STATE CHAMPS
If you have been keeping up with my social media, it would be hard to miss the fact that my dance team is now STATE CHAMPIONS!!
Okay...let me explain this to those, who like me many years ago, have no clue what I am talking about.
I am a part of my high school's competitive dance team called the "J'ettes." We are a spirit team, but we also compete with the Illinois Drill Team Association and Illinois High School Association. Each association is a bit different. For IHSA, every team within the class (A,AA, etc.) is put into one big competition, meaning the style doesn't matter. This year was our first year competing with IHSA, and we finished 5 out of over 85 teams at the state finals in January. This was a huge accomplishment to win sectionals and proceed to the final day of competition given that we were newbies to IHSA. The support we received from our classmates and community was phenomenal. Our school generously provided a fan bus to go watch us perform which allowed our peers to finally see what J'ettes was all about. Seeing our student section go crazy when they saw us on deck made all of our hard work worth it. Before this, no one besides parents ever came to support us. I guess the idea of travelling 2+ hours for two 2 minute routines isn't appealing to most high school kids. Nevertheless, we are extremely thankful our administration was so supportive and made it an unforgettable experience.
Two weekends ago, we competed at IDTA state. Unlike IHSA, we are a little more familiar with the IDTA system. At IDTA, every style has its own category, meaning we competed in 5 different categories.We brought 4 group routines and 3 solos. Our JV team competed in JV lyrical and JV pom dance. Varsity competed in AA hip hop and AA pom dance. Our 3 solos were all in a category of their own. We started the weekend with the solo preliminary competition on Friday night where 2/3 of our solos made it into the top 10, advancing them to the finals on Saturday. We then spent the night in a hotel as a team to rest up for our big day on Saturday.
Let's rewind to three years ago, my freshman year. As a new J'ette, I didn't know what to expect. I had competed with my dance studio for many years, but this was a whole new ballgame. Our seniors were absolutely phenomenal. Growing up, these girls were always our "big girls." We looked up to them with so much love and admiration. To be able to compete with them on J'ettes for one year was such an honor. That was supposed to be our year. To say we had the dream team would be an understatement. Our routines were flawless, complex, and entertaining. They had strong themes with high-energy skills and songs. That year, we competed in AA pom dance and AA kick. In the pom dance category, we won EVERY. SINGLE. regional we went to. This was ultimately our ticket to state and to breaking the streak of J'ettes being without a state title for 8 years. Kick was a different story. We went back and forth with a team all season, battling for first place. The town and school hyped us up so much. To be honest, it was almost a little over the top. We had businesses wishing us luck on their billboards and everything. We made it seem like we were expecting to win state, but when it was a realistic possibility, why wouldn't we? The day finally came, and our performances were perfect. The energy, facials, extensions, everything was there. We headed to awards with our heads high just to find out that we lost pom dance for the first time to a team we weren't even worried about. At this moment, we knew something was wrong. We couldn't fathom how it was possible to win all year long and then lose at state. The cherry on top (not really) was hearing our names announced as 2nd place for kick, another title we were told by everyone that we deserved. I had never felt what defeat felt like until that moment. Going back to school the next week was embarrassing because no one could truly understand how political dance can be. No one understand the amount of sadness we felt.
Fast forward to this year. J'ettes were going on their 11th year without a state title. Having felt the anguish of defeat before, this was my class' last chance to win back our title. We wanted it so badly, but with the regional competitions being a hit-or-miss for the most part, we didn't know what to expect. We had won once in pom dance and not even once in hip hop. The competition was tough. Every team there was focused and determined to win. I mean, who doesn't want to win??
Our JV team performed both of their routines before varsity. I'm not lying when I say that both their beautiful lyrical routine and their high-energy, sassy pom dance routine made me cry. Seeing the girls we once referred to as "our little girls" perform as J'ettes was an emotional concept for me to grasp the entire year, and obviously I never really grasped it. As they prepared to go on the floor, they circled up, and the captains and I performed the team's pre-performance rituals. Emilie and Camri recited some Eminem lyrics that our team has adopted as our pep talk, and I said the pre-performance prayer. I prayed that they were going to be able to perform to the best of their ability and to know the value of this moment. Tears ran from my eyes as Jacksonville JV was announced. The amount of pride I had in that little team was overwhelming. Their routines were amazing. I had never seen so much confidence and teamwork from this team as I did in those two state performances.
It was finally varsity's turn to take the floor. The nerves were out of this world. Everything we had worked on led up to this one performance. This was our last chance. We anxiously stepped onto the floor with our poms in our sweaty hands. Nothing compares to the sinking feeling in your stomach while you are waiting for your music to start. Those few seconds feel like years. As soon as the music turned on, there was no turning back. We hit every single pom pass and our turns were on for the first time ever. Seeing our coaches cheering us on on the floor in front of us gave us the energy to push through. As we hit our ending pose, I remember looking to my left where our parents were sitting and seeing our parade banner fly up in the air. Moments like that made me so proud to be a J'ette.
Our final time stepping foot on the competition floor was with our hip hop routine. We had one heck of a year with this dance. From completely reconstructing it to changing tricks every practice, it was never the same from one performance to the next. This was the category we were fairly new to and never won at the regional competitions.
When we linked out pinkies and thumbs in the circle for the last time, it was the most empowering thing I have ever experienced. To be so goal-oriented and determined as a whole was so powerful. We held our heads high as we took the floor for the final time as Jacksonville J'ettes. Fittingly, our hip hop dance was about teamwork. Our motto for the year was "side by side, together we rise." And we did just that. We left our hearts on the floor along with every ounce of energy we had left in our seasoned, exhausted bodies. As we watched the routine afterwards, we had no idea what to expect. We had changed so much that we didn't have anything to compare it to. All we knew was that it was out of our hands. I think that is the scariest realization as a dancer. To realize that the outcome is almost entirely out of your control because you never know how the next team will do or if the judges will appreciate the piece you've spent months on.
As the title states, our routines were very successful. I can't even put into words the excitement that seeped from everyone's bodies at awards. When one of our solos was announced as first place followed by our JV team, we knew it was our time. I have this vivid memory of hugging one of my JV friends with tears filling my eyes, muttering the words "you just won state," and she tried to get the words "I know" out, but the shock and excitement was just too much. Being so happy for our JV team was enough for us. As much as we wanted to win, hearing their names announced as state champs was almost as great as when ours was announced. The fact that the little team of 10 girls who practiced in hallways made it this far was so inspiring.
Sitting in a misshapen circle with our hands intertwined, we listened as they announced the varsity placements. When our school wasn't announced as second place, we knew. I've never cried so many tears of joy in my entire life. The looks on my teammates' faces were priceless. The years of defeat were all worth it. This was the dream team. We finally did it. After being let down time and time again, we finally did it. We broke the 11 year streak. We were state champions. Leaving a legacy behind was our goal all along, but after freshman year, we weren't sure if it would really be possible. I will never forget the one phrase that was repeated that night: "We did it."
Here are some things I learned from my experience as a J'ette:
Use defeat as power to make you work harder.
No matter how much you might dread practices, don't wish it all away.
Being a part of something greater than yourself will teach you to be selfless and humble.
Success isn't always measurable.
Being a voice for others is soooo important.
Remaining silent doesn't fix anything.
Hard work does pay off.
You may not understand the opinions of others, but you must respect them.
It is more important to be a good person than a good dancer.
Sportsmanship is everything.
It is how you handle defeat/success that tells a lot about your character.
Thank you for the best four years of my dancing career. I think it is only appropriate for me to end this way...
“‘Cause sometimes you just feel tired,
Feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
And just pull that out of you and get that motivation to not give up
And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.
”
*drops mic*