Title: Uji Huddle

General Information about Item:

• Genre: Customary Folklore: Rituals

• Language: English

• Country: United States of America

Informant Data:

Raegina Hill, aged 21, is a Director of Ujima who joined the group her freshman fall (2014). She is a senior at Dartmouth College majoring in Anthropology with a concentration in Biological Anthropology and minoring in Theater. Raegina was born, raised, and currently lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Before Ujima, Raegina had six years of dance experience with hip hop, theatrical dance, high stepping, and cheer.

Shashwat Kala, aged 21, is a Director of Ujima who joined the group his freshman fall (2014). He is a senior at Dartmouth College who was born, raised, and currently lives in Waterford, Connecticut. Before Ujima, Shash had no formal dance training but participated in his hometown’s cultural dance shows for Indian festivals.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: The entire team participates in the Uji Huddle. This ritual occurs before all performances. It originated at the group’s founding, and Raegina and Shashwat first learned of it when they participated during their freshman fall.

• Cultural Context: Extracurricular groups and sports teams across campus participate in huddles prior to their shows or games. Ujima specifically uses their huddle as an opportunity to increase energy prior to a performance. Culturally, Ujima is an extremely tight-knit second family. The physical closeness and motivation that these huddles provide serves to further amplify their bonds. Ujima also values high quality performances and their image on campus. Therefore, they use this opportunity to discuss changes to the choreography, formations, transitions, etc.

Item:

Prior to shows, Ujima members stand shoulder-to-shoulder in a huddle to recap recent changes to their choreography and increase energy for their upcoming performance.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Video

Transcript of Associated File:

Raegina: “We have this pep talk that we do before shows, and it’s really just like, ‘Have fun, stay focused. If you mess up, keep going. No one knows you messed up but you. But don’t beat yourself up.’ Huddle where we just say, ‘1… 2… 3… Ujima!’ and that’s one of my favorite parts because it just gets really hype. Unless there’s someone performing before us, then we have to keep it kind of quiet. But when we can be really, really loud, it’s the best part.”

Shashwat: “Everyone would be standing up and shoulder-to-shoulder, their arms would be on their shoulder. This is when the pep talk would be happening. And then when the pep talk’s done, which is essentially, ‘Remember x, y, z. We love you so much. Blah, blah, blah.’ All hands go in and you go, ‘Ujima on 3! 1… 2… 3…’ And you go, ‘Ujima!’ And then we dance. I think the purpose of the huddle is 1) it’s to go over any last minute changes or any last minute corrections or reminders that are really important, in terms of if there is any formation changes that we talked about or any transitional changes that we talked about, just to make sure that everybody remembers it so we don’t look messy on stage. That’s the more practical reason for it. And then the more emotional reason for it is, I think. the physical act of everybody being shoulder-to-shoulder. Everyone together is a ‘We’re in this together’-type mentality that gets everyone really excited and prepared for our show.

When Ujima was founded, it was, of course, founded under the AM, so historically, it’s gotten transitioned away from this, but began as primarily a lot of African-American students. I think there was already that close-knit community there as a group of students who all wanted to dance and there wasn’t a space for dancing. And thinking about it just in a team, the ‘Hands in on 3!’ is something that so many sports teams do and it’s such a known act of teamwork that it was something that was just incorporated from the onset of the group. And I think it’s just something that’s been passed down because it makes everyone feel good and together even though Ujima has diversified since then. I think it’s hard to part with tradition, so it’s just something that’s really near and dear to my heart. But now that I direct it, I also think it’s something that, practically, that I also use to get people to be in good spirits and to go over any last minute things right before a show. The things that we say during a huddle are sometimes a little bit different for the Step Show just because that’s one of the only shows that we do that’s not performed in a fraternity space. It’s put on by the Alphas, many of whom are part of the Divine 9, so a lot of people on Ujima who are part of the AM have a really close connection to that show in particular. So that show, sometimes, the content of the huddle is more about diversity and inclusivity. And this is a show that’s put on by other people who are part of similar identities as a lot of the people on Ujima as well, so that huddle, the content of what we say is sometimes a little bit different than a typical frat show.”

Informant’s Comments:

The physical closeness that a Huddle provides, along with the adrenaline before a show, strengthens the team’s unity.

Collector’s Comments:

The Step Show variation on this ritual reflects Ujima’s history and cultural values. Aside from motivating the rest of the team, Ujima’s Directors use this show as an opportunity to discuss inclusivity and race, both of which are extremely relevant to its members.

Collector’s Name: Marcus Reid & Shinar Jain

Compiled/Analyzed By: Shinar Jain

Tags/Keywords:

• Ritual
• Dance
• Team