After starting to dance in third grade when she visited her friends dancing studio, Jillian Eddy was hooked. Hooked on dance, but specifically on one type; hip-hop. She loves to dance because of how hard it is. The skill and concentration it takes, and the relationships she has with her teammates. “My favorite part about being on the dance team is all the dances we get to learn. We have so many routines and they are all so fun to do!” Her teammates and her coach are who she says are her best supporters.
“Every practice we start with warming up and stretching, and then we go across the floor. During across the floor we work on technique in leaps, kicks, and more. After that we work on any dances that we will perform at basketball or football games. Once we have learned all of the choreography, we “clean” a dance which means going over all the tiny details to make sure we look as uniform as possible.” The team practices hard 3-5 days a week during their season and competes in regular competitions. “A state competition is very hectic, but also an amazing experience! State is held at the colosseum in Denver. We arrive there and stretch and prepare for our routine before our assigned time to go to the tunnel. This is where we get a final chance to practice our routine before competing. Once it is our turn, we walk out the stage we are performing on. Then, the announcer calls us and the music starts! Afterwards, we wait until they announce the finalists a couple hours later. “
Dance is a sport that many people don’t understand. Jillian says that in a normal competition the judges deduct points for a lot of things that to the untrained eye can seem insignificant. “In dance competitions, there are a lot of possible deductions, so we have to send a video to the officials to make sure none of our tricks are illegal. Once we know our routine follows the guidelines, we practice A LOT to make sure we can do our best!”
Jillian loves to cook. When she is not dancing she is baking cakes and cookies for her friends and family. She hopes to attend CSU after high school, but dance for fun and exercise for the rest of her life.
This dancer hopes to become an orthodontist, because she loves the way braces and teeth straightening devices work and adjust people’s teeth, and facial features.
Dance team has helped Jillian with many traits in her life. She has learned to become friends with new people. Trust others and most importantly, come out of her bubble. She states, “The hardest part of being on the dance team was probably breaking out of my bubble. I wasn’t very outgoing when I started on the team but now I’m not as afraid of challenging skills or dances.” Jillian is planning to continue dancing throughout her high school career, and bring excitement and leadership to Fossil’s student body.
