Stomping in the Burg
Briana Bronson
Issue date: 2/24/10 Section: Greek Corner
"Sprite Step Off" stepped onto the screen rounding out MTV's new series lineup. Hip-Hop star Ludacris, son of an Alpha Kappa Alpha, is hosting this step competition with a fresh eye.
Stepping is a combination of military exhibition drills and African Gumboot dancing. Gumboot dancing was a means of communication, exercise and entertainment for workers during the Apartheid in South Africa. Stepping has made a huge mark on pop culture and on college campuses across the United States. You can walk onto any Historically Black College's yard and you will find at various points during the academic year a step show from Phi Beta Sigma, Pi Psi, Alpha Kappa Alpha and any other historically black fraternity/sorority.
Stepping is considered a very important element of being a part of a Historically Black Greek organization. Stepmasters are in charge of motivating, coming up with routines and keeping the teams in check. Stepping involves a lot of rhythm, clapping, stomping and body movement.
During the shows, sororities often wear high heels or any other hard soled shoes of their choice to add a hard hitting sound. Fraternities often wear boots either plain colors, such as black or brown but often times the boots are spray painted in fraternity's traditional colors. To add spark to a show; often canes, hats, chairs and other objects are used. Even though not a HBC, Frostburg State University even hosted a step show last Spring "So You Think You Can Step."
Ludacris narrowed the competition to three sororities and three fraternities to compete for the title from hundreds of different chapters across the states. The fraternities battling for the title are Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi and Phi Beta Sigma. The three sororities are Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Kappa Alpha and Zeta Tau Alpha. Even though Zeta Tau Alpha is not a historically black sorority, they learned their stepping skills from AKA's on their campus and made it their own. The ladies of ZTA are the minority but they are hoping to impress the crowd with their talent.
Tune into MTV on Sundays at 3 p.m. to find out who takes the title. If you prefer to catch some live stepping, come out to see Frostburg's own sorority and fraternity step show in April.
Some of you may be thinking you have better stepping skills than those showcased on the show or you want to learn. This is a perfect opportunity for all black students on campus to rally together some of your friends and peers to get more historically black fraternities and sororities on campus.
So students, stop complaining about the lack of historically black organizations on campus and make your way over to Tawes and visit the Greek Life Office, to find out what you need to do.
Stepping is a combination of military exhibition drills and African Gumboot dancing. Gumboot dancing was a means of communication, exercise and entertainment for workers during the Apartheid in South Africa. Stepping has made a huge mark on pop culture and on college campuses across the United States. You can walk onto any Historically Black College's yard and you will find at various points during the academic year a step show from Phi Beta Sigma, Pi Psi, Alpha Kappa Alpha and any other historically black fraternity/sorority.
Stepping is considered a very important element of being a part of a Historically Black Greek organization. Stepmasters are in charge of motivating, coming up with routines and keeping the teams in check. Stepping involves a lot of rhythm, clapping, stomping and body movement.
During the shows, sororities often wear high heels or any other hard soled shoes of their choice to add a hard hitting sound. Fraternities often wear boots either plain colors, such as black or brown but often times the boots are spray painted in fraternity's traditional colors. To add spark to a show; often canes, hats, chairs and other objects are used. Even though not a HBC, Frostburg State University even hosted a step show last Spring "So You Think You Can Step."
Ludacris narrowed the competition to three sororities and three fraternities to compete for the title from hundreds of different chapters across the states. The fraternities battling for the title are Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi and Phi Beta Sigma. The three sororities are Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Kappa Alpha and Zeta Tau Alpha. Even though Zeta Tau Alpha is not a historically black sorority, they learned their stepping skills from AKA's on their campus and made it their own. The ladies of ZTA are the minority but they are hoping to impress the crowd with their talent.
Tune into MTV on Sundays at 3 p.m. to find out who takes the title. If you prefer to catch some live stepping, come out to see Frostburg's own sorority and fraternity step show in April.
Some of you may be thinking you have better stepping skills than those showcased on the show or you want to learn. This is a perfect opportunity for all black students on campus to rally together some of your friends and peers to get more historically black fraternities and sororities on campus.
So students, stop complaining about the lack of historically black organizations on campus and make your way over to Tawes and visit the Greek Life Office, to find out what you need to do.