This post was updated Nov. 5 at 8:24 p.m.

Taking its talents to UCLA’s largest stage, the Bruinettes are bringing more than a new style of dance to the Rose Bowl.

In its first season on campus, the danceline’s inaugural team is redefining inclusivity and Black representation in athletics through danceline, a style of dance that originates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Blending jazz, hip-hop and African dance styles, the danceline team gives Black dancers on campus an opportunity to honor HBCU culture and reflect values of diversity for students of color on a mainstream platform, said third-year theater student and captain of the Bruinettes Alexandria Hamilton.

“I really wanted to be in a space with other people who looked like me,” Hamilton said. “I felt inspired to help create a space at UCLA for dancers like myself, of course to build a community with one another, but also to share our talent with the school and also create a community for the Black students at UCLA.”

Although establishing the team came with its challenges, Sydney Shepherd, co-founder of the Bruinettes and third-year African American studies and English student, said the UCLA Athletics department was supportive of the Bruinettes’ addition to the field. Performing alongside the UCLA Spirit Squad for the first time at New Student Orientation, the Bruinettes share a familial connection with other campus groups, which celebrate their love for the Bruins in their own ways, Shepherd said.

“Whenever I would watch (the basketball and football games), I would just watch the Band, the cheerleaders, the Spirit Squad and wonder where I would see myself fitting into any of those categories,” Shepherd said. “I just didn’t necessarily see myself fitting into any of those spaces.”

[Related: The Black Bruin Experience: Bruinettes danceline team’s debut takes historic step for Black inclusion at UCLA]

At the Rose Bowl, the Bruinettes’ danceline performances consist of two distinct components, stands and field shows, Shepherd said. While field shows showcase the team’s technique in formations, performances in the stands simulate a game of “Simon Says,” Shepherd said, with the team relying solely on the captain’s movements to know which routine to perform next. With an extensive repertoire of choreographed routines, the team has limited time to pair choreography with the musical selection, which requires the captain to think quickly on her feet, Shepherd added.

“It’s such a good practice of not only teamwork and memorization and cleanliness, but tenacity,” Shepherd said. “It can be really tough to memorize what to do or small corrections because there is so much you have to learn.”

Hamilton said the team encourages a continuous learning environment, with each member bringing their own strengths and individuality to rehearsals. Because traditional danceline is a blend of numerous other dance styles, Shepherd said each component of the performances allows different dancers on the team to be highlighted, expressing its versatility as a team.

Paying homage to the first danceline team to perform as a featured squad, the Alcorn State University Golden Girls, honoring the values that the style holds, and acknowledging its cultural origins was integral to the team’s foundation, said third-year psychology student and Bruinettes co-founder Daisa Watkins.

Connecting to danceline’s cultural history at HBCUs, the Bruinettes hold team history days, Watkins said, providing opportunities for members to learn and engage with the cultural component of the style. The team maintains its authenticity through traditional danceline movements and uniforms while continuing to build their own traditions, Watkins added.

[Related: How dance team ROOT[D branches out while staying true to South Asian roots]

Composed of two Spelman College alumni and former dancers, Kalé Woods and Kayla Marie Jackson, the Bruinettes’ coaching team also encourages the celebration of HBCU culture, allowing them to share their own experiences of being on a danceline team, said Hamilton.

“I wanted to make sure we honored danceline in the right way,” Hamilton said. “Their knowledge of danceline, but also as dancers and as entrepreneurs, has brought so much knowledge to the Bruinettes. … we are where we are today because of them.”

Holding true to HBCU danceline culture, Woods and Jackson also emphasized the importance of sisterhood and community both on and off the field, Shepherd said. Rehearsing throughout the summer and late at night, Shepherd said the Bruinettes have become a second family to her. Hamilton said the Bruinettes have a platform to inspire younger generations who can see themselves represented on a prominent stage.

“My main hope is that people simply find joy in everything that we’re doing,” Hamilton said. “When we’re dancing out there in the stands or on the field, that … young people feel inspired to do these things, to see that ‘Oh, I can go to UCLA one day and be on the Bruinettes.’”