Monday, September 22, 1997 Steppin’ displays form of unity
within African American groups DANCE: Fraternities, sororities use
tradition to create a fellowship
By Stephanie Sheh
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It was at the Olympics in Atlanta. It was featured in Spike
Lee’s "School Days." It is in Heavy D’s "Big Daddy" video. It is
that march/dance/body-slapping/chanting combination rooted in
African American fraternities and sororities called steppin’.
However, steppin’ is more than just a dance trend.
"Steppin’ is a public display of organizational unity," explains
Carol D. Branch, a doctoral candidate in folklore and mythology
with a specialization in African American performance. "This is an
opportunity (for sororities and fraternities) to show how together
they are, how in tune they are, how they trust each other. This is
them showing love for their organization."
Jevone Moore, a UCLA ’96 alum and member of Phi Beta Sigma has
been steppin’ for four years. "It makes me feel good inside," Moore
says. "You got people watching. It gets your adrenaline
moving."
Steppin’ originates from African tradition, but from what part
exactly remains undefined. Branch says that there are two schools
of thought. Omega Psi Phi (the Omegas for short) claim that
steppin’ originated from World War II military drills and
chants.
But, Branch says, "Alpha Phi Alpha (the Alphas) say they took
steppin’ from South African boot dancers. Step in the boot mines
was a way of communicating passing time, trying to not make a bad
situation seem worse."
Each organization has core routines, core steps and individual
style. For example, Phi Beta Sigma (the Sigmas) involve a lot of
hand clapping, Omegas call their steppin’ "jumpin’" and Kappa Alpha
Phi members (Kappas) use canes.
Although each group has a distinct style of steppin,’ most
steppin’ is a mixture of African traditional moves and drill moves.
Today many groups also include popular dance moves.
"Now people want to see if you can dance," Branch says. "So you
come out and you do your booty-shaking music, or whatever they do
now. You bounce, you freak, you whatever. Then you sit there and do
hard steppin’."
The moves can be done to music and most routines are 10 minutes
long, with a two minute limit on musical accompaniment. There’s a
time limit because original steppin’ never involved music. In the
interest of historical accuracy, some groups still don’t use
music.
The numerous groups and types of steppin’ provide for a healthy
rivalry at competitions.
"It’s sort of like a sports rivalry a little bit but it’s with
the other fraternities. Everybody wants to be on top," Moore
says.
The competitiveness at steppin’ shows adds enthusiasm and high
energy to the events.
"Just like the blues, if the person does a step, you would
expect the audience to react with, ‘Go ahead. I see you. Be out,’"
Branch says. "You also react with other members of your
organization in the audience, so if I’m singing a song and you know
the song also you sing along because it makes it sound louder and
the judges like that."
Part of the purpose of call and response is to move the
audience, which is an important part of steppin’.
"If you can’t move the audience why are you up there?" Branch
asks. "You’re going to move (the members of your group) regardless,
because they’re there to support you. But just the average Joe or
other organization, if you can’t get them to go ‘Damn,’ you’ve
missed the whole objective."
The objective is to create a fellowship. It brings the members
of the organizations together to celebrate brotherhood and
sisterhood.
"It’s men steppin’ with men and women steppin’ with women,"
Branch says. "And in this homophobic society that says men can’t
dance or touch men, steppin’ is a way of saying, ‘I’m your brother,
you my brother. We going to step this way.’ And they can fellowship
together without anyone saying, ‘Oh you’re all fags.’"
Steppin’ holds additional meaning for Moore. "It gives (me) a
chance to always remember back to my ancestors, what struggles and
different things they went through, what it means to be together as
a team, work as one unit," Moore says.
Although steppin’ is a public display of teams working as a
unit, there is some steppin’ within an organization that the public
is not allowed to see.
"(This type of steppin’ is) how they begin to educate the new
members through the steps and through the chants," Branch explains.
"It’s not all in a book. African Americans have an abundance of
oral history. So it’s a good thing to spread history orally."
Now that steppin’ has spread to MTV and dance floors, Branch
warns that in the mainstream the moves are divorced from the
meaning.
"If I’m dancing, I’m just dancing," Branch says. "But if I’m
dancing in a certain environment with my bros or my cohorts, if I’m
sitting there with them and we’re fellowshipping, we’re heckling
another organization or we’re having a good time, it’s a different
thing."