Lady Bengalettes in the house

Recently inaugurated, a squad of Bloomfield High School girls called the Lady Bengalettes have taken to the gym floor during boys and girls basketball games to energize fans with majorette dancing.

According to the group’s founder and advisor, Dorcas Allen, a business education teacher at the school, majorette dance combines a variety of styles — jazz, ballet and hip hip.

“It evolved into an historically Black college and university style of dance,” Allen said. “Now a lot of schools are doing it including Barringer, Shebazz and Weequahic high schools.”

According to an Internet search, the Alcorn State University Golden Girls are credited with having introduced the first modern example of HBCU majorette dancing. This was at the 1968 Orange Blossom Classic football game.

“It’s popular,” Allen said. “We got the go-ahead and started around May and June last year. A group of girls came to me and said they wanted something the school didn’t have.”

The students put together a petition and Allen spoke with Principal Chris Jennings.

“He gave us permission to perform at the Black Student Union Club for the Juneteenth cookout on State Street,” she said.

About two dozen girls performed at that event, dancing to a YouTube recording of the Alabama State University Band playing the song “Rain,” an old rhythm and blues number. The majorette dancing on the video was by the ASU Stingettes. The school mascot is a hornet.

“For that routine, the Bengalette co-captains found the movements and put the dance together themselves,” Allen said. “We had only about three weeks.”

Rehearsals are in Allen’s classroom and when available, the gym. Their first performance was short, but a sweet culmination. With uniform shirts and shorts, the Lady Bengalettes introduced themselves individually then joined ranks and danced a little over two minutes. They also performed at the first BHS football game. By then word about the group had gotten around.

“A lot of girls wanted to try out,” Allen said. “We had two try-outs for about 75 girls. We marched in the homecoming parade, from the high school to Foley Field. It was our first official appearance, but we didn’t have anything to perform yet. But the following week, for Senior Night, I let the senior girls perform what we did on Juneteenth.”

Thirty-two girls were accepted as Lady Bengalettes. They performed at a football game and so far a number of basketball half-times. Allen confessed that for one coach, 32 dancers is a lot.

“But the girls are amazing,” she said. “They’re at different levels, but I wanted to give them all the opportunity. We’re excited. People were roaring and they knew our names from social media. We had followers. It was such a good feeling for the girls and me.”

To dress the part of a Lady Bengalette, the girls had a Krispy Kreme fundraiser in October.

“It takes time to get funding,” Allen said, “but we did what we could. I was happy that Mr. Jenkins, the athletic director, had us perform. When I told him we were running short of money, he got together some of his friends to help us. It was great the way the community of Bloomfield came together for us.”

Steve Jenkins is the BHS athletic director.

Allen purchased uniforms with her own money and allowed the girls to pay her back. The bill for the uniforms was $3,500. The shoes cost $500. Some people thought she was crazy, but the group had been born from a lot of pitching-in.

The dance captain is junior Kim Mathieu. A lot of girls want to be a majorette, she said.

“I’m the first person in and the last person out,” Kim said. “I help create the dance routines, the social media, the flyers and the music.”

“She knows we’re a sisterhood,” Allen said. “For a coach, what’s beyond that?”

Once accepted as a Lady Bengalette, a girl and her parents must sign a contract acknowledging that certain academic, personal, attendance and athletic standards must be met. A physical is also required.

“It takes time to learn a routine and find space to perform.” Allen said. “Sometimes we get stuck finding a place to practice. That’s another struggle. But we have a lot of goals — to continue to uphold school spirit, be models of good sportsmanship, foster good relations within the school and eventually become a competitive team and be recognized as a sports team.”

Allen said there may be tryouts in June and they would be open to boys, too. The Lady Bengalettes are scheduled to perform at these home contests: Jan. 23, boys versus Irvington, 4 p.m.; Jan. 28, girls versus Cedar Grove, 4 p.m.; Feb. 18, girls versus Montclair, 7 p.m.; and Feb. 20, boys versus Morris Knolls, 6 p.m. Also, Feb. 25, Culture Cuisine Night, and March 6, Battle of the Classes.

  Bengalettes, Bengals, Bloomfield High School, dancing, majorette