•
Acknowledgments
•
Introduction
Excerpt:
When I was
a middle-class white child growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, my mama
never told me about "A Phi A." Alpha Phi Alpha was the first African
American fraternity organized on a college campus. I never pledged
a sorority or dated a fraternity man; indeed, my friends in the late
1960s viewed fraternities and sororities as elitist. Although I attended
integrated universities, I had never seen any black fraternities and
sororities. When an African American student in my class on verbal art
invited me to a block show on the Virginia Tech campus in 1983, I had no
idea what stepping was.
1 / A History of Stepping
Excerpt:
People give
widely varying answers to the simple question of when and where stepping
began. Some say that they have always stepped and that stepping goes
back to Africa. Others relate stepping to the fraternity and sorority
pledging ritual of marching on line and date it to the 1940s. While
movement and communication patterns from African cultures are clearly
evident in stepping, college students forged it out the their rich
African American performance heritage of dance, speech, and song.
2 / A Ritual Dance of Identity
Excerpt:
In his poem, "Among School Children," W.B. Yeats asks, "O body swayed to
music, O brightening glance, / How can we know the dancer from the
dance?" Stepping helps both the dancers and the audience know more about
the identities of individuals and the social groups with which they
affiliate. It creates, perpetuates, and comments on the worldviews of
participants and embodies the social drama from which worldviews arise.
3 / Stepping Out an African
Heritage
Excerpt:
Claims for the African roots of stepping are widespread and appear in
may different contexts. In 1997, when emcee Tyrone Petty introduced the
first large Christian step show in the District of Columbia area, he
explained, "It was commonplace in the tribes of Africa to use dance in
all of their lives. It was part of wedding ceremonies, it was part of
funeral ceremonies, it was part of religious ceremonies." Stepping was
"just taking it back and putting in proper focus ... that which was ours
to begin with."
4 / Stepping Forth: New
Participants and Venues
Excerpt:
In searching for the reasons behind the spread of stepping to new
venues, one cannot overlook the influence of the mass media, including
film and television, as well as the Internet. Perhaps more important,
the strong leadership and influence of black Greek alumni have also been
instrumental in developing stepping in off-campus sites. What began as
the ritual of secret societies and gestated on college campuses for half
a century is gaining increasing popularity among a mass audience and in
such off-campus sites as churches, schools, and community organizations.
Stepping has even spread to Latino, Asian, and multicultural
fraternities and sororities.
5 / The Cultural Politics of
African American Step Shows
Excerpt:
Black Greek-letter organizations have from their inception aroused
controversy among African Americans. Critics charge the Greek system
with fostering elitism and serving the black bourgeoisie and in the
process, causing divisiveness among blacks on college campuses.
Proponents praise black Greek-letter societies for encouraging academic
and civic ideals, fostering public service, and creating powerful social
networks. One might suspect that those supporters would also commend the
practice of stepping but some members of organizations are critical of
it. This chapter examines the cultural politics surrounding stepping. By
"cultural politics," I mean the social and political forces the
influence what elements of a culture are featured or suppressed,
promoted or ignored, sanctioned, or censored.
•
Epilogue: Soulstepping
Excerpt:
"We're the soulstepping sorors of AKA" sing steppers in a show at
Virginia Tech. "We're the soulstepping divas" chant a Latino step team
of Omega Phi Beta sisters. More than any other word, soulstepping
encapsulates the power of stepping to express the lived experience,
cultural history, and hopes of African Americans and others who identify
with their culture. Within the traditional movements and sounds of an
African American step show, both performers and spectators participate
in celebrating cultural heritage and identity.
•
Appendix: List of Persons
Interviewed
•
Notes
•
Bibliography
•
Index
