Elon University students explore new experiences and interpretations of reality through Winter Term Burst the Bubble courses: free, student-led, non-credit sessions where students with a talent, interest, or skill share their knowledge with their peers.
As a majorette, Aniya Hogan ’26 understood that her dancers might feel anxious about learning a new dance style, but her Burst the Bubble session “March to the Beat: The Essence of Majorette Dance” hoped to ease those concerns and teach a new art form.
During one of Hogan’s sessions on Jan. 21, the dancers hopped across the floor as Hogan instructed them to act like the floor was burning hot. They continued moving in slow motion as if on the moon and then danced to their favorite colors.
“Everything in majorette is a pose, the bigger the better” Hogan said, expressing that confidence is key to majorette dancing.
Burst the Bubble sessions are free, student-led, non-credit sessions during Elon University’s Winter Term where students who have a talent, interest, or skill share their knowledge with their peers. In the course, Hogan reflected on her dance experience, not only in majorette but also ballet. She shared that majorette has influences from ballet, Latin American moves, and even drag.
“From my background and experiences in teaching majorette, I wanted to do a class that is new to Elon,” Hogan said. “I know majorette is not (common at) the school, so I wanted to flip the switch”
During Hogan’s session, dancers learned a series of “walks and rocks,” which are beginning steps used to get dancers onto their stage before the actual performance. Focusing on hips, shoulders, and hand shape, dancers were told to “be big and fill the audience with your body”.
Before gaining popularity in the American South, the original majorettes were carnival dancers known for bright costumes and twirling batons. This dance style soon started to incorporate jazz, ballet, hip-hop, burlesque, kick lines, and much more to keep their audience’s attention while still maintaining the traditions of the dance style. The Alcorn State University Golden Girls were the first HBCU (Historically Black College or University) majorette team, first appearing in the 1968 Orange Blossom Classic in Miami, Florida with their iconic gold boots.
Elon University founded its first majorette team, The Divine Embers in 2024. Their goal is to “give students, especially minorities, a place to feel comfortable to express themselves through dance and service.”
The science of film
Science fiction movies often combine what we know as real with what we wish was real. Nivea Walker ’27 took her class on a journey from aliens to a pandemic and weaponized children in “Science Through Film,” a Burst the Bubble session focused on explaining the science of film plots. Participants in the session watched the movie “The 5th Wave” to see the possibility of the events in this movie happening.
Students commented on the COVID-19 pandemic being very similar to that in the movie, comparing the masks, outdoor testing sites, and public confusion on what to do. However, plot points like aliens taking full control of the United States military without any mention of what happened to the original military were less believable to the class.
“Sci-fi movies make you realize that you are just one person on a small planet in a giant space that is infinite,” said Jaylasha Starks ’28. “Like you look at your hands and realize you are alive, the people around you are alive and the world is just spinning.”