The Apollo Majorettes are St. Cloud's newest- and most unique- dance squad. The team, which began practices in November of last year, is open to students of all skill levels who just want to dance.

The program is separate from Apollo and Tech's combined dance team. Apollo Activities Director Alex Badger describes the majorette team as  'a dance/chanting/cheer group that supports Apollo through movement, chanting and cheering.'

Apollo Paraeducator Shana Black started the team shortly after the school year got underway in 2021.

"I thought about girls who didn't have a dance background but loved dancing and feel like they are born to dance," Black said. "So I figured let's create something for those girls."

Black went about forming the team the old-fashioned way, roaming the halls with the sign-up sheet. She says that first sign-up sheet went well over 100 names pretty quickly.

The team has been practicing regularly and has performed at school events such as basketball games.

"The dances are coming out better than I thought," Black said. "It's something to keep the kids motivated, something to look forward to and something to keep them out of trouble.

"It's something positive to make the kids happy," Black said.

"Shana holds the kids to high standards and expects a lot out of them being active and fit and having a great dance show," Badger said. "But she also balances that with a social and welcoming environment... she's done a beautiful job of that balancing."

Students from all different walks of life are involved in the program, with some of them using dance to express themselves and reveal their personalities.

"That dancer inside of them is coming out and it just took someone to help them let it shine through," Black said. "Some girls didn't even know they could dance until they joined the team!

"It's nice to know that I was able to help let that shine through," Black said.

Majorette is a style of dance that combines West African, contemporary, hip-hop, step, chanting and more.

"We use dancing as our sound," Black said. "The collaboration of dance and cheer is what makes majorette different than other forms."

Apollo Majorettes

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