Jacqueline Ablao dances to express herself.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI dance when I am having a rough week or have something to say and am not sure how to get it out,\u201d said Ablao, a senior at Kentridge High School. \u201cIt takes my mind off of everything and allows me to just be me in that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Ablao, at 18, is the youngest woman to make the Seattle Sea Gals team this year. She has been dancing at studios since she was 7 and was the captain of her high school dance team this year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting a spot on the Sea Gal team truly makes me feel like I am living my dream,\u201d Ablao said. \u201cI always wanted to dance professionally and now I get to.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Although sad to leave her dance teammates behind, Ablao is ready to step out on her own.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been on the team for four years and this year I was captain, so I had lots of responsibility,\u201d she said. \u201cI always was worried about the girls and felt pressured to help them be the best they could be. But now I get to be out there alone, dancing for myself and no one else.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Ablao can\u2019t wait to graduate from Kentridge on Saturday because she is juggling high school work, community college work, the school dance team and Sea Gal practices.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis transition has been crazy, but I knew I wanted to do this so I\u2019m ready to take it on,\u201d she said. \u201cI always said I wanted to dance professionally after graduating high school, but at a place that allowed me to still attend college, so this is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Becoming a Sea Gal is not easy. It is a three-week process full of workshops, three auditions and three cutting periods.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m never nervous when I dance, but I was so, so nervous during this whole process,\u201d Ablao admitted. \u201cI think it was really good for me though and I had a lot of fun meeting the other ladies.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Ablao said the 34 women chosen to be on the team come from all different backgrounds.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a big age gap in our group,\u201d she said. \u201cSome women have amazing careers, some are in college and others are completely focused on the team.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Ablao made instant friends.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never met so many genuinely nice people,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone is friendly and supportive of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Ablao is most looking forward to that first NFL game day on CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks\u2019 regular-season opener is against Dallas on Sept. 16.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait to dance with all the girls in this season\u2019s opener and finally perform these dances we\u2019ve been learning,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jacqueline Ablao dances to express herself.\u201cI dance when I am having a rough week or have something to say and am not sure how to get it out,\u201d said Ablao, a senior at Kentridge High School. \u201cIt takes my mind off of everything and allows me to just be me in that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":5104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-5103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5103"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=5103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}