BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
The Dancing Dolls are known for their high
energy routines in the stands and at halftime of Southern University's
football games. That high energy is what caught the attention of Madonna and
the rest of the Super Bowl committee back in November.
Band Director Lawrence Jackson says that's
when they called to invite the team to dance during Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show.
"I was screaming and hollering and going
crazy in my office, and I had to calm myself down. And I went in the Dancing
Dolls' room and told them, and they were in awe. It looked like they were
hearing something, and they just started screaming and going crazy," said
Jackson.
Jackson says after he calmed the girls down,
he had to break some news to them - they had to keep everything a secret.
"It killed me inside. I literally wanted to
let the world know cause this is such a great accomplishment," said senior
dancer Meagan Callier.
Callier says while Madonna was an extremely
kind person, she ran her rehearsals like a tight ship; 8 a.m. until 10 p.m.
practices. But she says during this whirlwind week, she learned an important
lesson from the pop icon.
"Just remember that you talent is your gift
that's meant to unite people. And I will always take that away with me. That
stayed in my heart until I came off stage and I know I'll try to keep that with
me throughout life," said Callier.
And helped bring her university into a
positive and international spotlight, a great recruiting tool.
"Although some students will not be on the Dancing Dolls Dance Team, although they not gonna be in the Human Jukebox Marching Band, but they wanna be a part of a university that they can connect
where positive things are going on," said Jackson.
Super Bowl XLVI was not the first time
Southern University Human Jukebox Marching Band was featured in the halftime
show. Jackson says the band has made a whopping five appearances at the big
game, but this is the first time the Dancing Dolls took the field without the
band.
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