Step show features local and state teams

Saturday night, 12 of the best collegiate step teams from IU and other colleges across the state will present their 2003 step routines. These teams will be competing at 6 p.m. Saturday in the inaugural Little 5 Stepdown Competition for the title of "Best Step Team in Indiana." \n"This is a chance for the teams to display their creativity," said junior Jeremy Morris, a Union Board member.\nRickey Smiley will be the host for the event. Smiley is a former host of BET's popular comedy showcase "Comic View." He is best known for his "hilarious characters and 'down home' Southern Humor," according to BET. He will be keeping the crowd entertained with short comedic sketches in between each of the 15-minute step routines.\nMorris is the main coordinator for the production and director of the Bridging the Gap committee of Union Board. The goal of the committee is to create an environment in which students of all kinds can come together, bond and generally have a good time in a place that they might not have gone to if conditions were different. \n"We work to spotlight organizations that have low resources and attract people from all over campus to that particular group's event, using the resources that we have," Morris said. \nAnother motivation for the Bridging the Gap Committee to continue to serve the community is the drive to unite the IU campus, Morris said. The committee recognizes that programs seemingly geared toward a specific group of people will not attract a large audience.\n"I have heard people who have wanted to come to a step show and have said 'I don't want to be the only white person there," Morris said. "We chose to have it in the IU Auditorium and do all of this publicity for the show, because we want all kinds of people to come."\nGetting ready for a competition like this one takes months of preparation, say participants. \n"You put in time just like you would for a jog and it's really hard work," Morris said. "Since they heard about the show, some groups have been practicing something like three to four hours everyday leading up to the show."\nThe various routines presented will be performed by Greek step teams like the IU and Purdue chapters of Alpha Phi Alpha and non-Greek steppers like the new IU-based stepping group "Karismatic."\nA group of freshmen who lived in Teter-Rabb formed the group in the summer of 2002. All of the women in the group were part of a summer orientation program. The group said it is now ready to compete with some of the best teams from across the state.\n"We are working really hard right now and we are going to come out with killer beats, nice moves and crowd shockers," said member Leila Price.\nThere are many creative aspects to stepping that help to differentiate each team from others and the dance form itself from other styles. One of these differences would be the use of props. Some groups have opted to use hats, canes, chairs and other such items. Other groups have chosen to incorporate different forms of dance and even singing as part of their routines in order to better convey their respective themes. \n"We aren't even allowed to tell what props we will be using," Price said.\nOrganizers hope this event will provide a catalyst for various groups to come together in a dance extravaganza. \n"We are breaking lots of boundaries," Morris said.\nTickets for the event are $11 for IUB students with a valid ID and $15 for non-students.