SU’s Dancing Dolls perform with Madonna

 
Southern University’s Dancing Dolls had an experience of a lifetime — and they can thank YouTube for it.
The dance team performed in Sunday’s halftime show at Super Bowl XLVI with pop music icon Madonna. Local media reports stated Madonna discovered the young women after watching a video of one of their performances on the popular website.
“It goes to show the power of YouTube,” said Southern University’s band director, Lawrence Jackson.
This year’s game attracted more than 111 million viewers. Jackson said the performance was the first for the Dancing Dolls at the Super Bowl, which the New York Giants won 21-17 over the New England Patriots.
Kayla Smith, the Dolls’ captain, said Madonna told her that one of her personal trainers found the troupe while searching for dancers on YouTube. She and another member, April Rollins, flew to New York in early December to meet with the pop star.
“We thought we were actually going to be learning something, but when we got there, they wanted April and I to teach them something,” Smith said. “We were like, ‘Oh wow, you want our choreography?'”
In a telephone interview after the show, Smith said they felt perfectly comfortable before they went on stage and during the performance.
“Once (Madonna) did all her tricks in the show, we knew all we had to do was go out and do our best,” she said.
The Southern University Band Department, which oversees the Dancing Dolls, will get a payment for the Dolls’ performance, Jackson said. He declined to reveal how much.
The Dolls normally have 11 members, but Madonna needed at least 20 dancers. So the group recruited nine other students for the performance, Southern University spokesman Edward Pratt said.
Jackson said Super Bowl halftime show representatives contacted him about possibly inviting the Dancing Dolls shortly after November’s Bayou Classic, the annual football game between Southern and Grambling State.
The university had to keep quiet about the performance because of a confidentiality agreement with the NFL, Pratt said.
“This is an amazing event for our students, and we were bursting at the seams to try to say something,” Pratt said.
James Rollins, April Rollins’ father, was just as frustrated about keeping the secret. He said his daughter finally told him she was performing at the Super Bowl after she had been flying back and forth from New York to work with Madonna.
“Here she is dancing on the biggest stage, and I can’t tell anybody,” James Rollins said.
Many students watched the performance during a Super Bowl party held on campus. Once the red-and-white dressed team popped onto the stage with Madonna, the students’ cheers erupted throughout the room.
Southern Chancellor James Llorens said the invitation is a testament to the hard work and reputations of both the Dancing Dolls and Southern’s marching band, the Human Jukebox.
“They’re a positive representative for the university, and we’re excited about their talents being recognized,” he said.