Steppin' out

Weekend step show will give students a chance to show of their dancing talents

By Elizabeth Lefall

Can you hear their hard-soled shoes beating against the bare floor like drums?

Can you see them lined up, movements synchronized, heads turned, waiting for the call of the step master? All of a sudden you hear the call.

“ Brothers!”

The team responds

“ Ice.”

The leader continues.

“ A Phi A Phi A Phi A, get down!”

“ Gotta get down,” the team responds.

Together they agree, “A Phi A Alpha Brothers have got to get down!...Uh, you know!”

The sharp and precise rhythmical body movements you see and imagine combined with the chants, canes and clapping of each team represents a classic traditional black dance called ‘stepping.’ Over time this dance has gleaned from slave “patting” to African dance rituals to mesh into its own distinct expression.

In recognition of this cultural dance and the spirit in which it’s performed, the National Pan-Hellenic Council Incorporated of California State

University, Fresno presents its 11th Annual Step Show, Saturday at noon in the Satellite Student Union. This year’s theme is “Step in the Name of Love.”

A step, according to “Steppin’ On The Blues,” by Jacqui Malone, can last from one to five minutes and is defined as a complete choreographed sequence or series of movements. It can be verbal, nonverbal, or a combination of the two.

What is referred to as stepping today is really the offspring of song and dance rituals performed by African-American Greek-letter fraternities and sororities as a way of expressing loyalty to their organizations. During the course of about 50 years step has been influenced by many things, Malone writes, including military drilling, cheerleading, vocal choreography, martial arts, music videos, South African “gumboot” dancing, acrobatics and American tap-dancing.

Gaining national recognition in Spike Lee’s 1988 film “School Daze,” step has become synonymous with historically African-American colleges, bands and Greek-letter organizations nationwide.

Watch Fresno State’s own Phi Beta Sigmas compete for cash money and trophies against the Sigmas of Las Vegas and Sacramento, the southern California Alpha Phi Alphas, the Omega Psi Phi and the Iota Phi Thetas from San Diego.

“ These teams are tentatively scheduled to compete,” said Frankie Moore, student leadership and activities adviser. “We’re also looking into the possibility of having several exhibition teams from various middle schools and high schools joining us for Saturday’s events.”