Ashlee (S13 Rookie)

* 23-years-old from Louisiana. Growing up in a smaller city, she didn’t have the dance studio opportunities that others had. Dance teams and theater gave her exposure to jazz and ballet. Her background is about performing and being able to entertain. Once she entered 12th grade and joined the studio, that’s when she really started to build on her dance, and it’s accelerated since then. She’s embraced school from a young age. Everything fell into place after she earned a scholarship to Louisiana Tech. She became the first African American captain of her college dance team, which she’s proud of. She is pursuing pediatric physical therapy, though it’s on hold while she pursues her dance career. Her advice is that what God has for you is you, and she tells herself daily that “It’s for me.” Nothing else determines your future.

## **Confessionals**

Total: 18

Season 13: 18 (8th most)

Season 14: 0

### **Season 13**

**(13.4)**

* [Training Camp] "Watching the veterans, it’s amazing! It’s kind of like a dream, you know? You want to be there one day."

**(13.5)**

* "It really made me proud to be able to hear Jason Garrett talk to us and inspire us. I felt really privileged, and it kind of brings you back to this opportunity. You want to cherish it. You want to cherish every moment of it."
* [Hearing from Nicole Hamilton] "It definitely builds my confidence to see Nicole be able to build from starting so late, but being so great. It gives me a lot of courage and it’s very inspiring."

**(13.6)**

* [Uniform fitting] "Can’t wait ‘til I get my stars."

**(13.8)**

* [Senior center visit] "It’s expected that we’re going to have to make changes (to the dance) and just get on the ball with it."

**(13.9)**

* (*Biography*)
* [Practicing field entrance with Khalyn] "It’s going great. Khalyn’s great. She’s fixing me up. It’s a lot of things to do simultaneously. It’s so hard to think about everything at once. I’m thinking yard lines then I’m like, “Oh, I forgot this”."
* "Tonight was just about staying on the lines, on that mark, and on time with the sequence. That’s just kind of what I need to get used to. It’s something I need to adapt to, definitely."
* [Office visits announced] "It could be nerve-wracking talking to Kelli and Judy, but honestly, I just want to take it as an opportunity. I haven’t had that one-on-one with them and hopefully tonight that’s going to be a great conversation."
* [Before office] "Tonight I did my very best, of course, but Kelli and Judy do want to speak to me. I do believe it’s just because they’re watching and they see that I do need a little bit more work."
* [After office] "The meeting was a good meeting. I felt like I was able to let Kelli and Judy in on a little bit of my life and it feels good."
* [2nd field rehearsal] "I definitely have to show (K & J) a little bit of something today, and I’m ready; I’m prepared."

**(13.11)**

* [Cameos] "When Kelli and Judy see me today, I just hope that they see that I scream DCC, that I’m the look that they’ve been wanting."

**(13.13)**

* "Kelli did have a serious tone today, and I think it’s very important that she did. It kind of lets us know, alright, nerves need to be gone. It’s time to do this."
* "Thinking about the cuts is what’s going to hang me up by my memory, so I kinda get the cuts out of my mind and get the choreography in my head."
* [After making team] "This just goes to show, it doesn’t matter your background. In the end, it’s the hard work that gets you to this moment right here."
* "First game and first game jitters. But it’s so exciting. We’re all just loving on each other and taking pictures and just enjoying the moment."
* [Retrospective with flashbacks] "Being in the DCC environment is just completely different than being on the college dance team and being on high school dance teams. When you get here, you realize that there’s a little more than just knowing how to dance. It matters that my foot is pointed here and that my lines look really well. I have to be conscious of all those things. Everyone is going to mess up somewhere, but it’s how you get through it. I want to be the best that I can be, so I actually had to be tested and live up to that person."

## **Commentary**

### **Season 13**

**(13.5)**

* "Ashlee’s made a lot of mistakes. She’s holding her body wrong." – Judy
* "While we have Nicole in the room, I thought in your interview, you didn’t start taking dance classes until?" – Kelli/"I didn’t start dancing like something similar to this until high school maybe then finally college." – Ashlee/"And Nicole, you were a similar background." – Kelli/"Yes, I did one year in high school, which is late to start. I was taking at one point, six hours of dance a day, three different styles, just to get acclimated to everything. So, it’s never too later." – Nicole Hamilton

**(13.7)**

* "You need to light your face up, girl. Light it up. Put it on fire and light it up. Give it to me. Give it to ‘em." – Denise Dicharry

**(13.8)**

* "Ashlee looks good." – Judy
* "You were like a whole different person on that one." – Judy
* [Giving sticker of approval] "This girl has something." – Nick Florez

**(13.9)**

* [Field entrance] "Ashlee’s lost." – Kelli/"Okay, this is going to take real concentration for you. I know this is new." – Judy
* "If you know your stopping point is the 40, then when you’re all the way back there, you wanna eyeball the 30 and the 35. You know you are busting it until you cross the 35, and then you know you’re gonna stop and put your brakes on. You can’t stop every five yards." – Kelli
* "Ashlee’s just not getting the arms." – Judy/"Yeah, this is not her thing yet, at all." – Kelli/"Oh, God. This could be her deal breaker. I don’t want it to be, but it could be." – Judy
* [After Rachel misses a yard line] "Ashlee, good for you for not letting it throw you off, because that could really freak out the girl next to you. It’s a snowball effect. Cannot happen." – Kelli

**(13.11)**

* Ashlee’s powerful, but she has a lot of memory mistakes. We have a game in two weeks, so… – Lacey
* [Looking at board] Now that we’ve had the group leaders participate, the lowest is Kristin, Victoria, and Ashlee. – K
* Then at the next rehearsal, we need to be prepared to say goodbye to Ashlee, Victoria, and Kristin. – K/ You’re right. – J
* Ashlee seems bold on the entrance. – K

**(13.12)**

* Look at Ashlee. She’s danced her way up the roster. Don’t you think? – K/ Way up. – J
* Ashlee’s kicks looked great. – J
* Ashlee doesn’t know where she’s going. – J
* Make sure you know where you are on the field. – J

**(13.13)**

* I like Ashlee on the end. – K
* Whoo, Ashlee’s gonna have some sexiness in her. I feel like she’s come the furthest of anyone. – J
* Ashlee has gotten better every week. She has proven that she is a performer. – K

## **Office Visits**

### **Season 13**

**(13.9)**

* [Mid episode, second of two, at Highlander Stadium] Kelli asks if she feels like she’s making progress. Ashlee does, and Kelli agrees, until she saw the issues tonight with going across the field. This was the first time she was like, “Oh, no!” Judy says it seemed foreign to her, and she was making a lot of mistakes. However, her presence and her body move so well that it covers up a lot of those mistakes. Ashlee hopes that she’s getting over the mistakes. Kelli asks if she’s emotionally holding up, and Ashlee says she’s okay, though her grandmother has been a little sick with bone cancer, and Ashlee had to go to the hospital before she left, and she had an infection as of yesterday. Kelli apologizes, and Ashlee says she’s holding up. Judy asks if she’s living by herself, and Ashlee is with her cousin, but the cousin is in the middle of moving, and Ashlee will have to figure out a living situation. Kelli asks if she’s pursuing a job, or waiting to see if she makes the team first. Ashlee planned to actively pursue work, but that’s changed due to the pressures of training camp. Kelli mentions that Ashlee has a lot going on, but then adds that everyone in the locker room has a lot, and she’ll find strength through that. Ashlee says she’ll keep pushing and knows she’s strong enough to handle this. Kelli tells her that she’s in a very elite group of performers, and Ashlee knows this is where she belongs. Kelli thinks she’d be a great fit for this team, but needs her to get down the field entrance, and wants to see improvement on it tomorrow. [*Ashlee leaves*] Kelli likes her, and Judy says she loves her, though wishes she’d quit making mistakes.

## **Other**

### **Season 13**

**(13.1)**

* She’s shown introducing herself to the judges at preliminaries: She was the first African-American captain for the Louisiana Tech dance squad.

**(13.2)**

* Shown being invited to finals

**(13.5)**

* Makeover glamour shot (after only)

**(13.9)**

* When Melissa Rycroft asks the rookies for their weaknesses, Ashlee says hers is her memory

**(13.11)**

* On the board, it can be seen that she’s received stickers from 2 of 6 evaluators (Nick Florez and Kelli)

### **Season 14**

**(14.4)**

* She’s revealed to be in the top 17 based on how the TCC’s were ranked at finals (receiving a perfect score)

**(14.7)**

* Shown being announced as a member of show group

**(14.10)**

* While not shown, she’s placed in the fourth row of the triangle

## **Post Season 16**

* The 2022 season was her last season as a DCC.
* For the 2022 season, she is a fifth-year veteran. She is also named the group leader for Group 4.

Season 14 Stickers
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