The Founding of the Jaguarettes

 

After nearly a decade without an official dance and spirit team to represent Spelman College, the Spring 2023 semester marked a transformative moment in the institution’s cultural and artistic history. Central to this revival was Ms. Jillian A. Collier, C ’27, whose leadership, vision, and commitment to excellence redefined what court-style and competitive collegiate dance, could represent on an HBCU campus.

As a first-year student at the time, Collier identified both a critical void and a powerful opportunity: the absence of an official Spelman dance spirit and competitive team that amplified Black dance aesthetics, created intentional space for representation within the competitive collegiate dance arena, and supported preparation for professional dance teams beyond undergraduate study. Drawing from her pre-professional studio training, performance-based dance experience, and deep commitment to representation and community-building, she wrote and submitted a comprehensive proposal to the Spelman College Wellness Center under Student Affairs, advocating for the establishment of an official

Spelman College dance team.

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Collier’s vision was deliberately expansive. She conceptualized the Spelman College Jaguarettes as a program that would fuse the precision and athleticism of pom, the cultural power and confidence of majorette, and the technical foundation and artistry of jazz. This intentional stylistic dichotomy was designed not only to celebrate the multiplicity of Black womanhood, but also to develop dancers capable of meeting collegiate and professional dance team standards.

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Under the leadership of Wellness Center Director Neal Scott, the proposal was approved in Fall 2024, marking a significant institutional investment in dance as a pillar of student life at Spelman College. More than 60 Spelman women answered the call, filling the Wellness Center Studio with talent, energy, and purpose. From this gathering, 18 women were selected to form the inaugural team. Women of every hue, moving with grace, power, and brilliance, embodying the beauty and strength of Black womanhood through dance. From that moment forward, the world came to know them as The Spelman College Jaguarettes.

 

Leadership Grounded in Scholarship, Practice, and Vision

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To steward the program with integrity and depth, Jillian Collier invited her mentor and Spelman alumna

CiCi Kelley C ‘22 (Pauline E. Drake Scholar) to serve as Founding Head Coach and Advisor. Coach Kelley is a distinguished scholar, director, renowned choreographer in film/tv, and commercial dance practitioner whose work bridges academic rigor and industry practice. As Director of Spelman Dance Theatre (SDT) and a faculty member in the Dance Performance and Choreography department, she brings a wealth of expertise in technique, performance, pedagogy, and cultural analysis to empower & lead the Jaguarettes.

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Under her guidance, the Jaguarettes are shaped not only as a competitive performance & spirit team, but as a program that honors dance as both an art form and extracurricular experience to display Spelman pride. Coach Kelley’s leadership ensures that the team would reflect and honor Spelman’s legacy & intellectual standards while celebrating movement as a site of cultural expression, history, and power. Her intentions also celebrates the convergence of multiple disciplines represented within the Spelman College student body, amplifying who these students are becoming in their future careers while embodying the excellence of a WOW Spelman woman.

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To help build the operational and cultural foundation of the team, Ashe Kelsey C ’26 joined the leadership team. Together, Jillian Collier, Coach CiCi Kelley, and Ashe Kelsey worked collaboratively to design the structure, standards, and identity of the Jaguarettes, laying the groundwork for a program rooted in excellence, discipline, care for its dancers, and the Columbia Blue Spelman pride. Though the style may be admired and emulated, the essence of the Jaguarettes was intentionally crafted to remain unduplicatable. 

 

A Growing Legacy

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Today, the Spelman College Jaguarettes are composed exclusively of Spelman students who maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA and are deeply committed to ambassadorship, leadership, service, and personal growth. The women who make up the team are ambitious, driven, and united by sisterhood and a shared love for dance. The Jaguarettes represent not only movement on the court, but vision in motion, honoring the past, building in the present, and intentionally shaping the future of court style & competitive dance at

Spelman College.

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"OH JAGUARS?!”