Many Ole Miss students would say rushing the field after the Georgia football game was one of their favorite moments. Brenna Brooks would agree; however, the difference between her and other students is that, as a member of the Rebelettes, she was on the sidelines throughout the game.
The Rebelettes are dancers who perform at athletics events at Ole Miss. Brooks, a senior integrated marketing communications major from Chandler, Ariz., has been on the team for four years.
She fell in love with Ole Miss while taking tours of various SEC schools, including Kentucky and Tennessee. As soon as she visited Oxford, Miss., she knew she had found her home.
“My best friend and I were touring schools,” Brooks said. “We came (to Ole Miss) first, and we drove around campus, and I was like, ‘I’m coming here.’ I felt it in my heart that this was where I was supposed to be.”
Like her teammates, she has been dancing her whole life; her path to the Rebelettes, however, was a bit unconventional.
Shortly before her audition for the Rebelettes, Brooks tore her ACL. The injury took place while her high school team was practicing for the Arizona statewide competition.
“I tore it turning,” Brooks said. “My coach said, ‘Do that turn section one more time,’ and the last time I did it, I tore (my ACL).”
Her high school coach reached out to Rachel Levetzow, the Rebelettes’ coach and explained the situation. Levetzow allowed Brooks to submit videos of highlights from her performances with the high school dance team.
“Kind of like how football players have film, I have film on myself,” Brooks said. “From my junior and senior years, I put together a video, and that’s what I submitted to (Levetzow). … I did an interview with (Levetzow), too, and then she allowed me to be on the team.”
Brooks emphasized that these were, indeed, unique circumstances.
“It was a huge blessing because no one ever makes (the team) off of video,” Brooks said. “Everybody comes to try out in person.”
Brooks said that a sport like dance is especially hard to return to after a torn ACL, as the sharp, precise movements required in dance make it difficult.
“I’ve never heard of any other dancers who have torn their ACL and come back from it and been able to dance,” Brooks said.
The Rebelettes maintain a busy schedule during football season, practicing every weekday.
They practice indoors at the Tad Pad Monday through Wednesday and outdoors at the Pride of the South practice field Thursday and Friday with the marching band. Throughout the year, the Rebelettes also attend strength and conditioning workouts at 6:30 a.m. every Monday and Wednesday with an athletic trainer from the Ole Miss Baseball team.
During men’s and women’s basketball seasons, the Rebelettes have a lighter schedule; practicing Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for an hour at the Tad Pad. These practices are mainly for rehearsing and practicing their media break routines for home basketball games.
From November through January, the team prepares for competition, practicing seven days a week, two sessions a day, in anticipation of the Universal Dance Association College Nationals. The competition takes place in mid-January at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
The Rebelettes have had an impressive history at the UDA Nationals. In 2022, they won the D1A All Girl Game Day title, and they won the D1A Spirit Program Game Day title in 2023. In 2024, they placed second in the D1A Spirit Program category, and this year they placed second behind Ohio State in Spirit Program Game Day category.
Brooks believes all the rigors of training are worth it come competition time.
“You feel the reward of all your hard work,” Brooks said. “You get to put it on the stage and be proud of everything that you’ve been working so hard to put together.”
Brooks competed at the UDA with her high school team; now, collegiate-level UDA competitions are a chance for her to not only put her skills on display, but also catch up with old dancing friends who compete for other universities, such as Grand Canyon, Tennessee and Alabama.
“It’s fun because you get to see all your friends on different dance teams,” Brooks said. “We’ve watched each other grow up in high school, and now we get to cheer each other on in college.”
Another fulfilling aspect of being a Rebelette is welcoming a new class of freshman dancers.
Brooks is a College Dance Prep Master for College Dance Prep, a company that trains high schoolers throughout the country who hope to dance at the collegiate level. Last year, she helped teach two of the girls who made the Ole Miss team.
“It’s so rewarding when I train girls, and then they make the team,” Brooks said. “I’ve been working with them for a year, and now they’re my teammates. … It’s a win-win.”
The College Dance Prep sessions are held over Zoom, but for the women who visit Ole Miss, Brooks offers in-person lessons. In addition to critiquing technique, Brooks also helps them with the interview portion of their tryout, when they will be asked questions about Ole Miss’ past and present: Who was Johnny Vaught, who is the football coach currently, etc.
Brooks also enjoys teaching local middle school dancers. She sees teaching as a way to continue to stay involved with dance as she gets older.
“Like any sport, you can only (dance) for so long. I want to try, as long as I can, to hold on to me doing it, but I’ll always have teaching in my back pocket.”
Of course, Brooks’ own dancing career is not over yet. After graduation, she plans to try out for the Tennessee Titans cheerleading squad.
“I’ve always wanted to see how long I can (continue) my dancing career,” Brooks said.
Brooks’s interest in the Titans springs from Hayden Hubbell, a former Rebelette who now cheers for Tennessee.
Over spring break, Brooks visited the Titans facilities and met the coach, the general manager and the other cheerleaders. She explained that this was a welcoming environment.
“I mentioned I wanted to try out for the NFL to (Hubbell), and she said, ‘You should come join the Titans (cheer squad) with me,” Brooks said. “You walked into the Titans (facilities), and it was so at peace. Everyone wanted the best for you, everybody wanted to get to know you, and it made me feel so at peace with this decision to try out for the NFL.”
