Stand Battles & The Changing Meaning Of "Majorettes" In African American Culture

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides definitions for "stand battles" and provides video examples of stand routines (battle stands) that are performed by community based groups such as Jackson, Mississippi's "Dancing Dolls", Jackson, Mississippi's "Purple Diamonds, and Memphis, Tennessee's "Prancing Tigerettes".

These female groups refer to themselves as "majorettes"* and battle (compete) with each other and other groups in majorette tours. This post includes videos of "the Dancing Dolls" and "the Prancing Tigerettes" prior to these groups being showcased on the television series "Bring It!"

*In the "Bring It" series edition that aired on September 10, 2014, the coach of the showcased group the "Dancing Dolls" referred to that group's performance style as "Hip Hop majorettes". Here's the definition of "majorettes" that is given by Jackson Mississippi "Dancing Dolls" Coach Miss D (Diana Williams) in the video "'Majorette' is a form of dance that incorporates hip-hop, ballet, jazz, and a mixture of lyrical dance all together. It’s high energy, high paced. It’s fun, energetic, and it’s entertaining. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_k7UfFcoQA
"Miss D's Dance Dictionary "Dance Styles" [.14-.26]
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The older meaning of "majorette" (also known as "drum majorette") is "a young woman or girl who wears a uniform and makes a pattern of movements with a baton (= stick) by turning it and throwing it into the air, as part of a group of girls who do this or as the leader of a musical group" http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/british/majorette
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Note that the Jackson, Mississippi "Dancing Dolls" and other majorette groups that they compete with perform choreographed, synchronized movements to percussive music. However, that music is recorded, not played by live drummers. Also, those new style majorette groups don't twirl and catch any batons or sticks.

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The Addendum to this post provides examples of Southern University's "Dancing Dolls", Alcorn State University's "Golden Girls", and Jackson State University's "Prancing J-Settes", three of the historically Black colleges & universities (HBCU) marching band affiliated dance lines whose performance styles have greatly influenced the (Jackson, Mississippi) "Dancing Dolls" and other community based dance groups (majorettes) who are featured on the American television series "Bring It!" Note that the names of the Jackson, Mississippi "Dancing Dolls" dance group and their competitors the Memphis, Tennessee group "The Prancing Tigerettes" probably came from two of those HBCU dance lines.

The Addendum to this post provides information about how the female groups that are auxiliaries of historically Black universities' marching bands changed their referent from "majorettes" to "dance lines". That excerpt also documents changes in the performance styles of those groups.

The content of this post is posted for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

RELATED LINK
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/04/dance-stand-routines-from-hbcu-dance.html
"Stand Routines From Historically Black Colleges & Universities Dance Line Auditions"

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BUCKING [Update: October 12, 2014]
"(Majorette) bucking" isn't the same as a 19th century American term "buck dancing" which refers to clogging/tap dancing ("buck and wing"). Nor is "majorette bucking" the same as "buck jumping", a very old style of dancing and processional marching that members of New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs & New Orleans second line paraders do.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-pigeon-wing-buck-wing-and-buck.html for information and video examples of both of these types of dancing.

"Bucking" as performed by some African American majorette groups, particularly in the South, consist of performing rhythmic pelvic thrusts (pops) as part of a dance routine.

The term "bucking" is probably a new name for this very old African originated dance movement. The Houston, Texas group X-Treme Motion was the first to popularize "bucking" on television. That group competed on the 2010 television show "America's Best Dance Crew. Here's a link to a January 4, 2010 video of X-Treme motion and the publisher's Trecia KneCole Fan Page's summary statement:
"X-Treme Motion Dance Crew is a Houston Based Crew from "The Motion of the Ocean" Majorettes at Texas Southern University. They specialize in Hip-Hop, Jazz, Ballet, Funky Jazz, and Modern. But, Showcasing and bring their own dance style called "Bucking" to the forefront"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apu78i3-K1s
-end of update-

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DEFINITION OF "STAND BATTLES"
From http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/bring-it/dance-dictionary “Bring It! [television show]
"Stand Battle: The stand battle works like a single elimination bracket tournament. The teams draw numbers and are randomly paired together. Each pair take turns trying to out dance each other. The teams go back and forth until the judges determine that one team wins. This is the most intense of all the categories because while the dance sequences are choreographed, when they are used is decided on the fly. The Captain must decide when to use what sequence based on the opposing team's sequence."

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From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrio6Fp6bHw [quote beginning at 1:24 of that video]
" “What is a stand battle?”
“A stand battle is when two teams take the dance floor at the same time. They take turns throwing eight counts back and forth until the judges declare a winner. “An eight count” is known as a stand.

Exchanging an eight count is like two boxers in the ring throwing punches back and forth with each team trying to land a killer combination. In war it’s back and forth shootin at each other. It’s the same thing. The only difference is that we don’t do that-we throw stands."
-Miss D (Diane Williams), Founder & Instructor/Coach - The Dancing Dolls (Jackson, Mississippi)
-snip-
This video is embedded as Example #6 below and features a definition of "bucking" and other definitions.

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FEATURED VIDEOS
These examples are presented in chronological order based on their posting dates with the oldest dated examples given first.

WARNING: A number of comments on some of these videos’ viewer comment threads contain profanity, racist language, and other objectionable content.

Example #1: The Dancing Dolls of Jackson...AKA "MINI J-SETTES"



oneyouluvtohate, Uploaded on Oct 30, 2009
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"AKA" means "also known as". Information about & a video of the "J-Settes" are found in the Addendum to this post.

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Example #2: DIP IT DOWN LOW BATTLE PURPLE DIAMONDS



dixie2176, Uploaded on Aug 16, 2011

THIS BATTLE WAS W I L D... YOU BE THE JUDGE!!!!! LOVE THIS PERFORMANCE... THESE GIRLS ARE ALL REALLY GOOD...YET PURPLE DIAMONDS TOOK THE WIN... video by D & M PRODUCTION Of Djamale's Dancingdivas
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Given the comments in the summary statement, I think the dance (majorette?) team "battling" the Purple Diamonds is the Dancing Divas.

I'm particularly interested in this video because it documents stand battles taking place on stages (as opposed to the floor of a gymnasium). I'm also interested in the way that the audience in this video reacts to the performances ("battles"), and the way that the dance captains shook hands when the result of the competition was announced.

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Example #3: PURPLE DIAMONDS VS DANCING DOLLS



TDABEST2011, Published on Aug 11, 2012

STAND BATTLE...DIP IT LOW 8/11/2012 THE MOST CRUNKEST STAND BATTLE I HAVE SEEN WITH MY OWN EYES TAKE 1..
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This 2012 video example of two Jackson, Mississippi pre-university dance groups feature “The Dancing Dolls” before they were showcased on the American television series “Bring It!”. These dance teams refer to themselves as “majorettes”.* This style of majorette performance is a distinct change from the “old style” of majorette performances.**

*http://www.dollhousedancefactory.com/ http://www.dollhousedancefactory.com/. The Dancing Dolls (Jackson, Mississippi)'s home page includes “pre-majorette, majorette I and majorette II” in the list of dance classes that are offered. Also, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dancing-Dolls/116220078408472
Comment posted by “Dancing Dolls” March 28 [2014] “Majorette Tour is underway!!!”

**Here's a comment that I wrote on the pancocojams post http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/african-american-south-african-batons.html
"...it appears that many (if not most) contemporary African American marching bands and African American drill teams have changed the definition of majorettes from "female baton twirlers" to "females who perform certain styles of dancing and/or marching/step movements to certain types of music", which rarely includes snare drums.

It's very difficult to find any video of a HBCU (historically Black college and university) or an African American high school unit (or predominately African American high school unit) that features baton twirling. However, three examples of that majorette style are included in that 2014 pancocojams post.

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Example #4: Memphis elite battles tigerettes



pimp1908, Published on Jun 9, 2013
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Notice that the Memphis Elite is a male group who are performing in a Hip-Hop/breakdancestyle and not the same style as the "Prancing Tigerette" or other "majorette" dance group. However, to date, I've only found one video of a stand battle that includes a high school group that included two males with its female members. That video is given as Example #2 in the Bonus video section below.

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Example #5: Stand Battle 2013



BayAreaThuggn, Published on Aug 18, 2013

Dynamic Dancing Dollz vs. Purple Diamonds
Buck or Die 2013
Jackson, MS
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Notice that the Dancing Dolls performed a death drop. "Death drops" came from voguing, a performance style that originated in New York City gay ballroom scenes.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogue_(dance)
Vogue, or voguing, is a highly stylized, modern house dance that evolved out of the Harlem [gay] ballroom scene in the 1980s...

The dip is the fall, drop, or descent backward onto one's back with one's leg folded underneath. Mainstream dance forms popularized the dip, which is occasionally called the "death drop" when done in dramatics style. Due to popular media, the dip is sometimes incorrectly termed the "5000", "shablam", and "shabam"; such misnomers likely stem from older commentators chanting the word "shawam" when a voguer successfully completed a dip."
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I don't think that this definition of the death drop has anything to do with the use of the phrase "dip it low" in the video title of Example #2 and the summary statement of Example #3.

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Example #6: Bring It!: Buzzwords



Lifetime Published on Mar 6, 2014

Check out a dictionary of the different dance routines that the Dancing Dolls participate in, in this Bring It! video extra.
-snip-
Here's a comment from that video's viewer comment thread
Book Multimedia, 2014
"This show is an accurate display of how many dance teams function. and it would be no different without the cameras. i believe those kids and their sponsors are doing a great job. they train those girls with basic to advanced collegiate & Professional dance technique. if you were a fan of the marching band culture in the south. you would understand.. this is how Many dance teams function. i see influence from the A few teams in the SWAC on display."
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Two examples of SWAC dance teams are presented in the Addendum to this post

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BONUS VIDEOS
I've just come across a number of videos of dance battles whose performances are very similar to the performances shown above. However, those performance styles differ from those previously showcased groups n that the dance teams represent specific high schools AND the dance teams perform to the beat of live (snare) drums & cymbals. Unfortunately, no location is given for these events, but I've identified one of the groups as "the Dancing Diamonds" from Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas. It's likely that the other competing dance groups are also from Texas, if not from that Texas city. If you have any information about these groups, please add it in the comment section below. Thanks!

Bonus Example #1: Battle Of The Dance Lines 2012 - (Stands Competition Group -1)



atlbattle, Published on Jan 13, 2013

high school band
-snip-
One of these competing groups include two males.

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Bonus Example #2: Battle Of The Dance Lines 2012 - ( Stands Competition Group - 4 )



atlbattle, Published on Jan 13, 2013

high school band

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ADDENDUM - TWO VIDEO EXAMPLES OF DANCE LINES FROM HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
The style of dancing of these Southern region, historically Black colleges & university's dance lines has greatly influenced the performance of the non-university dance teams (majorettes) that are showcased above. Also, notice that the Jackson, Mississippi dance group "Dancing Dolls" which is featured on the television show "Bring It!" have the same name of the Southern University dance line. And the name of Jackson, Mississippi "Dancing Dolls"'s competitor's "The Prancing Tigerettes" (Memphis, Tennessee) is probably modeled after the name of the Jackson State University's "The Prancing J-Settes".

Example #1: SU Dancing Dolls at SWAC Championship 2013



HBCUBANDS.COM, Published on Dec 9, 2013

SU Dancing Dolls at SWAC Championship 2013
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Southern University is a historically Black university that is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "Dancing Dolls" is the name of that university band's dance line.

"HBCU" = Historically Black Colleges & Universities
The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black universities in the Southern United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwestern_Athletic_Conference

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Example #2: The Golden Girls vs The Prancing J-Settes Both Dancing to Bad Girls @ The SWAC Championship



HBCUBANDS.COM, Published on Dec 12, 2013

Which Squad had the Better Routine?...
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The Golden Girls is the name of the dance team that is an auxiliary of the Alcorn State University (Lorman, Mississippi) marching band.

"The Prancing J-Settes" is the name of the Jackson State University (Jackson, Mississippi) dance line. Here's an excerpt from http://sonicboomofthesouth.com/history/the-prancing-j-settes/. I'm including this excerpt for historical purposes, particularly the fact that members of that dance line (and probably other current HBCU dance lines) were originally considered "majorettes".

"“Prancing J-Settes” is the official name of the Jackson State University dance line, an auxiliary group of the Jackson State University Marching Band, “The Sonic Boom of the South.” ...
Shirley Middleton, a former majorette, initiated the concept of the majorettes abandoning their batons and dancing to popular musical selections. As the majorette sponsor, Shirley Middleton and the majorettes met with Dr. John A. Peoples, the University’s sixth president, and requested that they be permitted to “put down their batons.”

Dr. Peoples agreed and thus legends were born. In 1970, Middleton assembled 18 majorettes, and their notoriety immediately began to soar in rapid proportions...

The group was initially named the “Prancing Jaycettes.” The group’s name became official in 1971. However, in 1982, the Prancing Jaycette organization officially changed its name to Prancing J-Settes, because of a name conflict with a local organization known as the Jackson Jaycees/Jaycettes.

Shirley Middleton served as sponsor of the J-Settes from 1970-1975. In 1975, Narah Oatis was appointed the sponsor of the J-Settes. Under her leadership, the Prancing J-Settes became nationally renowned. During her reign, J-Sette marching technics such as the “Salt and Pepper,” “J-Sette Walk,” “Strut,” and “Tip Toe” were perfected. The J-Settes consisted of lines of 12-16 young ladies who marched in rows affectionately named “Short and Sassy,” “Magnificent Middle,” or a “Tall and Tough.” ...
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The fact that the Prancing J-Settes' signature moves have greatly influenced the Jackson, Mississippi Dancing Dolls (and probably other majorette groups) is noted in this announcement for auditions on the (Jackson, Miss.) Dancing Doll's website http://www.dollhousedancefactory.com/DWilliams_Dance_Company_2_3.html
"Dancing Dolls Dance Team 2015 Tryouts are February 2015 at the Dollhouse Dance Factory....

Dancing Dolls is for girls ages 10-17. Dancing Dolls FINAL tryouts for the 2013 season will be held February 2015 at the Dollhouse Dance Factory. There is a $20 fee per dancer. Troyout Camp times are as follows...

***Dancing Dolls require the following: Marching (Salt N Pepper & Swing), Struts (J-Sette Walk & Prancing), Splits, Kicks (both legs), Rollovers (front and Back), Cartwheel, Toe Touch, Back bend and Deathdrop. All moves are taught during camp sessions. A group dance will be taught consisting of 9-12 eight counts..."

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