| DST897 |
02-04-2000 12:25 AM |
Or try these links:
http://www.3n1promo.com/temple/step.html
And read below. Bits of each contain the same information. I don't know where this is written, but I hope it helps.
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 historical white fraternities started the singing part, but the historical African fraternities took it to another level. Much like we did with basketball and football. We don't think that any one fraternity can lay claim to stepping, more than likely it evolved. One thing we do know was that the Sigmašs and the Omegašs were the first to do it. Sororities didn't start stepping until several years after the fraternities. 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-wop 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. Stepping is an original art form that was influence by many elements from our past. Phi Beta Sigma stepping evolved even more with the contributions of FBS 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 & African in origin and method. The cane was first used by FBS Bro. Kwame 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.
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