On Feb. 6, a group of 11 students met to discuss bringing rhythm back to St. Michael’s College. The group, led by sophomore Athena Matos, is hoping to start a step team that will be ready to perform at the Martin Luther King Talent Show in April.
Stepping into action
The meeting was held in Eddie’s Lounge on the second floor of Alliot, in an effort to determine the level of interest among students.
“More people showed up than I had expected,” says Carolyn Smith, sophomore co-captain of the step team.
Still in its beginning stages, the team was the idea of Matos. It was the result of watching an old video on the St. Michael’s Web site that showed students dancing what appeared to be step, Matos says.
At the meeting, Matos outlined her goals for the group, saying she hopes the team will be able to showcase its new talent at the MLK show.
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St. Michael's dance team perfoming Carolyn Smith's step routine. (Photo courtesy of Lesley Restuccia) |
Matos also looked into the experience level of those interested. The perspective step dancers were asked to list previous experience they may have had stepping. Out of the nine students (not including the two co-captains), only three had prior experience, but Smith says this does not worry her.
Also a member of the the college's dance team, Smith says step is fairly easy to learn, recalling the ability of the dance team to quickly pick up a step routine that she had taught them for a basketball game.
First-year Calvin Heath was the only male present at the meeting. Heath has experience with Irish step dancing, but says he thinks that the two types of dance are not similar.
Because the team is just starting up, members have not yet approached the Student Association for funding. It is something that they will look into after the talent show, Matos says.
According to Matos, the step team will be relying on fund-raising to outfit itself for the talent show, she says.
Smith and Matos will be running the practices, which they hope to hold in the Ross Sports Center dance room on Sundays from 5-6 p.m.
“It seems reasonable. Only an hour a week,” sophomore Lauren Proctor says.
Proctor came to the meeting without any stepping experience.
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Students gather in Eddie's Lounge for the first step team meeting. |
Stomp and clap; it’s as simple as that
Step uses a combination of the hands and feet to create a mixture of claps and stomps, Matos says.
“Stepping comes naturally,” she says. “Everyone knows how to stomp and clap. It’s just about mixing it around.”
Smith stressed that step is a form of rhythmic dancing.
In addition to clapping and stomping, step teams often chant while they are performing, Matos says.
“It's a vivid work of art,” she says. “Your chants relay a message that says what your team’s about.”
Elizabeth C. Fine, author of “Soul Stepping,” examines the dance’s history as well as the movement of step in America.
Step started in America by black fraternities and sororities. Drawing from older traditions and using combinations of African dancing, drill team positions, old slave dances and other dance genres, was crafted into somthing called stepping, Fine says.
“So many people are doing stepping today,” she says. “Church groups, multicultural groups, public schools and community groups are areas where you can see stepping being used,” she says.
The color of rhythm
In addition to bringing rhythm to the college, Matos says she hopes the step team will also bring a more diverse population to the college.
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Co-captain Athena Matos leads the first step team meeting on Feb. 6. (Photo by Kaitlyn Coakley) |
“I think this makes people more aware of different cultures,” Matos says.
Fine agrees
“One of the big purposes of step is to express group identity,” Fine says. “Step is a great way to help people bond because all their movements have to be synchronized. It’s almost like thinking and acting as one person.”
Step teams showcase diverse groups, Fine says.
“Sometimes you have step teams that are very integrated, like white and blacks stepping together,” she says. “In that sense it models diversity and multiculturalism.”
Matos says she hopes that prospective students from all different backgrounds will notice that St. Michael’s has a step team.
“If St. Michael’s has a step team, we would be unstoppable,” Matos says.