A college tradition time hasn't passed by

Howard step teams get ready for homecoming

As the step master's deep voice shouted the commands, eight red- and white-striped canes whipped through the air and snapped to the floor with a thwack of perfect precision. High knees shot down, and feet stomped. And then, no longer in unison, some canes complicated the rhythm with more-staccato tap-tip-thwack sounds, and some feet boomed to the floor to a different beat. There was chanting, too.

And so practice had begun for the eight members of the Xi Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity who are competing in Howard University's step show at 7 p.m. Saturday.

What's at stake? A Golden Boot.

The group is one of several pursuing the golden trophy, $3,500 and bragging rights. The annual show at the D.C. Armory is one of the more popular events during Howard's homecoming. This year, each sorority and fraternity was assigned a decade to incorporate into its performance, and the competition was themed "Rythmos: Stepping Through Time."

"What you are doing with your decade, that is the big secret," said Stephanie Lockhart, a senior majoring in public relations. Lockhart, the Delta step master, said that because theirs is the founding chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, a lot of people come to the show to see what they are doing. "We hold the ideals of what the founders believed in," she said.

The tradition of stepping has many historical and cultural influences. From the early 20th century, when many of the black Greek organizations began to form, there are records of pledges dressed alike, standing at attention and carrying symbols of their organizations, all of which can be seen in today's shows, said Elizabeth C. Fine, author of "Soulstepping: African American Step Shows."

They drew from their churches, drill teams, playground hand jives and the Pattin' Juba dance, also known as the hambone, said Fine, humanities program director at Virginia Tech. There are also many moves and chants that can be traced back to Africa.

"A primary feature is the polyrhythmic form, multiple rhythms going on at the same time," Fine said. "A lot of steppers see this is as a way to express pride in their ethnic identity and kind of a continuity."

The first written reference Fine found to an early form of stepping was in Howard's newspaper, the Hilltop. A November 1925 article described pledges dancing to "Pipes of Pan," or music only they can hear. By the 1940s and 1950s, the pledges are shown in line as they sing, march or chant, and by the 1960s and 1970s, participants are shown in circles, sometimes around a tree or statute that symbolizes a fraternity or sorority. Popularity grew, and the first indoor show is recorded in 1965. The first competitive Greek Homecoming show was in 1976.

When hazing was discontinued in the 1990s, stepping was the only ritual to survive, Fine said.

"Howard pioneered, if for no other reason, because so many Greek chapters were founded here," said Greg Carr, chairman of African American Studies at Howard. "Much of the blueprint of how these fraternities and sororities carried themselves . . . the rules for comportment were developed at Howard."

Five of nine national black Greek organizations were founded at Howard.