What is stepping? About four years ago, I watched a movie on Netflix called Step Sisters. The movie was about a young black college female who leaves her sorority to help a white sorority win the stepping championships. I became curious about stepping and learned some intriguing facts about its origins. Stepping is not just a dance, but a cultural expression that has deep roots in African heritage and has evolved over centuries into the popular art form we know today.
Did you know that stepping originated in West Africa? Hand clapping and foot stomping were the main elements of African folk dances from the 15th century. During the Atlantic slave trade, this dance was brought to the United States and was influenced by European culture. One of the most significant influences on the development of stepping was the African gumboot dance, a form of communication used by South African miners. The miners used specific patterns of stomping and clapping to communicate with other workers throughout the flooded mines.
In addition to this, the dance also incorporated elements from many other popular artistic forms, including military drills, cheerleading, martial arts, acrobatics, hip-hop, tap dancing, break dancing, gymnastics, and Afro-Caribbean dance. Isn’t it amazing how the past is so influential in the present? While dancing, steppers listen to soul, jazz, old-school, and R&B music to keep in sync with their movements.
Over the centuries, nine fraternities and sororities, collectively known as the Divine Nine, have played a significant role in Black American history and culture, including Step. Examples of these organizations include Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, and others. The Divine Nine aimed to educate and uplift the Black community from racial inequities.
I interviewed a family friend who is a proud Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority member. When asked why she decided to join the sorority, she shared some memorable moments with me from her college experience and the significance of the step when she was in college.
“I decided to join the sorority because I wanted a sisterhood. Then the opportunity to do service projects and positive work in the community with a group of like-minded college-educated women was attractive. I knew that service was necessary and that I only had opportunities because of the work of others,” she said.
She also revealed themes that were commonly explored in the step show.“Our chapter had been inactive for a couple of years so it was a return and reemergence of Alpha Kappa Alpha. In this case, the theme did not relate to African culture but the performance itself was one example of how we showcased unity and coordination, symbolic of African dance. There was rhythmic clapping, stomping, and chanting that is reminiscent of African rhythmic traditions.”
Fast forwarding to today, we will celebrate stepping during an assembly at Poly for Black History Month. After learning this beautiful legacy of stepping, what impact will it have on Poly’s performance? What music do you think they will step to?
