Spelman College
Spelman College
Excellence is a Verb: How Cicely Kelley is Coaching Jaguarettes into WOW Women
Excellence is a Verb: How Cicely Kelley is Coaching Jaguarettes into WOW Women
Cicely Kelley, or Coach Cici, is the head coach of the Spelman Jaguarettes. However, she started out as a childhood dancer, a Spelman student (C’22), and now along with coaching the Jaguarettes, is part of the faculty as a senior lecturer.
“Dance has just always been a part of me. It’s been something that’s been very exciting and how I get to be creative with my thinking,” Kelley said.
Founded in the spring 2023 semester, the Jaguarettes are a basketball gym floor style competitive dance team. The Jaguarettes are not the first nor the only form of co-curricular dance on Spelman’s campus. The basketball gym floor style of dance that the Jaguarettes specialize in is founded on the legacy of Spelman’s first official dance team, The Legacy Dance Team, and its head coach Rob Meyers. In addition to Coach Kelley, Jillian Collier (C’27) and Ashe Kelsey (C’26) helped establish the team.
“You don’t need permission to be excellent. You’re already the asset,” Kelley said.
In addition to the attention and acclaim that the team has received, Coach Kelley was recently honored with the presidential award for excellence from Spelman College this fall.
“My personal definition of excellence is even when the wind knocks me right and left, I still make sure I bring myself back to center,” she said. “Excellence also means rest. Excellence also means boundaries. Excellence also means very intentional self-care. There has to be sustainability built into excellence.”
This definition of excellence is mirrored not only in Coach Kelley’s expectations for the dancers but also her support. This year Coach Kelley has been collaborating with the wellness center staff to provide Jaguarettes with strength training in addition to regular dance practices, but her end goals are much larger.
“One of the things that we’re working to consider for partnership is having a physical therapist to ensure that the students are physically strong and have what they need,” Kelley said.
While physical and mental strength is a trait that all the Jaguarettes and Coach Kelley share, there is still space for vulnerability and growth.
“What you bring to the table is very much valuable. I think society likes to rub that up against Black women. I want to ensure that the ecosystem that we create inside of our practices makes them know how valuable they are,” Kelley said.
Although the outside world sees the performances, the Jaguarettes regularly practice for approximately 17 hours a week. During this time, they not only work through choreography, but build friendships, work on brand deals, and experience tough love.
“I personally have received a lot of insight about the importance of being detail oriented. CiCi has really instilled the importance of hard work and making a visual vision come to life. This mindset has influenced me to be very detailed about how I present myself, perform, and deliver my energy to an audience” Jaguarette Diepreye Okah (C’29) said.
Kelley views dance and coaching as more than teaching choreography but as an opportunity to raise confident women and give them a platform.
“Have the audacity to be amazing, have the audacity to be absolutely brilliant, have the audacity to be radical, have the audacity to establish your agency in his space,” Kelley said.
The team this year boasts the largest roster in Jaguarette history and with that comes a combination of different personalities, levels of dance experience and confidence levels. Despite these differences, Kelley sees a unified team.
Her faith in the team goes beyond intention and resonates with even rookie members. Coach Kelley has built more than a team of talented dancers but built a community of strong, independent and professional women led to lead authentically with confidence in every step.
“They’re [the Jagurettes] WOW women. That means being able to serve in the duality of your excellence” Kelley said. “So being an artist and a dancer, but then specifically in the framework of Spelman students, we are future lawmakers, policymakers, doctors. We are presidents of clubs. We are also incredible choreographers. We are prolific dancers. That is the duality of a WOW woman.”
This confidence and hard work from the team will be on display this year as they compete for the first time at the Universal Dance Association (UDA) competition in the open jazz and hip hop category, on the field later this month at the Atlanta Falcons, and on the court at the Atlanta Dream.
Cicely Kelley, or Coach Cici, is the head coach of the Spelman Jaguarettes. However, she started out as a childhood dancer, a Spelman student (C’22), and now along with coaching the Jaguarettes, is part of the faculty as a senior lecturer.
“Dance has just always been a part of me. It’s been something that’s been very exciting and how I get to be creative with my thinking,” Kelley said.
Founded in the spring 2023 semester, the Jaguarettes are a basketball gym floor style competitive dance team. The Jaguarettes are not the first nor the only form of co-curricular dance on Spelman’s campus. The basketball gym floor style of dance that the Jaguarettes specialize in is founded on the legacy of Spelman’s first official dance team, The Legacy Dance Team, and its head coach Rob Meyers. In addition to Coach Kelley, Jillian Collier (C’27) and Ashe Kelsey (C’26) helped establish the team.
“You don’t need permission to be excellent. You’re already the asset,” Kelley said.
In addition to the attention and acclaim that the team has received, Coach Kelley was recently honored with the presidential award for excellence from Spelman College this fall.
“My personal definition of excellence is even when the wind knocks me right and left, I still make sure I bring myself back to center,” she said. “Excellence also means rest. Excellence also means boundaries. Excellence also means very intentional self-care. There has to be sustainability built into excellence.”
This definition of excellence is mirrored not only in Coach Kelley’s expectations for the dancers but also her support. This year Coach Kelley has been collaborating with the wellness center staff to provide Jaguarettes with strength training in addition to regular dance practices, but her end goals are much larger.
“One of the things that we’re working to consider for partnership is having a physical therapist to ensure that the students are physically strong and have what they need,” Kelley said.
While physical and mental strength is a trait that all the Jaguarettes and Coach Kelley share, there is still space for vulnerability and growth.
“What you bring to the table is very much valuable. I think society likes to rub that up against Black women. I want to ensure that the ecosystem that we create inside of our practices makes them know how valuable they are,” Kelley said.
Although the outside world sees the performances, the Jaguarettes regularly practice for approximately 17 hours a week. During this time, they not only work through choreography, but build friendships, work on brand deals, and experience tough love.
“I personally have received a lot of insight about the importance of being detail oriented. CiCi has really instilled the importance of hard work and making a visual vision come to life. This mindset has influenced me to be very detailed about how I present myself, perform, and deliver my energy to an audience” Jaguarette Diepreye Okah (C’29) said.
Kelley views dance and coaching as more than teaching choreography but as an opportunity to raise confident women and give them a platform.
“Have the audacity to be amazing, have the audacity to be absolutely brilliant, have the audacity to be radical, have the audacity to establish your agency in his space,” Kelley said.
The team this year boasts the largest roster in Jaguarette history and with that comes a combination of different personalities, levels of dance experience and confidence levels. Despite these differences, Kelley sees a unified team.
Her faith in the team goes beyond intention and resonates with even rookie members. Coach Kelley has built more than a team of talented dancers but built a community of strong, independent and professional women led to lead authentically with confidence in every step.
“They’re [the Jagurettes] WOW women. That means being able to serve in the duality of your excellence” Kelley said. “So being an artist and a dancer, but then specifically in the framework of Spelman students, we are future lawmakers, policymakers, doctors. We are presidents of clubs. We are also incredible choreographers. We are prolific dancers. That is the duality of a WOW woman.”
This confidence and hard work from the team will be on display this year as they compete for the first time at the Universal Dance Association (UDA) competition in the open jazz and hip hop category, on the field later this month at the Atlanta Falcons, and on the court at the Atlanta Dream.