Elizabeth Stremming
JACKSONVILLE J’ETTES DANCE TEAM (junior)
1ST TIME ON THE 8CA ALL-STATE DANCE TEAM
I have been dancing for 14 years!! I started studio when I was 2 and a half and started competition when I was in 2nd grade!!
One of my favorite memories from this season is winning IHSA state. This has been a goal for the team because we wanted to show that we could do it again. It was such a rewarding feeling after all of those hard practices and long hours we spent trying to get the routine perfect. Another favorite memory was winning IDTA Grand Champion. We worked really hard this year on perfecting our pom routine for the IDTA state competition in reach of getting this title. No one on the current team has ever won it besides our coach, Tiffany Hickox; Jacksonville hasn’t won the Grand Champion since 2020 so to be awarded that this year was a honorable feeling.
For myself as a dancer I work on cleaning those small details so the entire routine is in unison. My teammates are my best friends; during those long practices we are always pumping each other up and supporting everything that everyone does. My teammates also work so hard outside of practices, trying to get the skills, cleaning the routine, trying to get better choreography, etc. Our team is a long-living legacy that we are constantly trying to impress. There are so many alumni supporting and that helps our drive when we dance. Our entire team works incredibly hard work to accomplish our many goals that we have throughout the season.
I would love to give a shoutout to Tiffany Hickox because she has given so so much into this program and I will forever be grateful for her. She has pushed us further than we could have ever dreamed and has earned this team 2 IHSA state titles and multiple IDTA championships. I would like to give another shoutout to my co-captain Emma Wolters: with this being our first year as captains we had to step up a lot coming off of last year’s title. She is an amazing dancer and an incredible captain. She supports the girls and helps them so much at practice.
I like to perform lyrical better because it is easier for me to tell the story through my faces so that the judges/audience can feel it. I love watching both pom and lyrical for different reasons. Pom is so fun to watch because of the high energy, cool formation changes, and the skills. However lyrical I like because I get to feel the story that they are telling along with the unique movement that they are doing.
When i’m not dancing I love to hang out with my friends, go on late night drives, and get ice cream!!
Elizabeth Stremming is one of my captains this year. She was a squad leader in 2022-2023 when we won our first IHSA State title. She and her co captain had a lot of pressure taking on the challenge of rebuilding another successful team. She did not back down once. Elizabeth not only has a natural ability to lead, she has a motherly instinct about her that makes teammates feel at ease with her. This then allows her to connect with teammates to build a level of trust that leads to stronger and more successful teams. Outside of J’ettes Elizabeth is very active with her dance studio. She is very knowledgeable with all things dance and she makes it a priority to continue her dance education in order to make our team even better. One of Elizabeth’s strongest attributes, next to her tremendous talent, is her organizational skills. She does a great job keeping her teammates informed and prepared for all things J’ette! I’m so grateful I get one more year with Elizabeth.