The Lionettes
Clad in black, the Phillips Exeter Academy Lionettes stroll from side to side, in sync with each other. The dancers perform splits, dives, cartwheels and other incredible feats of contemporary dance that keep the audience in the bleachers standing. The music stops and the Lionettes settle into their closing pose; the E/a crowd bursts into applause. Their long hours of practice have paid off.
“A good performance requires the choreographer to know the strengths of each dancer and find a way to showcase and connect those strengths into a dance.”
During fall and winter terms, you can find the Phillips Exeter Lionettes practicing in the Davis Dance Studio. Led by co-heads senior Jaden Wood and uppers Grace Huang and Claire Jutabha, the club prepares contemporary jazz routines for performances at events such as pep rallies and dance assemblies.
The dancers set aside two hours each week on Sunday mornings during the fall and winter to hone in on their performances. Huang, who joined Lionettes her prep year, appreciated the sense of community she found with the other members. “I’ve continued to be a part of Lionettes because I love performing with the club,” she said. “It’s a smaller dance club, meaning all the the members are pretty close.”
Huang stressed the importance of teamwork in Lionettes, where subtleties are key. “I’ve learned that choreographing a dance is not just something one person can do in a day. Instead, choreographing for a dance team involves all members of the team,” she said, “A good performance requires the choreographer to know the strengths of each dancer and find a way to showcase and connect those strengths into a dance.”
Similarly, prep Fiona Madrid appreciated the chance to learn from more experienced Exonians, be it inside or outside the Davis Dance Studio. “Being the only prep in the group, I feel like I have made many friends that I can look up to,” she said. “Everyone in our group is talented in a multitude of ways, and I am lucky enough to have had them mentor me this whole year.”Lower Kiana Silver, who is a new student this year, appreciated the chance to connect with more students. “I’ve absolutely loved being a part of this club, and it’s really brought me closer to some amazing people. As a small group of dancers, we’ve all gotten to know each other extremely well and formed some great bonds, as well as tons of inside jokes!” she said.
Silver recounted a memorable practice in preparation for Fall E/a Pep Rally. “We were on the football field and it started pouring rain, and eventually hailing!” she said. “The team danced around and messed around on the field during the rain.”
Lower Abby Zhang echoed Madrid’s sentiment about the bond the dancers have formed. “Lionettes is such a wonderful community and since it’s such a small group, we’re all pretty great friends. I love performances especially, and looking around and seeing my friends up on stage with me,” Zhang said.
Madrid also believed she had formed strong and lasting connections, in good and bad performances. Madrid referred to her first performance during the fall, “Honestly, I thought [E/a pep rally] was the worst performance I’d ever had,” she said. “But then, Jaden Wood told me that I danced beautifully. My friends whistled and applauded me like I was some type of starchild.”
Madrid went on explaining how Lionettes has changed her life in a positive way. “At the end of the day, the Lionettes and my friends would appreciate me as long as I gave it my all. We all ignored the things that went wrong, and we accepted the love that we got from our friends for having the guts to perform at all,” she said. “No matter how chaotic or stressful the process of dancing is, the end result is what matters.”