Tap Dancing Without Shoes: The History of Stepping and the Impact on Greek Life and Popular Culture by Daniels Rick

Author:Daniels, Rick [Daniels, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Axis Group, LLC
Published: 2014-04-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6 From Death Marches to Dance Halls: A Brief History of Strolling

Strolling, Hopping, and Party-Walking

Over the years, the stepping community has adopted a number of sub-genres, in addition to more traditional steps. One of the most interesting and insightful sub genres of stepping is “strolling” (also known as "party-walking”). Much like stepping, strolling has a unique history; even the most concrete definitions and terms vary in conception. Jacqui Malone (1996) defines “party-walking” as “organized line movement performed around the floor at a party.” Due to the newness of this art form and based upon my own experiences, my personal definition of strolling is “a cultural dance often performed in unison, and in a circle, to symbolize unity and strength.” Like stepping, strolling has historical ties to both African and American art forms that have impacted how it is performed.

African Influences on Strolling

Strolling’s African roots can be traced back to South African and Ghanaian dance forms. Specifically, strolling’s West African roots are linked to many tribes’ and villages’ performances of ritual dances that often occurred in a circle, which symbolized unity and strength. One particular dance, the Ring Shout, is a religious ritual produced by African slaves where “participants shuffle single file, counter clockwise to music” (Caponi, 1999). According to Sterling Stuckey, and as reported by Aisha, a blog writer for thefreshxpress.com, the Ring Shout moved counter clockwise to follow the movements of the sun and its circular form traced cycles of life, birth, death, and rebirth (Stuckey, 1987). While the dancers are in motion, they often chant praises to a deity or sing specific songs from their tribe. A search for supporting material uncovered a video entitled The Ring Shout & the Birth of African-American Religion. This video describes it as a sacred ritual in which worshipers shift their feet and move their bodies in a circle to symbolize the connection between past, present, and future.

In relation to stepping, Greek letter organizations stroll counter clockwise. Greeks often place chants into the strolls that are specific to their organizations. The Ring Shout presents a clear connection to stepping’s African roots, but no clear information has been presented as to which person(s) or organization(s) is/are responsible for introducing strolling into Greek life.

American Influences on Strolling

Strolling’s American roots began in BGLOs in the mid-twentieth century when a ritual ceremony called the “Death March” became popular on HBCU campuses. Kimbrough (2003) describes death marches as the final activity of the BGLO pledge process; pledges spent hours marching around campus reciting poems and singing organizational hymns. The tradition began in the 1930s and became popular as time progressed. This form of public demonstration is considered the precursor to strolling. Strolling’s American roots can also be traced to the early 1920s when a journalist from The Howard University newspaper described members of Kappa Alpha Psi as “dancing to invisible music” during one of their ceremonies (Mureithi, 2000).

Although strolling presumably has been around longer than stepping, it is merely an extension of the art form. As

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.