Rooted in deep cultural memory and archival research, six Black femmes channel the power and poetry of majorette dance in a fierce investigation of memory, sensuality, and pride.
MAJOR is a dance theater project exploring the physicality, history, sociopolitics, and interiority of majorette dance, a form that originated in the American South within Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the 1960s. These Black femme teams, accompanied by marching bands, created a movement style that requires master showmanship with allegiance to count, undulation, groove, and sensual yet strong performativity.
In MAJOR, six Black femmes embrace majorette form—a fundamental relic of Black girlhood—to pursue the intimate journey of returning to bodies they thought lost. Experiments in improvised and verbatim language intertwine with a music score that integrates Southern rap, horns, drumlines, and melodic R&B and soul by Lambkin.
The Chord Archive is showcased alongside performances, a physical and digital documentation of the creative process, and personal historical accounts from former majorette dancers.
A fierce investigation of physical memory, sexuality, sensuality, and community, MAJOR is a nuanced love letter to the folks who taught the team how to be proudly Black and proudly femme.
About the Artist
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Ogemdi Ude | Choreography and Direction (in collaboration with the performers)
Kayla Farrish, Selah Hampton, Jailyn Phillips-Wiley, song tucker, Junyla Silmon, and Chanel Stone | Performers
Selah Hampton | Dance Captain
Myssi Robinson | Archivist
Lambkin | Composer
Sim Carpenter | Set and Lighting Designer
Noah Latty | Rehearsal Stage Manager
tania “t” saiz perez | Production Stage Manager
Celeste Jennings | Costume Designer
Sara Pereira da Silva | Producer
Dominique Rider | Dramaturg
Ny Opong & Catherine Kirk | Process Partners
MAJOR is commissioned by New York Live Arts and International Summer Festival Kampnagel with additional support from Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Danspace Project, Mercury Store, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
MAJOR has been supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, MAP Fund, a Brooklyn Arts Council grant, the Dance Advancement Fund from Dance NYC, Café Royal Cultural Foundation, and a Support for Artists Grant from the New York State Council for the Arts.
