Presented by Duke Arts Presents
“An exceptional finale…loud and real, Ude accomplished something unimaginable”
The New York Times
“The drill is uplifting, the energy euphoric, the dancers, heart-poundingly wholesome. Yet they give just enough hip swagger and chin thrust to remind us we can’t look away.”
Fjord Review
Five dancers take the stage in MAJOR to explore the power, memory, and physicality of majorette dance, a form that originated in the American South within Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the 1960s. In this dance-theater work, five Black femmes revisit the rhythms of their girlhood and rediscover the bodies they shaped through choreography, devised language, and a music score by Lambkin blending Southern rap, horns, drumlines, and melodic R&B and soul.
The work is created by Brooklyn-based dance and interdisciplinary artist Ogemdi Ude, whose performances explore Black femme legacies, grief, and memory through movement and voice. Ude describes MAJOR as “a nuanced love letter to the folks who taught the team how to be proudly Black and proudly femme.”
Post-Show Panel Discussion
A Deeper Look at MAJOR
Stay after the performance for a conversation with choreographer Ogemdi Ude and professors from Duke University and North Carolina Central University.
MAJOR is presented in partnership with American Dance Festival.
Reynolds Industries Theater
125 Science Drive
Durham, NC 27708
Visit our Reynolds Industries Theater FAQ page for more information.
Approximately 50 minutes, with no intermission
Limited late seating available
Tickets available starting at $40. Student tickets always $10.
Dance and Interdisciplinary Artist
Ogemdi Ude is a dance and interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn. Her performance work focuses on Black femme legacies and futures, grief, and memory. Her work has been presented at Kampnagel, The Kitchen, Gibney, Harlem Stage, Danspace Project, Abrons Arts Center, BRIC, ISSUE Project Room, Recess Art, and for BAM’s DanceAfrica festival.
As an educator, she has taught at The New School, Princeton University, Sarah Lawrence College, and University of the Arts. She is a 2026 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists recipient, 2025 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Choreography, 2025 Princess Grace Honoraria in Choreography, 2025-2028 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, 2024 NEFA National Dance Project Production Grant recipient, and a Live Feed Residency Artist at New York Live Arts.
In January 2022 she appeared on the cover of Dance Magazine for their annual “25 to Watch” issue. She has published a book Watch Me in a collection edited by Thomas F. DeFrantz and Annie-B Parson: Dance History(s): Imagination as a Form of Study published by Dancing Foxes Press and Wesleyan University Press.
Artist Website | Facebook | Instagram
Choreography and Direction: Ogemdi Ude in collaboration with the performers
Performers: Kayla Farrish, Jailyn Phillips-Wiley, song tucker, Camile Phelps, and Junyla Silmon
Original Collaborators: Selah Hampton, Chanel Stone
Archivist: Myssi Robinson
Composer: Lambkin
Set and Lighting Designer: Simean “Sim” Carpenter
Production Stage Manager: tania “t” saiz perez
Costume Designer: Celeste Jennings
Producer: Sara Pereira da Silva
Reclaiming Our Bodies: A Deeper Look at MAJOR
After the performance, stay for a talkback panel discussion taking a deeper look at historical and present expectations, restrictions, manifestations, and performances of sexuality, gender, and body for Black femmes in the South and how majorette dance has worked as a vehicle for Black femmes to reclaim their own agency and bodily autonomy. The discussion will also investigate intersections of race, gender, class, and the body and place MAJOR in conversation with the history of HBCU band culture and the role of Black femmes in constructing its rich artistry.
Panelists include Ogemdi Ude, choreographer of MAJOR, Dr. Andrea E. Woods Valdés (Duke University Professor of Dance), Dr. Kristi Vincent Johnson (North Carolina Central University Director of Dance), and Professor Michelle Lanier (Duke University CDS Professor). The Panel will be moderated by Dr. Brittany J. Green (Duke Arts)
This event is part of We the People: A Duke & Durham Initiative
World Premiere: International Summer Festival, Hamburg, Germany August 7-10, 2025
US Premiere: New York Live Arts, New York, NY January 2026
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.
Major is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by New York Live Arts in partnership with On the Boards, Bates College, Wexner Center for the Arts, John and Mable Tinglign Museum of Art, Duke University, and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation.
Pick-4 Packages and Single Tickets Available Now!* Save 20% when you book four or more shows.
*Please note: For online Pick-4 orders, seats are automatically chosen based on best availability. To choose specific seats or price levels, please call the Box Office at 919-684-4444.
Tier 1: $50
Tier 2: $40
Students*: $10 (Log in through Shibboleth to access Duke-exclusive discounts)
Duke Employees: 25% Off (Log in through Shibboleth to access Duke-exclusive discounts)
*All high school and college students are eligible for student tickets with valid ID shown at event.
Join us for a free public Duke Arts Create workshop to explore majorette dance and learn methods for bridging the form with contemporary dance and improvisation.
Alongside majorette dance, participants will learn methods for bridging the form with contemporary dance and improvisation. This high energy workshop will move from across the floor work, to choreography, to improvised scores, and end in composition practices.
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