Trenton Goudeaux

Bay Dolls co-captain, Shila Douglas, and other Bay Dolls members during a dance workshop at CSUEB

Established in August 2022, The Bay Dolls are a new majorette dance team based at California State University, East Bay. The Bay Dolls host events such as dance workshops, which are sessions for any student who wishes to attend and broaden their aspect of dancing by discovering new ways to move and dance. Although they are a majorette dance team The Bay Dolls also partake in cheer during home CSUEB basketball games. 

Majorette dancing is an art form which comes from mixing multiple styles of dancing such as ballet, hip-hop, jazz, cabaret, and more. The art form is typically intended to entertain audiences all while paying homage to the dancers that came before them. 

“We first started off as a majorette dance team and then proceeded to make a cheer team. East Bay had a cheer team back in 2019 but due to COVID it was discontinued so we decided to bring it back. We wanted to bring more diversity and see more diversity at East Bay and bring school spirit back so we brought back cheer” stated Bay Dolls co-captain, Shila Douglas. 

Considering The Bay Dolls are a new majorette dance organization on campus they are always searching for students who would love to express themselves and their talents through the form of majorette dancing. 

Ajahnae Johnson, who joined the Bay Dolls when the team only had  four members, shared “I first learned about the Bay Dolls and tryouts via Instagram through one of my classmates. I love to dance and I used to cheer in middle school so I wanted to be a part of something fun and creative on campus. Also, I love the community that it brings on campus and the sisterhood we’ve built”. 

Bringing school spirit is just part of the many things The Bay Dolls aim to accomplish. The Bay Dolls also provide a platform for students of color and aim to give both men and women a sense of empowerment. They take the time to spread this empowerment through visiting and performing in high schools, dance classes, Hayward Promise and other local community events.

When asked about the goal of the Bay Dolls, Roxanne Washignton, Captain of the majorette and cheer team said, “our goal is to promote diversity, confidence and leadership in everything that we do”. She continued, “it [The Bay Dolls] gives us a voice to express our opinions and how we feel through the movement of art and dance”. 

The Bay Dolls have created a community and sense of belonging in such a short period of time and look to share it with other students. These talented young women have proven to be a unified group who will continue to work towards bringing back East Bay’s spirit through their social media outreach and one performance at a time. 

Follow their Instagram account: @the.baydolls