At historically Black colleges and universities, halftime is when audience members rush back to their seats for the real show. The drum majors are stars, of course, but sharing the spotlight are smiling, limber dancers with moves so big, even the nosebleeds can see every detail. They prance alongside marching bands, or in the stands, then run through pre-choreographed eight counts. The sequence is first started by a single dancer in the front, followed by the rest of the team. Stadiums have fallen silent to soak in the glittering costumes and bold flourishes.
Across generations, the evolution of the over 60-year-old artform is deeply appreciated. “I’ve watched this style of dancing grow from its original form, which included baton twirling, to what it’s become today,” Dr. Shawn Zachery, the director of the Prairie View A&M University Black Foxes, says to ESSENCE. “I was captivated by the showmanship, style, glamor and execution these teams exhibited. I continue to be extremely impressed and entertained by how the style has changed over the years.”
Conception
The original majorettes, or “Dansmarietjes” in Dutch, were carnival dancers who used batons. It wasn’t until the idea reached the American South’s high schools and colleges that it came to include a mixture of jazz-ballet and hip-hop dance.
Alcorn State University’s majorette team, the Golden Girls, emerged in 1968.
The original eight Golden Girls—Gloria Gray Liggans, Mar Deen Bingham Boykin, Delores Black Jenkins, Patricia Gibbs, Barbara Heidelberg Fox, Paulette McClain Moore, Josephine Washington Parker, and Margaret Bacchus Wilson—were the first dancers to perform a synchronized dance with a live marching band. The ladies made their debut at the 1968 Orange Blossom Classic against Florida A&M, with long, golden boots and gold capes.
Southern University’s Dancing Dolls were introduced in 1969. Prior to requesting that Gracie Perkins, a dancer, shape the Dolls, the school’s former band director, Dr. Issac “Doc” Greggs, had gone to see the New York troupe The Rockettes. He wanted to emulate their precision and overall appeal. “He wanted pizzazz and a lot of eyes,” Perkins says. “So we had the uniforms—we ordered those from Helendale, Florida. We had the gold sequins and we had the boots.”
Perkins, the team’s founder, didn’t consider the Dolls to be majorettes (“We didn’t twirl,” she says, referencing batons), but the team presented a poise that inspired teams that followed. Perkins implemented one of the Dolls’ signature moves, the high kick, and it became a fundamental part of Black, collegiate dance teams’ choreography.