Two majorette dance teams featuring local children will battle this weekend for bragging rights, a trophy and - perhaps most importantly - public exposure to this growing dance trend.
The Street Dance Battle is a free event at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Riverside Park Amphitheater in Jefferson City.
The dance is similar to that of marching bands. Both males and females dance to choreographed moves, often with baton twirling or the use of other props. Sometimes dancers use spin knives, fire knives, flags, light-up batons and fire batons. The Lifetime show "Bring It!" highlights majorette dancing.
The high-energy dance incorporates a mix of hip-hop, jazz, lyrical and ballet.
Mecca Dixon, the organizer of Saturday's event, said it's the first time such a public event has been held in Jefferson City.
The event not only teaches dance, but also imparts life values, she said.
"If people love dance and if they are interested in a high-energy, pumped-up event that supports children of the community, I would really encourage them to come out and support it," she said.
The two competing teams - Show Stoppin' Foxette's and The Infamous Royal Tierettes - are the only two community majorette dance teams in town. While they welcome boys and girls, only girls are involved right now, Dixon said. All currently are students at either one of the two public middle schools in Jefferson City or Lawson Elementary School.
Dixon's involvement stems from her love of dance that she passed on to her 15-year-old daughter, Yessnia. While attending Lincoln University, Dixon was a member of LU's marching band, the Marching Musical Storm. Since graduating, the Chicago native got married and made Jefferson City at home.
For the past 15 years, she's been a flag instructor for Marching Musical Storm.
When her daughter expressed an interest in that style of dance last September, she and two current members of the Marching Musical Storm, T'airria Wheeler and Jessie Davis, started The Infamous Royal Tierettes for local youths.
Dixon serves as the team manager, while the other two are team coaches.
The team formed in October, and by December they were participating in the local Christmas parade.
"It's been a lot of late nights and a lot of long weekends," she said.
She said the plan is to get the public excited about majorette dance competitions, and then the two local teams are planning to sponsor their own event in Jefferson City this fall after LU's homecoming. The invitational event would bring in out-of-town teams to compete.