Stomping Greek stepshow

By Jordana Tusman

An overflow of students crowded the Bart Luedeke Center (BLC) Theater to cheer on the participants in the Intercultural Greek Council’s (IGC) annual step show.

Hosted by alumni Nigel Francis and Gabriel Gray and deejayed by DJ Wes, the show’s theme was “Stomping Hard on the Rider Yard.” Performances by sororities Chi Epsilon Sigma, Lambda Tau Omega (LTO) and Sigma Gamma Ro; two fraternities, Kappa Alpha Psi and Phi Beta Sigma; two high school step teams; and a routine by The Rider Dance Team highlighted the night.

“Co-hosting with Nigel is always fun,” said Gray. “I enjoyed being asked to participate in the show because the show opened a lot of people up to different aspects of the college atmosphere, and displayed the diversity that this campus
contains.”

Although starting the show 40 minutes late may not have been the best way to kick off the night, most students agreed that the hosts took the crowd’s minds off the late start.

“The hosts were brilliant,” said sophomore Daryl Hawkins. “Any other hosts would have made it a dead show, but they helped keep the night alive by throwing in a variety of jokes when there seemed to be breaks in the action.”

After Francis and Gray made their entertaining introductions and announced the panel of five judges, the crowd erupted with an abundance of enthusiasm the moment the Greyhound High School steppers took their places on stage.

“I thought it was great how there were two high school step teams that performed,” said sophomore Lola Hansen. “It was a good experience for them to perform at a college level and with college performers.”

Students like sophomore Shannon Harris agreed with Hansen that the high school step teams went just as well as the college performances.

“My favorite part of the night was Paramus Catholic High School,” said Harris. “They did their steps blindfolded, were hard and precise with their moves, and gave a very strong performance.”

The crowd was not only impressed by the high schools, but with the college step teams as well.

“I really enjoyed the performance by LTO because they were entertaining and I was never bored,” said Hawkins. “In general, I thought the quality of theperformances were a lot stronger and better than last year. ”

Harris said that a lot of hard work was put into the routines, and thinks the
well-put-together outfits served as a nice touch for the performances.

“Not only were the LTO’s impressive because they were on point and stepped in heels, but they were also well dressed and matched in their white blouses, blue shirts underneath and black ties,” said Harris.

Hansen agreed that it was quite an enjoyable night, but felt a few things could be altered for next year’s event, such as dimming the overhead lights and providing programs that list the night’s performances.

“It would have also been nice if the show was in the gym or Yvonne Theater so they could have fit more people,” said Hansen. “The BLC Theater was really crowded and some people had to stand and didn’t even get seats.”

At the end of the night, the first place trophies went to LTO and Phi Beta Sigma. Although The College New Jersey (TCNJ) junior Danielle DiPaolo felt there should be more of a variety of teams to compete next year, she was pleased with her first Rider step show.

“I thought each routine was unique and just really enjoyed it,” said DiPaolo. “I was definitely impressed with all of the teams.”