Event helps celebrate black culture

The energy level was high last night when more than 50 local fraternity and sorority members and spectators gathered in Irvine Auditorium to demonstrate their talent for stepping -- a rhythmic combination of foot-stomping, clapping and chanting.

The event kicked off a month of celebration of African-American history and culture, an annual tradition sponsored by Penn's Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Throughout February, the sorority will be hosting approximately 10 events, including a "Po Jazz" performance featuring local poets and musicians, a Gospel Jam, and a Soul Food dinner.ÿAlpha Kappa Alpha sisters also plan to hold open forums for students later this month, with topics ranging from women's health to the breakdown of the African-American family.

Leah Hodge, the vice president and program coordinator of Alpha Kappa Alpha, described the month as a chance "to educate the community about our culture.

"This is the month, if no other time, that we go back to our history," the Wharton senior said. "The purpose is linked to African-American culture and [is] to present a celebration."

While "AKA month" was officially recognized by the City of Philadelphia in 1995 -- the same year as the chapter's 50th anniversary -- the stepping exhibition is only in its second year.

Last evening's event, "Backgrounds in Stepping," began with a discussion about the history and evolution of stepping led by Alpha Kappa Alpha sisters.

Alpha Kappa Alpha sister and Drexel fourth-year student Erika Griffin described stepping as "a complex performance involving synchronized percussive movement, singing, speaking, chanting, and especially drama... for expressing African-American identity."

While some claim stepping has its origins in an early African boot dance, others say that it originated in the 1950s as a form of a capella performance.

"Stepping is a form of fun and stylish communication and entertainment that has many roots and a rich and interesting future," Griffin said.

After the discussion, representatives of several Philadelphia area fraternities and sororities gave short demonstrations of their routines.

Many of the routines included narrations of the history of each organization, and each incorporated a unique, intense combination of chanting, jumping and clapping.

According to Hodge, stepping has remained popular over the years, although it has undergone some significant changes.

Originally, stepping "wasn't as physical as it is now," Hodge said, noting that modern stepping routines are fast-paced and tend to integrate both singing and full body movements.

Griffin echoed this view, adding that stepping has "developed into something completely different... I'm representing my organization in something that's fun and entertaining for other people."

Although stepping is often seen as extremely competitive, according to Alpha Kappa Alpha sisters, its significance reaches far beyond rivalries among chapters.

"You're doing it in the name of your organization -- there's a lot of heart that goes into it," Hodge said.

Members of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., one of the half-dozen groups that performed, said they use stepping as a way to perform community service. In addition to donating all profits they make from their performances to scholarship programs, they also perform their stepping routines at local elementary schools to teach children about hard work and discipline.

Samaiya Minor, an Alpha Kappa Alpha sister and Philadelphia University student, added that while stepping is usually associated with fraternities and sororities, it is not limited to members of the Greek system.

"Stepping is not a Greek thing," Minor said. "It expresses life. It expresses dance. It expresses rhythm."

The BiCultural InterGreek Council plans to hold its annual stepping competition -- which will feature the performances of a number of area chapters -- at Penn on April 27.

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