Catholic High dance team captain Amelie Anslem

Catholic High dance team captain Amelie Anslem is no stranger to leadership positions. After serving as middle school dance captain for two years, the 17-year-old dancer is now in her second year as captain of the varsity team.

Anslem is also a member of the spirit committee, music ministry, a performer at Catholic High football games and at her church, Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Cade. She’s also been named to the 2022 Homecoming Court and has been dancing since she was 3 years old, first at Studio 84 and for Catholic High since sixth grade.

Amelie’s parents are Jimmy Anslem or Jeanerette and Julie Anslem of New Iberia. She has one sibling, Alyssa, who graduated form Catholic High in 2019.

Amelie has big plans for after high school. She plans to follow in her mother’s footsteps and will attend the Cosmetology Training Center (CTC) in Lafayette or Aveda in Baton Rouge to become a hair and makeup stylist before becoming a licensed medical esthetician.

Q: What does being a captain mean to you?

A: Knowing where to draw the line between being a friend and being in charge. You need to know when you can be silly and when you need to get serious. You have to be there for everyone and lead them by setting a good example. It’s like our school motto, acta non verba.

Q: What is your favorite part of the dance team?

A: Getting ready before the games and pep rallies. The girls all come to my house and we get food and get ready together. We’ve made so many memories that way

Q: What is the hardest part?

A: There’s a lot of hard parts. The hardest part is probably the preparation for competitions. We’ll have all day practices and you become mentally and physically exhausted. Trying to keep the spirits up in those times is hard so I try to keep people in a positive headspace.

Q: What is a fun fact about yourself that our readers might not know?

A: I lost my finger in seventh grade. I was at Laura Lipari’s house and we tied a rope to the back of a four wheeler and I sat on a swing and held on to the rope. It got wrapped around my finger and severed it in one piece. My best friend tried to save it but they couldn’t reattach it. I struggled with it at first, it’s on my right hand so I couldn’t write and my whole hand was so bruised that I could barely move it. Doing schoolwork was really hard, and I was also doing rodeos at the time so taking time off of it was really hard on me. I still struggle with pain sometimes, especially when the weather changes.

Q: What is your favorite memory from your time on the dance team?

A: In sixth or seventh grade, we were at camp and I was rooming with my best friend, Katelyn. One of the girls clogged up the toilet and, me being the leader that I was, tried to fix it. Katelyn and I took off the back of the toilet and as I was handing it to her, it slipped through her fingers and shattered on the floor. We thought about it for thirty minutes, whether or not we should tell Mrs. Heidi (Dueitt) about it. We were so terrified, but when we went and told her she just laughed. At the time we were terrified, but now it’s so funny to look back on.