She started dancing around the age of 2. Now, Emily David dances on the University of Iowa Dance Team. What was her dance life like in between those two points?

 

D-1. Big Ten. The lights are bright where she’s dancing.

 

This story’s beginning, though, is way more humble than the glamour of dancing on a big-time college team. Actually, it’s pretty common for girls to take dance early on. After dancing at the YMCA and then the Woodridge Park District, Downers Grove South Dance Team alum Emily David found her way to Dance Dimensions in Bolingbrook. She joined their company, KineDanCo, when she was 10. Five years later she moved on to the elite Xtreme Dance Force in Naperville. Through all those years of studio classes, she built a repertoire of  jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, and ballet. But her favorite “is always a sassy jazz routine.”

 

Classes are one thing, but then the intensity goes up when you join a studio team. She describes it as both intimidating and exciting, which is usually a sign that you’re onto something good. “At my studio all the girls I had class with had been in the company since they were really young. I sort of felt like the new kid coming in and not really knowing what to expect, but I was just as eager to start the year off as the other girls.”

 

More change, intimidation, and excitement was on the way. Emily started her time on the Fillies (Downers Grove South’s varsity dance team) as a freshman. For a lot of girls, there’s that bright yellow line separating studio life from high school dance team life: different goals, execution, a coach’s style versus a teacher’s style, etc. She knew that transitioning from one to the other would be a challenge, and she’d never danced with girls older than her. “I had no idea what ‘pom’ was!”

 

Looking back, Emily realizes that being on a dance team doesn’t have to be a mysterious transition for the studio dancer: “it’s just another style of dance.” Best of all, she was about to explore this new style with “a great team and a great coach!”

 

That’s not just a line of gratitude–the Fillies were definitely great. A quick peek at DGS’s accomplishments in the 2010s shows just how good her team was. But besides the trophies, dance team members walk away with all those keepsake moments away from the dance floor. Her fave memory? “(It) would have to be singing our ‘This Is Mustang Country!’ song as they drove home from camp and competitions. It was always fun no matter if we had just lost or if we were coming back around 2am from a competition.”

 

And if you’re reading this, you definitely know how crazy high school can be, especially if you’re on any kind of team—and especially if you’re on varsity as a freshman. “Juggling DGS dance, studio work, and my personal life was challenging,” she recalls. But she kept a smart and healthy perspective: “I would always have to keep in mind that I was going to have to make sacrifices even if I didn’t like them.” She adds that thinking about priorities and setting goals can really impact how the future plays out.

 

But how do you know when you’re really good at it? Sometimes it takes others to tell you, or even just show you, that you’re ready to reach higher than you think.

 

“I didn’t start realizing I was good until my freshman year. This had been a great year because at my studio (KineDanCo) I’d been accepted to dance in the Senior Company as its youngest member,” remembers the future Iowa dancer. Plus, since DGS Coach Dawn Jovic “graciously made me a member of the (varsity) Fillies coming into high school,” Emily knew that she was already a standout dancer-athlete. Getting that kind of approval set up a powerfully positive mindset: “I would say this was a real big confidence booster and it made me realize that I have talent that other people can see as well.”

 

But she didn’t exactly spend much of her free time dreaming about dancing in college. She only started considering that possibility as she tried to decide between her top two colleges. Hawkeye fans, get ready to beam with pride when you read the next sentence.

 

Emily picked Iowa for the academic programs they offer and the campus environment (there’s nothing quite like a Big Ten campus). Oh, and the college dance team thing? “If I happened to make the dance team, well, that would just be the cherry on top!” At that level, you need to prepare way ahead of time, so she went to their February clinic and also took technique classes at her studio “to make sure everything was up to par.”

 

“During the tryout process at Iowa, I definitely had doubts. I remember Youtubing all of their videos to see if my talent was anywhere close to theirs.” Depending on your personality, this could be an example of wise planning, though for some, it could set you up for some unwelcome anxiety. “I remember telling myself I was never going to make it, but I decided I would try out anyways and the worst they could tell me was “no.”

 

Emily knew that these fears and doubts needed to be overcome, so she reminded herself that “I love to dance and I know what I can do, so do it. I made it this far for a reason, so do it for yourself.”

 

That’s not to say that managing fear means erasing all of it. “I was nervous to go up against other highly skilled dancers,” remembers the former varsity co-captain. She admits, “The tryout process was extremely intimidating to me! Not going to lie, I was a little scared.” But then the rounds went on, and fewer candidates were left around her. Even better, the dancers and Coach Jenny Eustice started to get to know each other little by little.

 

Then came the moment of truth. “Honestly, when my coach announced our numbers and I’d made it, I’m not really sure what was going through my head so instead I just cried happy tears. It might seem sort of silly, but I was extremely proud of myself and I was thankful for everyone who was supporting me through this journey. I just kept thinking of how lucky I am to dance on a BIG TEN team and the great opportunities that will come in the next 4 years!”

 

Her freshman year at Iowa, as you probably guessed, was “definitely busy but SO completely worth it.” She credits her high school experience of managing a busy schedule with helping her get through that first, jarring year of college: “Not much of a drastic change, just a new environment,” she remembers with a cool head.

 

Also on her glittering dance resume are those three powerful letters: UDA. Emily applied and got invited to their audition weekend “to see how well I can teach and if I’m teachable,” and that led the DGS alum to earning a staff position.

 

Anyone who gets this far is probably super teachable. Take her experiences on the Downers Grove South Dance Team. That’s where she earned and ran with the opportunities to be both a great dancer and a leader. Whether it was at camps or master classes, Emily realized that these were her chances to “push my dance ability to the next level.” Leadership-wise, being on her team gave her opportunity to choreograph dances (both competition and school performances) and serve as co-captain her senior year (alongside current Assistant Coach Ellena Chaplin). “All of these things are extremely important to my transition to Iowa’s team and becoming a UDA staffer because these aspects are what we (the DGS Fillies) believe in…I owe it all to Coach Dawn Jovic for allowing me start my journey on DGS Dance Team in 2010.”

 

And even though she doesn’t have any official dance plans after college, she’d love to audition for a professional team. For now, she’s enjoying a dancer’s summer—dropping in to see her old team along with UDA work. And once Emily gets back to campus, there’s that whole Big Ten dance team thing. Sidelines, halftimes, football and basketball, all at a high-profile Division I school, usually on tv. Emily David’s dance life looks pretty awesome, and so much of it was shaped by her experiences on her high school dance team and the people around her.