Spectators pack Irvine for Big-C Step Show

Hundreds of spectators gathered in Irvine Auditorium for an evening of high energy performances by step teams from Penn and throughout the country on April 27.

The 15th annual Penn Relays Step Show was sponsored by the BiCultural InterGreek Council and brought together members of Penn's Greek community as well as students and alumni from other colleges and universities.

Seven teams, including one team with current Penn students as members, competed in the show. Each routine combined stepping -- a traditionally black style of synchronized dance and rhythmic percussion involving stomping and clapping -- with music, chanting and skits.

Greeks used their routines to express chapter identity and pride, frequently chanting their organizations' names while stepping. They also incorporated a variety of props -- ranging from chairs and canes to knives -- and elaborate costumes into their acts.

The Iota Beta Theta Fraternity, Inc., and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., both Temple University chapters, both received first place awards for their performances. The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a Penn-based chapter, and the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., a New York City-based chapter, took second place.

This year's competition was the first in the BIG-C's history to feature a performance by members of the national performance team of Sigma Lambda Upsilon/Senoritas Latinas Unidas, Penn's only historically Latino sorority.

"It's a great honor," Sigma Lambda Upsilon National Board President Alina Ocasio said, calling the show "an opportunity for us to follow in the footsteps but also blaze our own trail."

Keisha Battle, the sorority's chapter president at Temple University, noted the historical significance of Sigma Lambda Upsilon's presence on Penn's campus.

"We were the first Latina sorority on this campus and now we're the first one at the step show so we're continuing that legacy," she said. Battle described the sorority's performance as "doing the Greek thing the Latina way."

Sigma Lambda Upsilon established its chapter at Penn in 1990. Although the chapter is an active member of the BIG-C, its current undergraduate membership is comprised of Bryn Mawr and Temple University students.

The chapter's performance team -- which claimed a third place title this year -- hopes to become a permanent addition to the annual competition.

"We found a way of representing as a Greek organization but at the same time to also represent ourselves as a Latina-based organization," said Maritza Reveron, a 1999 Rutgers University graduate and member of the sorority's national performance team. "We took the mold... we created it... we shaped it to fit our style."

The show -- which spanned almost four hours -- also featured appearances by several Penn performance groups, including Inspiration, a coed a capella group, and Onda Latina, a Latin dance troupe.

Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Program Coordinator Larry Moses explained that the incorporation of these groups into the show provided a way for both Greeks and non-Greeks to come together to "represent the entire University community."

"I always try to add something a little bit different," Moses said. "We think that our show is unique."

There was also a guest performance by The Unknown Sigma Step Team, the defending National Step Champions.

Although the sense of competition during the show was intense, steppers said that performing was a great experience.

"When you step, you're in the zone," said Sherman Braxton, an Iota Beta Theta brother and 1999 Morgan State University graduate. "It's all about being focused... all the pressure is from within."

The performers weren't the only ones enjoying themselves though.

During the routines, Greek audience members chanted out their chapter's signature calls and cheered on performers enthusiastically. At one point between acts, audience members rushed the stage and started singing and dancing themselves.

Wainie Youn, a Syracuse University junior who was in town for the Penn Relays weekend, said that she decided to come to the show after enjoying it last year.

"It's really interesting to watch... to see just the whole precision," Youn said. "Every organization has their own personality.... It's just amazing."

Proceeds from the show were given to the BIG-C's community service and scholarship fund.

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