LionEssence is a ground breaking dance team founded on the campus of Florida Memorial University that is making history as the first and only HBCU collegiate team in South Florida. 

In February of 2020, the newly appointed Director of Bands at Florida Memorial University, Richard Beckford had a vision of creating a danceline that would be exciting, unique and reflect the diverse culture that is exclusive to South Florida. His vision became “LionEssence”.

The first “Directress” of LionEssence was Ms. Janae Harrington. Ms. Harrington embraced the opportunity with great passion and enthusiasm and laid the foundation of what was to be the LionEssence look and style with the “Founding Five”, our very first team. After Ms. Harrington’s tenure, Ms. J’anaye Thurston contributed for a brief time as Interim Director.

2022 began a new era and a REBIRTH as Ms. Shatangela Patton stepped into the role of Directress of LionEssence. Stay tuned and keep your eyes on this burgeoning young team as they embark upon the journey of becoming one of the Premier Dance Teams in the HBCU marching band space.

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It is our hope that we will unlock and expand on the full HBCU experience while facilitating life changing opportunities that ultimately will transform students into great leaders and role models.