Black Reign dance troupe embraces stepping phenomenon

By: Paola Capó-García

Posted: 2/27/07

A burst of laughter filled the fencing room in Archbold Gymnasium and was immediately followed with a holler of "comedy hour is done."

Tanira Lindsay and Concha Lawrence stood firmly at the front of the room.

"Cha-os!" Lawrence yelled.

Suddenly, the 12 students in the room broke out into a cohesive choreography of stomping, clapping, snapping and other percussion-driven steps.

Then, they stopped.

"Well, that looked like chaos," Tanira said with a grin. "Again."

And so it goes for this group of performers who have brought the art of stepping to the Syracuse University campus. They are Black Reign, a step team at Syracuse University.

"There's a surge of energy that you get when you step," said Lindsay, a junior biology and psychology major.

Lindsay is Black Reign's president and one of its founders.

In the spring 2005, Lindsay, along with SU graduate Mia Armstrong, laid the foundation for Black Reign. It became the school's only non-Greek step team.

Stepping is an art form derived from Africa, where some scholars believe coal miners used to slap the sides of their Wellington boots, while singing workmen's chants. This practice was called "gumboot dancing."

"You're creating a rhythm," said Lawrence, a junior political science and African-American studies major. "Our bodies are our instruments."

Stepping has also found its way into the Greek community. The National Pan-Hellenic Council, which consists of the black, Greek-lettered organizations, adopted stepping as an identifying activity and a way to create unity.

First seen at Howard University in 1925, sororities at that time called it "marching," said Elizabeth C. Fine, author of "Soulstepping: African-American Step Shows."

"They used to march to what they referred to as 'invisible music,'" said Fine, professor and chair of the department of interdisciplinary studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. "However, it didn't come onto the national scene until Spike Lee's movie, 'School Daze.'"

From its induction into the mainstream arena, stepping was slowly and progressively embraced, and admired by many, Fine said.

Black Reign's mission from the get-go was to bring step from its African roots and modernize it, Lindsay said.

When the group held its first auditions in 2005, Lawrence was quickly added into the mix.

"I had never really stepped before," said Lawrence, Black Reign's vice president. "I used to just clown around."

Lindsay, on the other hand, had been stepping since high school. A native of Queens, Lindsay performed and competed with her high school step team.

But Lindsay is in the minority. Most of the Black Reign members never stepped before coming to SU.

"We audition to see the potential," Lindsay said. "You have to know how to listen and apply it."

Black Reign has 17 members, which is just the right amount for the complicated stunts and props the group is used to employing, Lindsay said.

In some shows, the members toy with the audience and incorporate skits into their routines. They also mimic Hollywood films, such as "Drumline" and "Mortal Kombat," while stepping, Lindsay said.

During the "Drumline" sequence, several members were on their backs stomping and clapping, while others were hovering over them. Suddenly, drumsticks appeared, and they started tapping on each other's sticks, creating a complex and detailed percussive rhythm.

"We try to step in a way that no one's ever stepped before," Lindsay said.

Hollywood films have not had an influence on solely Lindsay and her choreographies. They have had an influence at the box office, too.

In January, Sony Pictures released "Stomp the Yard," a movie about a college-aged step dancer. The movie opened to sold-out crowds and became the No. 1 movie in America. All of a sudden, people were paying more attention to stepping.

Essentially, Black Reign is taking a page out of the movie's book by incorporating hip-hop, comedy and other dance styles. This is what Black Reign has been doing since its formation.

"We're not like soldiers," Lindsay said. "(Traditional) step teams tend not to dance."

But throughout stepping's history, various groups have intertwined dance in their routines.

"Step teams will incorporate any kind of popular dancing," Fine said. "They look for the crowd appeal. It reflects what people are listening to at that time."

A new trend has come into the stepping world called "strolling." This style, also referred to as "party walks," is when steppers enter and exit to music, but rely on stepping in between, Fine said.

Freshman Adam Gouveia, a landscape architecture major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, is the only white Black Reign member. He is one example of the growing diversity in the stepping world.

"Stepping represents a family," said Gouveia, who was on his high school step team. "It's not just about race."

Annette Lee, sophomore public relations major, is originally from Korea, and also stepped on her New Jersey high school step team. When she first auditioned for Black Reign, she was the only non-black member.

"I was so nervous," Lee said. "They're all really good."

As the practice roared on and the members showed signs of exhaustion, they were divided into three groups. One group stood, one knelt and one sat.

They processed about 14 claps per minute, along with the footwork and head movements that went along with them. Shouts of "five, six, seven, eight," were lost between the three groups.

Lawrence, on her knees, blew past the steps, making noises to mark the beat, instead of using counts. She is their personal beat-box, their life-size stereo.

Some picked up the steps. Some didn't. But they kept trying.

At the end of the practice, moans and groans were muttered. Many complained about their backs and knees, but most were simply tired.

"They like to joke around," Lindsay said. "But when we get on that stage, it's serious."