The Stanford Dollies family ushered in new members last spring, splashing various fountains on campus as outgoing Dollies shared snippets of their time wearing their iconic red and white dresses.
The Stanford Dollies are the five dancers that perform with the Leland Stanford Jr. University Marching Band (LSJUMB) and create original choreography to match the band. Some of their repertoire stays consistent from year to year, like “Yellow River,” but each new cohort of Dollies creates several new dances of their own.
From the moment they are chosen as the incoming Dollies in the spring, they have two months to learn 10 dances in time for the Fountain Rally. The rally is their inaugural performance where they “splash in” and their Dollie mothers, the previous year’s Dollies, are “splashed out.”
Outgoing dollies Alice Finkelstein ’27 and Ariana Lee ’27 first heard about the Dollies when they performed at Admit Weekend with the band. Lee said they “really brought the energy and made [her] super excited to come to Stanford.”
Janae Lindsay ’27 heard about them when researching at Stanford, when she saw the “beautiful amazing grammies [the 22-23 Dollies] kill it outside Memorial Church.”
Yujen Lin ’27 described the Dollies legacy as “truly one of the greatest gifts I have received from Stanford” and emphasized the excitement she felt as new Dollies were welcomed into the group.
For Lin, it’s the little moments that make this group feel like family, like her “quarterly Tofu House dinners with her Dollie Mom Cordelia [‘26],” the hopes she has “to bond with her baby Talon” and the relationship she has with all the Dollies on her line who have shared the number three with her.
“Each year has their unique spin on the legacy, and it’s a really warm feeling meeting someone and knowing that you’re both part of this music, spirit and community-led tradition,” Lee said.
The Dollies perform alongside LSJUMB, whose energy could be summed up by four words members scream when they run into formation for performances: rock the f*** out. Lee found it “so fun running into random venues with the band, dancing full out and then running back out screaming and smiling.”
Lin noted that while dancing with the band was very different from her ballet and contemporary dance background, she loved the energy and the choreography from each of the sections, particularly the ClarPiczGang — mostly clarinets and piccolos with the occasional electric guitar — “because they have the cutest choreo that [she] loved to follow during basketball season.”
The band plays at a wide range of events from sports games to weddings, but of those, Lindsay’s favorite were the football games.
“There is something so electrifying to be able to dance in a stadium and perform at tailgates and take pictures,” Lindsay said. “The Stanford fans are so passionate, and it is amazing to be a part of their experience.”
For Finkelstein, it was moments off campus that resonated with her, such as rallies by the Hard Rock Cafe at Pier 39 or on the playground of a local preschool.
“Taking Stanford to the public through off-campus events has been so special, because we get to bring joy and spirit to the broader community,” Finkelstein said.
As for what made the Dollie experience worthwhile?
“Being able to do it with the best people,” Lee said.