These Louisiana natives took part in Beyoncé’s iconic NFL halftime show: ‘Once in a lifetime’

On Christmas Day, nearly 200 members of Texas Southern University’s band and dance team performed with Beyoncé at NRG Stadium in Houston, wearing white cowboy hats, tasseled suits and a sash that read “Cowboy Carter.”

Many of these performers, who took part in the 13-minute NFL halftime concert dubbed Beyoncé Bowl, were Louisiana natives, including some of the masterminds behind the action-packed performance.

New Orleans native Juvon Pollard, the associate director of TSU’s Ocean of Soul Marching Band, and Baton Rouge native Danielle Stamper, director of the dance team Motion of the Ocean, both had a hand the show. They spent hours preparing their teams for what Stamper called a “once in a lifetime” experience. 

The band members and dancers performed the entire setlist composed of eight songs from Beyoncé’s latest country and Americana album “Cowboy Carter.” 

Getting ready for Beyoncé Bowl

Twenty-seven million viewers across the United States watched Beyoncé Bowl, according to Nielson data provided by Netflix, making the Ravens-Texas game one of two of the most streamed games in NFL history. 

But despite the massive pressure leading up to the high-profile performance, preparing for it wasn’t as difficult as many may have imaged, at least from the perspectives of Pollard and Stamper. 

“The performance for us was relatively easy to catch on to. This is what we generally do on our day-to-day regimen in our rehearsals,” Pollard said.

“It was pressure, of course, because it’s Beyoncé,” Stamper said. “But no pressure at all because these are the things that we’ve been doing every single year.”

The Beyoncé Bowl, which featured special guests Post Malone and Shaboozey, wasn’t the students’ first time performing at a star-studded event. Ocean of Soul took the stage at WrestleMania in 2022. The same year, Motion of the Ocean won the Nike’s Yardrunners Dance Showcase, where Megan Thee Stallion was a celebrity judge.

What comes next?

The band members and dancers have garnered attention on social media and from local and national publications, including Sports Illustrated, since the performance. 

Along with the “outpour of support” Pollard described the students receiving, Stamper said that they have carried themselves with “pride and joy” since stepping off the football field. 

“I just love seeing the students happy, honestly,” Stamper said, “Because they worked so hard during the year with our long, extensive practices, trying to manage school as well, and being dedicated to their craft of music and dance.”

The band and dance team are now shifting their attention to their upcoming performances at Krewes of Thoth and Endymion during 2025 Mardi Gras in New Orleans. 

Louisiana’s impact

It comes as no surprise that a state as culturally rich as Louisiana influenced Pollard and Stamper as artists. 

Pollard, 40, said that while growing up in New Orleans’ famous music scene, he knew he was destined to be a traveling musician. He graduated from Sarah Therese Senior High School and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, where he found his niche as a trumpet player.

While pursuing his bachelor’s degree at Southern University, Pollard was a section leader for its band program, The Human Jukebox. After, he spent 17 years as a high school band director in Baton Rouge.

“I’m very indebted to the city of New Orleans and what it cultivated in me as a musician and band director,” he said.

Stamper, 30, was on the dance team at McKinley Senior High School in Baton Rouge until graduating. She also attended Southern, where she served as captain of the university’s dance team, Fabulous Dancing Dolls, for two years. Stamper was then a cheerleader for the New Orleans Saints before starting her position at TSU.

But before pursuing her career as a dancer, Stamper grew up admiring the cheerleaders while attending Southern’s football games and the Bayou Classic with her family. 

“You grow up, and you aspire to be just like them,” Stamper said. “That’s honestly where my impact comes from, being that little girl, and now being given the opportunity to give the opportunity to someone else who was that little girl.”