When I step, it’s a shout out to my ancestors. It’s an African-American dance form from this group of people that have existed in America. It’s like everytime I step into the floor, I’m waking them up and telling them that I’m living through you and through your experiences.
I’m not letting all of that be forgotten. A brief history of the culture of stepping. It started in the early 1900s by African-American college students. At the time there was a lot of social and political unrest. Stepping was a form of speaking up, expressing yourself
As well as feeling connected with the people around you. Fraternities and sororities did tons of stuff: they would do community service and activities that uplift one another. They would come together and step. African-Americans where not allowed to go to predominantly white universities, so they created their own.
On these campuses, they created their own communities, they created their own families, they shared in knowledge and uplifting one another. Fraternities and sororities where not just about stepping and dancing and making moves. It was about empowerment, confidence and feeling connected.
Creating a community that accepts you as you are, and allows you to express yourself however you would like to express yourself. Stepping started on these campuses of the universities, and now you can see it in movies, films and churches. And Beyoncé just recently stepped in her major Coachella performance.
I step because of the way it makes me feel. I feel confident, I feel empowered I feel like I can express myself and make so much noise to make people hear me. It’s just something that feels right, that comes from my identity and who I am.
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