She wears her grey Leyden dance team tank as she walks in with her dance studio pants. Her love for dance shows through every room she walks into.
Jillian Hedke, a senior at East Leyden, shares her love and passion for dance as she grew older.
Jillian tells us how her journey with dance began. She says,”When I was three my parents put me in dance and my love for dance continued as I grew older. “
Since she has been dancing for almost her whole life she has learned a few things.
“I learned something from dance when I became a captain and had to work well with others. And be a leader because as a captain, I have to know how to lead others when they need the help. This skill will also help me in the future when it comes to helping others,” says Jillian as she smiles.
As of this year, Jillian has become one of the captains for the varsity Leyden dance team.
She states,”It feels incredible to be captain because I get to share my knowledge and passion with everyone else on the team. As captain I like that I can hopefully bring love for dance to others.”
Since she will be graduating this year, there will be a few things she will miss and not miss from the team that she has spent all 4 years of high school with.
She explains,“I feel sad because I’ll be leaving so many people that I grew up with through high school since freshman year. I’ve made so many friendships throughout these years. I will miss the friendships I’ve made on the team and being able to see everyone grow as a dancer. I will also miss the love and support my coaches gave me.” She further explains,”I will not miss the long practice days and the long cleaning days.”
Even with her injury, she was still able to get back up and perform the best she could.
She states,“I have a partial torn ligament in my foot and physical therapy has helped me with my injury. This happened around December of 2024 and lasted till around the end of January. After, I took the boot off I started back at my studio and ended up coming back strong.”
Even though she has been doing dance her whole life, she doesn’t think she will consider doing it in college. She says,” I will not be doing dance in college due to still recovering from my foot injury. I might do coaching in the future though because of my love and passion for dance.”
For now, Jillian is going to finish her last high school season of dance off strong. She is still considering coaching and leading others in the future into the same passion that she has for dance.