Though students will flood Greek houses this weekend for Green Key festivities, many members of the Dartmouth community await a special Greek performance outside of fraternity house walls: the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Step Show. Continuing in the celebration of Alpha Phi Alpha centennial, the show will be in Leede Arena this Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and promises to be bigger and more explosive than those of past years.
"For the centennial we wanted to pull out all the stops and really push the envelope," Samuel Jackson '06, an Alpha Phi Alpha brother and this year's program coordinator, said. "We have taken it to a whole new level."
Details such as the theme are being kept tightly under wraps, but this year's event promises performances from schools such as the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Boston College in addition to the fraternity brothers. Competition for spots on the line-up has increased in recent years, and not every group that requested to perform will be able to participate. SHEBA, Ujima, Roots of Rhythm, as well as Greek organizations Sigma Lambda Upsilon Sorority, Inc. and Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc. all made the cut.
Alpha Phi Alpha has held their Step Show during Green Key for approximately 18 years. Past performances were held in the Collis Common Ground, but due to the steady growth of its audience -- which has increased to nearly 1400 in recent years -- the Step Show was moved to Leede Arena seven years ago. Planning for the show began in the fall, with the mapping of details continuing into the Winter term and practices beginning this term.
The show is known as one of the biggest cultural events of the year, primarily providing a stage to showcase minority Greek organizations, but also bringing together a wide range of cultural groups.
"Having other Greek organizations and performance groups impacts the show in a positive manner and encourages people to attend the show even if they may not be familiar with all the participants in the program, because students might decide to attend if they are familiar with at least one of the organizations or performance groups," said Austin Willis '06, of Ujima.
The show helps tie the performance groups and houses together, said Dana Lin '06, one of the co-directors of SHEBA, which is opening the show.
"I think the performance aspect of it is key: rehearsing long hours together in preparation for the performances naturally builds bonds in a group or house, but even more so, performing a dance or step, in the case of the Alphas, in absolute unison showcases to the Dartmouth community the solidarity, strength, and unity of their brotherhood," Lin said. "I think for this reason, a performance like the Step Show is a great source of pride."
Alpha Phi Alpha, the first African-American collegiate fraternity, was founded at Cornell University in 1906 as an act of solidarity and the determination to survive in a racially hostile environment. The Theta Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha was started at Dartmouth in 1972. In addition to the prominent programming of the chapter, including the annual Alpha Week, the Step Show has become a well-known, successful exhibition of an integral part of the minority Greek experience.
"Stepping has always been a tradition of historically black fraternities and sororities," said Alpha Phi Alpha member Njuguna Thiongo '06, this year's step master. "The brothers at Dartmouth have been stepping since our chapter's conception."
Stepping originates in Africa and has become a prominent part of minority Greek performances. There are many different types of stepping, and each organization takes characteristics and the history of their group into account in creating performances. The Alpha Phi Alpha members incorporate many Egyptian-esque signature movements in their performance, as they are strongly associated with the pharaohs of Egypt. The strong history of stepping also emphasizes intensity, passion and camaraderie that are exuded in their performance.
In addition to the word of mouth excitement, strong advertisement has been provided through the efforts of Alpha Phi Alpha members Michael Simoni '08 and Alexis Abbey '08. These include posters and video trailers incorporating the Alphas in a Godfather-esque "family" scene and others featuring an "It's Good to be King" tagline.
"There are very few times on campus when you can sit down for an hour and a half or two hours and watch so many different types of performances," Thiongo added. "Also because it's one of the few times you get to see stepping on Dartmouth's campus, it's a different type of performance that people up here don't get to see, especially in Hanover, and that draws a lot of people from outside the Dartmouth community."
"As a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., I can honestly say that the Step Show will have a positive affect on the Dartmouth Community," said Kwabena Safo-Agyekum '06, also a co-director of SHEBA. "It is a phenomenal annual event that always brings together various cross-sections of the campus; the Dartmouth population will enjoy it."
