ROCHELLE — The future of the Rochelle Township High School dance program took center stage Wednesday night, when members of the Jr. Chellettes performed a routine during halftime of the sophomore basketball game between the Hubs and Ottawa Pirates.

The Jr. Chellettes are a group of local dancers between kindergarten and eighth grade who practice with the RTHS dance program to hone their skills and develop the confidence needed to eventually perform with the high school team. The Chellettes and Jr. Chellettes held a one-day clinic in early February, where the girls learned the routine they performed Wednesday night.

“Our main goal is to work with the youth dancers,” RTHS head coach Kass Smith said. “We know they look up to the high school team and this gives them the time to interact with the high school girls. We really work on performance and having fun. It’s a short one-day clinic so our main goal is to have fun and really project that during the performance. It gives the kids a taste of learning routines quickly, which is what our team does every week during the season.”

Roughly 40 youth dancers joined the RTHS Chellettes for the combined performance Wednesday night. In addition to the Jr. Chellettes clinic, the RTHS dance program hosts an annual one-week summer camp for young dancers, where RTHS dancers and coaches teach more of the techniques needed to perform different styles of dance. While the young dancers reap many of the benefits, high-schoolers can also learn from working with the Hub City’s future twirlers.

“The girls need to know the routine, confidently teach it and show the young dancers how to look,” Smith said. “Many of the high school girls have never taught dance before, and this gives them a little taste. They also learn how important they are as role models… If the young dancers can learn the basics during their youth, then they can move at a faster pace in high school. Performing and having confidence at a young age is tough to teach during teen years.”