Regardless of what happens, Shiek and Conn will have plenty to be proud of. They pass along similar messages to young queer people who see them as role models.

“Don’t be afraid to be loud,” Shiek says. “Don’t make yourself small in rooms that you don’t need to do that in. Don’t be afraid to make someone else uncomfortable because that’s none of your business. And if they’re gonna stare, just make sure you’re unforgettable.”

Conn echoes Shiek’s advice and also emphasizes the importance of having people in your corner.

“There’s 8 billion people in this world. There’s someone for everyone, and I think that truly makes all the difference,” he says. “Know that it could take time, but know that it will happen. Everyone just needs to have hope that they’re gonna find their people. Because you will.”