Hoffman Estates High proud to have only majorette team in area, but hoping to inspire more

Now in its third year, Hoffman Estates High School’s Orange Krush majorettes team is already celebrated for its uniqueness in the suburbs even as its members and coaches hope to become more influential.

Majorettes are a style of dance squad strongly associated with, but not exclusive to, historically Black colleges and universities. The Orange Krush team combines that tradition with a Western African aesthetic along with jazz and hip-hop influences.

At the high school level, majorette teams are rare in Illinois and otherwise nonexistent in the Northwest suburbs, spare for the Hoffman Estates squad.

Coach Susan Buck said it’s a goal to create other teams that could compete against each other in the future. But for now, she’s finding joy in the way her team’s performances are embraced at school sporting events as well as throughout the wider community.

“The school loves it, the community loves it,” she said. “They all come out to the football and basketball games, ready to see us perform. We’ve done so much in the community. We did the Elgin Juneteenth, we did the Black History Month celebration at the village hall last year. So we’ve widened not only in school but also outside of school.”

Buck, affectionately known as “Mama Sue,” also finds satisfaction that the squad has provided an outlet for creativity and expression for many students who hadn’t found another extracurricular niche at the school.

“I’m just happy there’s something that students that normally wouldn’t be involved in something now have something to be involved in to show their school spirit, and just show their personality through dance, a different type of dance,” she said.

Senior Kadynn Pommells is one of three members who have been with the team since the start.

“I just love dancing, and honestly, I felt like I needed something to do at school where I felt like I fit in,” she said. “And honestly, majorettes, Orange Krush, is like my home. This is my safe place. It’s something I love doing and will continue to do after high school.”

For freshman Amariyana “Yana” Turner, the majorette team was an already established program she gravitated toward upon her arrival at the school.

“I’ve been dancing since I was as little as 7 years old,” she said. “I love doing dancing, and so I decided to join majorettes because it’s a new opportunity for me. I’m excited about making new friends, meeting new people and doing stuff that I never did before that I never knew that I could do.”

Both girls described a similar series of emotions that performing produces.

“When I’m performing I always get nervous before we start, but once I’m out there I just feel so free,” Kadynn said. “I love making people smile when they see me dance.”

“At first I’m nervous because there’s a lot of people in the crowd, but as I’m doing it, it all goes away and I get to show who I really am,” Yana agreed.

The inspiration for the team came in 2022 when a senior at the time reached out to administrators about starting the squad.

Buck, the principal’s secretary, said she’d organize it and recruited Eboni Jackson as chief choreographer. Twenty-four girls immediately joined for the inaugural season.

Participation has largely stayed around the same level, Buck said. This year there are 17 members, including two boys for the first time.

Unlike a coed cheer squad, the boys and girls on Orange Krush don’t have different roles. But the routines can be choreographed in a way all members are equally comfortable with, Buck said.

While she knows what the team is already doing for its participants, Buck remains convinced the ability to enter tournaments is the most significant aspect that can be added to the experience in the future.

“We’re looking to branch out, for other schools in this area to get majorette teams, so that we can move and actually compete,” she said.