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After Citrus Dolls’ first performance at the halftime of African Student Union’s Afro Madness basketball tournament, Cheila Martinez, co-founder and choreographer, had tears in her eyes. With lingering excitement and nervousness, Martinez immediately watched the event videographer’s footage of the majorettes’ performance.

“It just felt like ‘Damn, we did that,’” Martinez said. “Seeing my vision coming to life, it just got me very emotional.”

Citrus Dolls, Syracuse University’s first and only majorette dance group, consisting of eight dancers, performed for the first time on Sept. 22. The team’s main goal is to eventually perform alongside the marching band at SU sporting events, like football and basketball games, while also educating students about majorette dance for years to come, Martinez said. The team hopes to partner with local high school cheer and majorette teams to grow their presence in the community.

Majorette dance blends hip-hop, contemporary, jazz and ballet. The dance is traditionally performed at historically Black colleges and universities, especially southern schools, alongside schools’ marching bands during football and basketball games.

Citrus Dolls wear a navy blue crop top, Spandex shorts, blue gloves and a sparkly orange headband. The members plan to update their uniforms to include more school spirit and majorette flair, junior Aniyah Jones, the vice president of internal affairs and a Syracuse native, said.

Martinez and Penda Diop, both seniors from New York City, co-founded Citrus Dolls last year after dreaming about the idea since they were freshmen. To Diop, Citrus Dolls is more than a dance team. She hopes it will inspire future students who come to SU.

By bringing majorette dance to SU, Citrus Dolls wants students of color, especially Black women, to have a safe space on campus and share the same love for dance that HBCU’s majorette teams have, Martinez said.

“We just wanted a chance to have that HBCU culture at a PWI. We didn’t want to give up on that,” Diop said.

Alicia Hoppes | Staff Photographer

Citrus Dolls, Syracuse University’s first majorette dance team, practices for its debut performance at the African Student Union’s basketball tournament. The group aims to create a safe space on campus for Black women who share a love of dance.

Like several other team members, Diop was on a cheer team in high school. Meanwhile, Martinez had wanted to start a majorette team since she was in middle school, and grew up teaching herself everything she knows about how to dance. Martinez said that going from watching majorette dance teams at other universities to now bringing a team to fruition at SU has been surreal.

“I just kept asking myself, like, ‘Is this really going to happen? Do I really want to do this?’ And, every time it was a ‘yes’ for me,” Martinez said.

As a self-taught dancer, Martinez has spent up to five hours at a time in the dance studio working on Citrus Dolls’ choreography. Martinez ensures all the dancers understand the choreography, even doing one-on-one meetings with each team member, freshman Karri Stewart said.

Described by Martinez as an “angel sent from God” to help her fulfill her dream of starting a majorette team on campus, Diop’s social nature brought people together in support of their vision.

Stewart, the co-public relations officer of Citrus Dolls, was captain of a majorette dance team in high school, which pushed her to pursue the dance style in college. Stewart joined Citrus Dolls after committing to SU and connecting with Diop on the Citrus Dolls’ Instagram account.

Sophomore Sarah Ishmael cheered in high school and wanted to find a similar dance community on campus at the start of her sophomore year. When she spoke with Citrus Dolls at this fall’s Involvement Fair, Martinez told students that if they joined the team, they would become part of something bigger on campus.

“It feels like it is going to be a legacy,” Ishmael said. “We’re going to go down as the first members to start this up and get it off the ground.”

As other majorette teams are making their debuts across the country, like the University of Southern California’s majorette team, The Cardinal Divas of SC, Jones said the women of Citrus Dolls are adamant about majorette dance having a place on SU’s campus.

“It’s something that will make this PWI a little bit more comfortable for people who look like me,” Diop said.

Alicia Hoppes | Staff Photographer

Citrus Dolls experiment with a snake-like line formation while learning the final part of a new routine. The girls are close friends, so there is never a dull moment during practice.

Beyond creating more space for Black women at SU, Citrus Dolls is a self-confidence booster and an outlet for them, members said.

While participating in majorette dance in high school, Stewart said her confidence grew by the time she reached her senior year. She hopes being part of the team will have the same effect on others, especially with a diverse group of women.

“Nobody on our team looks the same,” Stewart said. “We all have different body types and skin tones, hair types, but we all look so good together and we can dance different styles.”

The team mixes various talents and dance styles as each dancer has different experience levels. Some girls have a coached background in dance, while others are self-taught.

Diop said the group has withstood some judgemental or unsupportive comments from peers, but the team has remained passionate despite. The dancers aspire to be recognized by SU and the campus community so they can perform at official games and represent the school in the future.

“It hits harder when people didn’t believe in your dream, and then it comes to life,” Martinez said.

The birth of Citrus Dolls on campus has blossomed into new partnerships with other student organizations, like Renegade Magazine and the Kappa Lambda chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

“I’m going to shoot for the stars and land on the clouds, but either way I’m going to be way further than where we were when we started, and that’s our goal,” Stewart said. “In terms of being first and only, someone’s gotta do it.”

Published on October 17, 2024 at 12:14 am