African American step dance

African American stepping is a form of dance that involves the participation of the entire body parts to bring up complex rhythms and sounds using a systematic mixture of footsteps, hand claps and other body gestures. African American stepping was an African culture brought by the African Diaspora who settled in America. Stepping has been and will remain to be a powerful institution of the African American culture which is normally referred to as the black Greek culture. Stepping has a very important role to play in promoting this black Greek identity and also unity among the fraternity of the African American members (African dance, 1). There are other different types of the stepping dance such as American clogging, French- Canadian and the Irish hard shoe step dancing. They employ the involvement of the footwork as the main element of their style. However, this paper will handle this unique type of step dancing that was developed by the African American sororities throughout the past century (McCarthy-Brown, Nyama 10).

African American stepping is an amazing dancing style that not only involves movements of the body like the other types mentioned above but incorporates complete routines of the body movements as well as the voice. African American stepping is developed by certain organizations called the National Pan-Hellenic Council or Divine Nine which are responsible in the formation of the black Greek letters. There are five letters from which the Greek letter organization is centered which are: Alpha Phi Alpha, Iota Phi Theta, Kappa Alpha Psi, Phi Beta Sigma, and Omega Phi Psi. There are other four incorporated fraternities Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, and Sigma Gamma Rho making a total of nine societies. All these were created to promote the education of the African American students by offering them scholarship of higher learning (About us, 1).

The Divine Nine has been recognized for entertainment of its audiences. This was majorly in songs and drama that contained humor. Apart from being an entertainment tool, step dance was used to promote culture, values and traditions in their places of study. For instance, members of these fraternities and sorority used retrospect which involved the description of their founding to preserve the black Greek identity (Thompson, Katrina Dyonne 55). Step dance has also been a uniting tool for the black Americans. This has kept them strong when they face the racial discrimination from the Native Americans.  Step dance in this case gave them a sense of dignity and self worth in the eyes of the whites (African dance, 1).

Stepping for the university students had a greater role beyond just having fun. It was a part that contained a rich legacy of bringing the black Greeks together. Stepping strengthened the bonds between the African Americans by creating a platform from which social and religious activities would be done.  Such cultural and religious activities included birth ceremonies, wedding and burial ceremonies among others. It helped them to achieve great things despite the discouragements they experienced from the Native Americans.

African American stepping played another important role of symbolism. This gave the African Americans an identity and which made them unique. For instance, the society of the National pan-Hellenic Council has colors that have a meaning of their own. Alpha Phi Alpha claims black and gold. Alpha Kappa Alpha is pink and green. Phi Beta Sigma sports blue. The colors are used during a presentation to distinguish their identity from that of the other group. These colors were presented in the costumes and props during the presentation. The identity of various groups was also presented by hand signs whether it was along the campus corridors or in the time of presentation. For instance, members of the Delta Sigma Theatre used the Greek letter called delta which is a triangle to identify them. This was made using hand signs each time they got into the stage for a presentation (Mason & Nicola 120).

Cracking and saluting are the two major forms of communication used in the African American stepping. Saluting was used as a way of greeting the competing distinctive groups or Greek letter organizations and also in making a complement of the same. Cracking on the other hand is measure the competitive ability of the Greek letter organizations. Cracking can be so serious at times leading to tension between the two competitive groups. Cracking and salutations plays a great role in showing the nature of stepping. In the recent years during and after the social and political movements, black Greek identity and stepping have shown how deeply they are grounded and how able they are in tying up the blacks together (McCarthy-Brown, Nyama 10).

Recently, stepping has embraced some few modern dancing techniques which can be seen clearly in the Dance concert 2005 and the Homage also in 2005. The dancing style is similar to that of the Greek step show only that the Greek identity markers and signs are stripped of in the presentations.

The popularity of step dance is also a key factor to focus on because the it has come to bring a global influence to dancers and the society at large. A drastic change of the step shows was felt during 1980s whereby people gained interest to be entertained by the African Americans. Step shows were moved from the small show rooms to big halls where a big multitude of audience would congregate. This increased the awareness of stepping throughout the local campuses. A film produced by spike Lee in 1988 made the popularity of the stepping to be a nationwide thing. The widespread of the dance has threatened the African American fraternities’ ownership because even the Native Americans have involved in its performance. For the purpose of maintaining the power of stepping and minimize any further intrusion of the American African culture, the main body of stepping has to remain true to the core roots from which the stepping originates (Durman, Chris 250). This will ensure that as it spreads from the center of the Greek letter organizations history, and the essential meaning of stepping will be preserved. Colleges and university students in the United States of America are the responsible bodies that can uphold stepping dancing style. They have done a good job in teaching the new recruits about their unique legacy of hymns, retrospect, trade steps and other elements of the African American stepping. Teachers also have an important role to play in making stepping a known and widespread dancing style. Teachers are urged to study the history of stepping before teaching their students so that they may appreciate the different aspects that makeup the structure of step dancing. Having appreciated the great art of the African American stepping, they will spread their experience to the other members of the larger society. The main bodies have a role of ensuring that the art is preserved by locking out intruders who tend to introduce new and unacceptable elements that may contaminate the purpose of the dance.  Critics also warn about the commercialization of stepping. This may alter the original purpose and art format of the dancing style (McCarthy-Brown, Nyama 10).

The future of stepping is promising because the chances of being corrupted are very low. This is because so many aspects of this dance are relevant only to the black Greeks. The rest of the intruders may not find it helpful and so retention is assured. For the last two decades since the warning against commercialization was made, stepping has become so popular than it had become there before. Commercialized stepping has also gone down at a significant rate. Divine Nine has continued and will continue to preserve the many marks of the black Greek culture. Divine Nine has embraced some strategies that have kept the spirit of stepping alive. First, they have developed a website where people can surf and get all the information about the black Greek’s stronghold. DVDs of various competitions which have been held across the United States of America have been made available in the market. Stepping is also looking forward at upholding the unity and the fellowship of brotherhood that the Divine nine had among them. The organization is also aiming at creating more awareness on the African American culture by sharing its goodness with others. This will help in accomplishing the mission of bringing people together for the benefit of the larger society (Dance in Concert, 82).

Work cited:

"African dance". Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.., 2016 Web. 02 March. 2016 <http://www.britannica.com/art/African-dance>.

About Us.. National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. 2006 Retrieved May 23,

2006, from http://www.nphchq.org/about.htm

Mason, Nicola F. "The Diversity of African Music's: Zulu Kings, Xhosa Clicks, and Gumboot Dancing in South Africa." General Music Today 27.2 (January 2014): 30-35. Print.

Thompson, Katrina Dyonne. Ring Shout, Wheel About: The Racial Politics of Music and Dance in North American Slavery. N.p.: University of Illinois, 2014. Print.

Durman, Chris. "African American Roots And Branches Of The 5-String Banjo: A Selective Videography." Notes 72.1 (2015): 203-213. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 May 2016.

McCarthy-Brown, Nyama. "Dancing In The Margins: Experiences Of African American Ballerinas." Journal Of African American Studies 15.3 (2011): 385-408. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 May 2016.

Dance in Concert.. Dancer’s Company. De Jong Concert Hall, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. (2005, January 29)