About
Us
The Jasper Jazz Drill Team is composed of Sophomore girls from
Jasper High School. Jasper High School is located in Plano, TX. The Jasper Jazz performs
at all home football games for the Jasper Jaguars Sophomore football team. The team also
performs at some basketball games, competitions, events around Plano and their annual
Spring Show. Tryouts for the next
year's team occur in the spring of the Freshman year. Freshman girls can elect to take
Fundamentals of Drill Team to satisfy the Physical Education requirement. This class helps
prepare girls wishing to try out for the following year's team in the Spring. The Freshman
drill team class performs at a basketball game and also choreographs, costumes and
performs a routine with fellow classmates for their class final.
Jasper Jazz Director
Jen Gray
Jasper Jazz Drill Team Director
|
Jen Gray was raised in Friendswood, TX, where she started dancing at the age of 5 and focused strictly on ballet for eight years. In 1994, she had the opportunity to study ballet in California with Zola Dishong and Richard
Cammack. During her eight years in ballet she landed numerous lead roles in productions such as "The Nutcracker" and "Sleeping Beauty."
Jen attended Clear Brook High School, where she realized her passion for drill team. In Jen's first year on drill team, she was the only sophomore to make the "Jazz Company," in her junior year she served as Jr. Lieutenant and as Captain in her senior year. After graduating from high school, Jen was part of the Starmakers Dance and Performance Camps staff. There she aided in leadership workshops, technique classes and choreography. |
After graduating from
high school Jen auditioned for and became a World Famous Kilgore
College Rangerette. She was a swingster and then had the honor of
serving as Lieutenant her sophomore year. She participated in many
special performances, which took them to Ireland (2000) for the
St. Patrick's Day Parade and the Lord Mayors Ball. New Years
Cotton Bowl Classic pre-game and half-time shows (2000/2001); the
parade and Texas Black Tie & Boots Ball for the Presidential
inauguration of George W. Bush, where they also performed with Lee
Greenwood and Mark Chestnut; the pre-game and half-time show at
the Dallas Cowboy Game on Thanksgiving Day (2000/2001); Adolphus
Children's Parade (2000); appeared at the Cotton Bowl Classic Hall
of Fame (2000/2001); performed with Jessica Simpson and Billy
Gilman (2000).
After Kilgore, Jen attended University of North Texas where she
earned her BS in Kinesiology. She also had the opportunity to work
at Mike Miller and Associates, where she assisted with
choreography for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade dance
routines, along with the Cotton Bowl pre-game/half-time show.
While attending North Texas she has choreographed and continues to
for numerous schools in Dallas and surrounding areas. And during
her recent years, she also had the privilege to assist the Plano
West Royales for five years, choreograph for the Kilgore
Rangerettes and still continues to teach summer drill team
camps.
Jen has her Masters of Arts degree in Dance from Texas Woman’s
University and maintains to explore and develop strategies to
enrich the education of drill teams. |
Jasper Jazz Assistant Director
Kathy Conklin
Jasper Jazz Drill Team Assistant Director |
Kathy started dancing in kindergarten with the jazz/tap combo and fell in love from the beginning. She danced and competed with studios up until high school, when she moved to drill team. Kathy was
an officer and member of the Clark Cougarettes and Plano East Golden Girls. When she went away to college she went back to the classroom with ballet/pointe technique classes. Kathy
didnt major in dance, but she did spend several hours a week in the studio, while at the University of North Texas. Instead, Kathy majored in history and found a love for Latin. After college she completed a MAT in social studies at Texas Woman’s University. Even though she
hasn't spent much time in the studio over the past two years she will occasionally find herself in a yoga studio working to maintain flexibility. |
|
Photo courtesy of Shipley's
Photography.
Links
|
|
Online
Store!
|
