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Alpha Phi Alpha holds 8th
annual Step Off competition
A dance fever had swept across the United States and had become idolized in
popular television shows and high-grossing films that included all types of dance,
and more specifically, stepping. For the eighth year in Murray, the brothers of Alpha
Phi Alpha held their annual Alpha Step Off competition in Lovett Auditorium to raise
money for their philanthropy, the March of Dimes.
The auditorium was full of students, faculty and community members who
crammed in to see the eight competing sororities, fraternities and independent
steppers . Each year, an Alpha Phi Alpha member was paired with each team entering
the contest and helped design and choose its choreography, music and unique
theme.
The step show was split into three categories: independent, fraternity and sorority.
Each division competed for its own trophy. One group was named the overall
winner, a title it earned by participating in numerous activities such as the penny
wars, the 8-points challenge in which the team members of each group asked
various Alpha brothers about their fraternity, their total scores of the night and the
best design of their team's Step Off poster.
"I feel that every year the level of excitement is elevated because each team
performs so well and brings it so they all feel that they have a right to be crowned
Step Off Champions," said Cowann Owens, a senior Alpha Phi Alpha member from
Lousiville who served as emcee at the competition. "It's friendly competition and
it's for a great cause, but at the end of the day everybody wants to win so that their
organization can be crowned supreme, and that's a huge bragging right at Murray."
Each group of the night had a specific theme and used unique group steps to set
themselves apart.
Sigma Alpha Iota and Hester College performed in the independent category.
Hester was the first residential college to have a team compete in a Step Off show.
With seven performers, the group used a unique theme: mimes who suddenly
discovered sound. Sigma Alpha Iota chose an "Annie" theme and dressed as hard
workers who sang "Working So Hard to be an SAl."
Alpha Sigma Phi represented the fraternity division, and used black cloaks to
disguise its members with its firebird theme. Some of the fraternity's members stood
in a circle while the rest lay on the floor. The standing brothers then stepped around
and over their brothers on the floor, all while blindfolded.
In the sorority division, Alpha Sigma Alpha performed as humans with robots in
a theme titled "Project Alpha Sigma Alpha." Alpha Delta Pi performed next with its
rendition of "Thriller." Dressed up as zombies, the women transformed the stage into
a cemetery complete with misty fog .
"The Step Show is really important to Alpha Delta Pi because it's for a good
cause and it is worth all the hard work and effort that every group puts in," said
Sarah Furtkamp, a senior ADPi member from Louisville. "We have a lot of unique
opportunities to showcase everyone in Murray, not just sororities and fraternities.
Getting everyone together to support the March of Dimes and to watch an amazing
show is worth it."
Alpha Gamma Delta opened with a clip from the movie, "Million Dollar Baby."
The theme was "Let's Get Physical," with all the girls dressed as boxers in training.
Sigma Sigma Sigma used the phrase "Sigma Sigma Sigma Reigns" for its bad weather
theme. The women dressed in yellow rain jackets . Alpha Omicron Pi used the
"Matrix" theme for its stepping performance, with its members dressed in black
trench coats and sunglasses.
Sigma Alpha Iota won in the independent category. Alpha Sigma Phi took the
prize for the fraternity division, and Alpha Gamma Delta won in the sorority division.
The overall winner for the night was Alpha Delta Pi .
"The most surprising thing about the process is how much time and effort it
really takes," said Jaclyn Acree, a sophomore from Fulton who performed on AGO 's
winning team . "We had hard practices with lots of criticism, but if it hadn't been for
those criticisms we wouldn't have succeeded like we did ."
However, the hard work paid off in the end. Said Acree: "It felt amazing when we
won because it was as if all that hard work finally felt invested, and I knew I would
never regret how many countless hours I spent practicing the routine." Rachel Ruehling