Mother, daughter prance as J-Settes BY EDDIE L. BROWN JR.
Frances Ashley and her daughter, Chloé, share a common bond: They both have danced at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium as Prancing J-Settes.
rances Ashley and her daughter, Chloé, are close. They have the same pleasant smile and share an intense love for Jackson State University. That love inspired both to become a part of a growing tradition of talented dancers. The Ashleys, of Jackson, Miss., are the only mother-daughter duo in the university’s history to become Prancing J-Settes. Frances, originally on a music scholarship, decided to audition for the J-Sette line instead of play an instrument in the band. “I was quiet, reserved and really couldn’t dance,” says Frances, who graduated in the early 1980s. “I twirled and was on the flag line in high school, but we marched drum corps style. No one in my family believed I made it until I got a letter telling me to report to band camp.” Becoming a J-Sette was just the beginning, says Frances, a court administrator for Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green. “For every performance, you must audition for a spot on the field. Fortunately, I always made the first cut.” Frances gets goose bumps thinking about her first time dancing at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. “I had that heavy cape draped around my neck, and the drum majors were be-
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hind us,” she says. “I had tears in my eyes.” “I don’t know if it was because I was excited to finally be a part of the Sonic Boom of the South or because I was a Prancing J-Sette. It is a joy, an honor and a blessing to see my daughter follow in my footsteps.” Chloé, 20, grew up attending JSU football games, but she never imagined dancing with the J-Settes until her senior year at Murrah High School. Frances and her husband, Darek, were nervous about their daughter’s decision to audition. They didn’t want anyone to think Chloé had an unfair advantage because her mother was a J-Sette. “It was so rewarding to sit in the audience and watch her audition for something she really wanted and to know she made it on her own,” Frances says. J-Sette tryouts, open to the student body, were intimidating, says Chloé, a junior economics major. “But I made the first-round cut, so that was a big accomplishment for me coming out of high school.” Chloé never worried about whether people thought she was given a spot. “It wasn’t spoonfed to me. No one can make cuts for you. No one can do the moves and execute for you.” Now, Frances challenges Chloé to pick her
spot on the field and remain in it. She does the same thing with her youngest daughter, Mea, who dances on the drill team at Murrah High and also wants to become a J-Sette. Cathy Worthy, the squad’s current sponsor and former J-Sette captain during Frances’ tenure, says Frances and Chloé are similar dancers. “Whatever the move, Frances did it very clean and precise. Chloé is the same way. Her remarkable memory allows her to pick up techniques very easily. Her movements are so natural.” Both Ashleys say many people take for granted what is required of a J-Sette. Chloé recalls demanding rehearsals during band camp. “As an incoming freshman, band camp breaks you completely down and builds you back up from the ground,” she says. “There was a point where I wondered what I got myself into, but I never imagined quitting.” Frances remembers practicing until late hours at night. “We ran twice a day and lifted weights in addition to keeping our grades up and attending classes,” says Frances, who earned a degree in political science. “Then we had to look like something when we walked around on campus. We had to conduct ourselves as respectable, young college females.”