Jennifer Gehrke is a 16 year old Ju nior at William Fremd High School in Palatine, Illinois.  Jenny has been dancing since she was 3 years old.  She took up Highland Dance at age 7 and now dances with the Thistle and Heather Dancers of Chicagoland under the direction of Nancy Strolle.  Outside of dance, Jenny loves participating in her school’s choir and band programs where she plays oboe.  This past summer, Jenny was involved with Shadow Drum and Bugle Corp where she marched contra in the Drum Corp International Open Class competitions. Next month, you can see her as one of the principal dancers in Fremd’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Madeleine Howard is a Premier level dancer with the Thistle and Heather Highland Dancers. Involved in many dance forms, Madeleine has specialized in Highland and Irish dancing. After a successful competitive career in Irish dance, she completed the TCRG teaching certification examination. Madeleine is also an accomplished musician, playing violin/fiddle and Celtic harp. She has performed on stage and in pit orchestras for local productions of A Change in the Heir, The King and I, Macbeth and most recently Hairspray.