**The History of Stepping**
Part 1: The Dawning
It began with singing. Brothers would gather
in the quad and
sing. They eventually graduated to dancing
and from there
stepping. You can go to some yards down south
and they call it
a "Sing" instead of a "Step-show". The white
fraternities started
the singing part, but the black fraternities
took it to another level
(Much like we did with basketball and football).
I don't think
that any one fraternity can lay claim to stepping,
more than likely
it evolved. One thing I do know was that the
Omegas and the
Sigmas were the first to do it. Sororities
didn't start stepping
until several years after the fraternities.
Part 2: The Evolution
Stepping began with groups of guys singing
acappella, and when groups like the Temptations
and the Four Tops were popular in the 50's
and 60's brothers started mimicking their steps. This was
how stepping evolved. This is why it is called
"Stepping" now. Brothers would try to come up with
the best steps while they were singing to
please the ladies. If you got the ladies you got more recruits.
Much like it is today.
Others say that stepping replaced the doo woop
sounds and cardigan sweaters of the 50's. At
around the same time as the "Black Power"
Movements and Africa centered movements of the
60's, stepping started to flourish with the
incorporation of some traditional African ritual dancing
and the incorporation of other elements like
cheer leading, tap, gymnastics, etc. Over the years
stepping has become very intricate and demanding
incorporating props, high levels of gymnastics
and other elements found in team sports. Please
note that some people want to give the credit to
the South African Boot Dance, but it would
be unfair to ignore everything that stepping was in the
beginning and it is now.
Part 3: Sigma Stepping
Phi Beta Sigma stepping evolved even more with
the contributions of Bro. Kwame Nkrumah of
Ghana. He introduced certain steps from his
traditional African culture, which used dance as a
celebration of "coming of age". The coming
of age ceremonies, or rites of passage, are when a
young man comes into manhood. This is intimately
tied to the pledge process which is itself
Masonic & Afro-centric in origin and method.
The cane was FRIST used in stepping by Bro. Nkrumah in his stepping ritual.
Stepping is supposed to be done as a celebration of "crossing", or "going
over", or "coming into manhood". From this brothers began to create and
build. Over the years Sigmas have been known for numerous unique and identifiable
steps. A few of the most popular steps are:
The Sigma "Nut-Cracker"
"The Passage" a.k.a. "The African Step"
"Precision"
"The Badstep"
"Jungle Walk"
"Hands and Feet"
"The Cotton Club"
"Time Step"
"Roxanne"
"Up Jumped the Devil"
"The Blind Fold Step" (With or without a cane)
The Nut-Cracker is the most common and well
known. The original Nut-Cracker originated in the
late 70's. Any Sigma Chapter can lay claim
to it in some form or fashion.
