Majorette has always been larger than the field in which it is performed. Born in the precision of Black southern dance lines and sharpened through HBCU culture, it brings forth a language of confidence, pride and excellence.
That is what choreographer, Ogemdi Ude, set out to honor in MAJOR, a dance theater production that uplifts the art of majorette while integrating spirituality, symbolism and steps towards justice. Though this performance has premiered in places internationally, it carried a new audience in Bovard Auditorium in partnership with Visions and Voices and the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. The performance was especially resonant, as it assisted in the advent of Black History Month as a declaration.
Before the performance even began, the room was invigorated. There was spirit, anticipation and love. Then came the demand.
“Stand at attention,” Song Aziza Tucker, the spotlighted dancer said.
Six performers stood downstage, unwavering. The command was not a suggestion.
The first dancer strutted across the stage, executing layouts, fierce jazz walks, and facial expressions that took control of the room. Each dancer followed, carving out her own formation before settling into a pyramid. They craved our attention once more, this time not through voice, but through their bodies.
After a section marked by precision and power, the performance shifted into an elongated twerk sequence. While initially playful, it morphed into a deliberate form of symbolism. While often consumed casually in spaces as a comedic or fun sequence, it was reframed as a discipline. From that movement emerged a series of mantras.
“I am here to find the pose and to hold it,” the performer spotlighted at the time asserted. “I’m not being watched, I’m making you watch. I didn’t catch the count; I demanded the count. Look at me. Are you looking? How to look grown, be grown, act grown, play grown.”
These mantras were repeated and forced the audience to discover meaning in the phrases.
How are Black women perceived?
How are they watched?
Are they reclaiming the definition of being grown?
These phrases echoed a reality.
“It was moving in more ways than one, outlining the struggles that many Black women face, beginning in their childhood,” a USC junior said after the performance. “I think it is imperative to see representation about the challenges that Black women go through, so that we can increase dialogue and awareness surrounding these barriers. That’s what MAJOR did.”
Through majorette, MAJOR became a broader statement about Black womanhood. It honored the discipline behind the dance, the spiritual undertones within the foundation, and the layered experiences of Black women who are constantly negotiating visibility.
They demanded we watch.
And we did.