Steppin'

Steppin’

Directed by,

Jerald B. Harkness( 1992)

Steppin’ is a movement that involves precision, grace, and athleticism. It is often performed in talent shows or to just show off. This type of dancing is popular among black fraternities and sororities.

The history behind steppin’ involved black slaves. They used drums to create musical rhythmical beats. This music scared the whites and they banned the use of slaves using drums. Thus creating different ways of making drum like noises. Slaves could slap chest to get one type of noise, then slap their thigh for another sound. This made it possible for a plethora of different creations to be made.

There are four main dominant fraternities are looked to as being the ones to be a part of. They each have their own varying symbols, name, and color. The very first one established was in 1906 and went by the name of, Alpha Phi Alpha with the colors being black and gold. The other three had color such as, red and white, and blue and white.

Females were also a part of this dance movement, they practiced such gestures in their sororities. The main difference between the men and women when they danced, was that men had more bass, or better yet, more power in their stomp. The women described themselves to having more style. The women as well had four main sororities, they each had their varying colors as well. Some of the colors being, pink and green, blue and white, red and white, and finally, blue and gold.

It is considered exciting when everything within a dance is done smoothly and without any flaws. This would be considered the atheistic of steppin’. There are different ways of making beats additionally to just with ones self. Dancers also use canes and background music. When using a cane, it becomes part of the dance and is choreographed into each movement, involving hitting on the ground as well as tossing in the air. Chanting is also used to accentuate the steppin’. It is common to see one person in the position of a leader, similar to a “caller.” What this person says, the rest repeat.

There are specifications on the dance moves, they have a stomp step, and also a hard step. The women also use these moves, but in their own way. Black people like to be black