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24th Annual Rose Cotillion
Waltzing To Womanhood
In a Decades-Old Tradition, Young Black Women Debut at a Cotillion Ball
By Andrea Robinson
[email protected]
Hearing the announcer call her name, Faith Elibert shook off her jitters and led a small group of young black women into the ballroom. Then she made a vow to her mentors: ''Every lesson will not go unheeded, and we will not let you down,'' she said.
With those words, she and four other girls put aside qualms from their shaky last rehearsal and dazzled the audience with old-world dances.
The precise promenade and delicate curtsies as five couples entered the room Saturday afternoon capped off months of preparation. The young women bloomed into roses -- their coming of age into society -- at the Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort in Sunny Isles Beach.
The 24th annual Rose Cotillion, sponsored by Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, culminated a season of coming-out soirees presented by Miami's four historically black sororities that celebrate the achievements and aspirations of female high school graduates.
It's a far cry from the recent headlines of death and violence that threaten to define black youth: These teens are models of achievement and success, and, on Saturday, they basked in one last dance before parting for college in Florida and around the country.
For the past year, cotillion chairman Alvilda Greene and her assistants have watched over the assertive, sometimes stubborn teens as closely as mother hens, ensuring their decorum and gestures befited gentlewomen and men.
The lessons are inspiring, said escort Donald Blackshear, a Monsignor Edward Pace High graduate. ''You've been taught so much -- like how to be a gentleman even though there are times when you don't want to be,'' he said.
Black cotillions, with few exceptions, are more than just fancy balls.
LIFE LESSONS
For months, the teenagers worked together on community-service projects and attended workshops on etiquette, finances and leadership -- tools to help them in the real world.
The girls and their escorts -- all from the greater Miami area -- were hand-selected by sorority members, based on their grades and involvement in school activities. They had to abide by rules that seem throwbacks in today's fast-paced society: no pregnancies, no outrageous hairstyles or colors, and no gold-plated grills (teeth).
''The rules are not too strict, but those are the rules,'' said Ruby Rayford, the sorority's doyenne.
Just four girls and one guy showed up for the first dance rehearsal. Tajjii Ferguson, who graduated from Miami Northwestern in May and is vice president of the group, was not happy.
''It could be better if everyone came to rehearsal,'' she said. Unfazed, Greene went ahead with the lesson.
''Always look each other in the eye and smile,'' she admonished. ``I don't care if someone steps on your toe. You smile.''
One recent day in the cafeteria of Northwestern High School, students rocked to in-your-face rap music. But Ashley McLeroy and Tajjii were studying a video on the waltz, promenade and tango -- high-society dances they had never undertaken.
''If you start something, you have to finish it,'' Ashley, group president, said of her determination to give a perfect dance performance.
At a final rehearsal, she still was unsure about a couple of moves. Her timing was wrong. The required cha-cha-cha was more like cha-cha.
Cotillions were introduced to the South in the 19th century by plantation owners presenting their single daughters who were eligible for marriage, said Marvin Dunn, Florida International University psychology professor and local historian.
After slavery ended, the small black elite class adopted the custom.
Cotillions were embraced during the 20th century by middle- and working-class blacks who wanted to give their daughters a memorable send-off into the world.
''Oh yes, people would spend a year planning. It was the social event of the season,'' Dunn said.
MIAMI HISTORY
The late Dorothy Newton Maxwell, an educator and member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, brought the idea to Miami. She was inspired after witnessing a cotillion while taking graduate classes at Boston University. Miami's first formal presentation was held in 1951 at the parish hall of St. Agnes Episcopal Church in Overtown.
''No flirty girls were allowed,'' recalled longtime sorority member Dorothy Wallace Graham, 90. ``Years ago it wasn't acceptable. We try to take in girls with good reputations.''
The experience motivated one of the first debutantes, Eleanor Coleman, 72, to succeed in her career as a schoolteacher.
''I realized I couldn't disappoint these people who wished me well,'' Coleman said. ``I had to get into college, do my best, get out of college.''
COLLEGE-PREP CULTURE
Chanika Myers, a debutante 11 years ago, said she learned responsibility by attending myriad cotillion workshops.
''When I got to college, we had already been encouraged to work on projects. So in college, I didn't have a problem,'' said Myers, now an FIU law school student.
Tajjii learned of the cotillion through an ad in the Miami Times and was recommended by someone -- though she's not sure who. She and her mom, Beverly Ferguson, are grateful for the opportunity.
''Being a Rose complements me in all the things I want to do,'' Tajjii said.
This fall, if all goes well, Tajjii heads to Miami Dade College; she wants to become an ultrasound technician. Faith Elibert will go MDC, too. Ashley leaves next month for Liberty University in Virginia. Ionnie McNeill will be at Howard University in Washington. Shantelle Williams will travel to Stanford University to study linguistics. She speaks French and Spanish and wants to learn Italian and Portuguese.
Delphine McLeroy, Ashley's mom, thinks the Rose Cotillion enhanced her daughter's leadership potential.
''This has been a positive experience. She's had an opportunity to take an active leadership role and to serve as a friend and mentor to some of the girls who were shy,'' McLeroy said. ``Ashley made them feel comfortable and made them stick with it. Otherwise, they would have dropped out.''
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