Stomps Away
Step team wins big at nationals

By Jeff Frankel

The University has added yet another trophy to its collection, and it’s not from a field hockey
championship — or from any other traditional sport, for that matter.

The brothers of the Phi Beta Sigma (PBS) Step Team, which has its roots in African culture and dancing, took home first prize as well as a large, gold-finished Timberland boot as a trophy for out-stepping other teams at the North Carolina competition on Sept. 1, said a member of the team.

Think winning a trophy is good? It gets better.
Not only will PBS’s victory be aired Sunday, Nov. 25 on ESPN, the team will appear in a behind-the-scenes documentary about the competition where they will be featured in one of the scenes.

“There’s a video documentary taped about each team that performed,” said Quesi Lewis, a second-year step team member. “We also have a section where they came to Rider and taped us practicing.”

And it gets even better. After its success at the North Carolina competition, the PBS Step Team was offered roles as extras in two upcoming feature length films: Stomp the Yard, due out Jan. 12, and Step, which is currently in post-production, by the Toronto-based company Sienna Films, Lewis said.

Now referred to as “Dem Boyz,” the team wasn’t always called by that name, said Lewis.

“When we would go to step shows, we didn’t have a name, just Phi Beta Sigma,” he said. “Once we started performing, people would ask, ‘Who dem boyz?’”

The administration could not have been more thrilled about winning the competition.

“It’s gratifying to see them get recognition for all the work they put in,” said Dean Anthony Campbell, associate vice president of Student Affairs. “Any team in any area that wins a national championship should be applauded because of all of the work.”

Prior to competition, the PBS Step Team heard many of the teams competing were very good, said Lewis.

“Going down there, the whole hype was ‘that Afro team was very good,’” he said. “To be able to completely demolish the other teams is something to be proud of.”

Unlike most other teams, the PBS Step Team brings an unorthodox element to the competition, Lewis said.

“The style we bring is non-traditional,” he said. “We say we pretty much created the ‘remix.’”
Although PBS is a joint chapter with The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), the members of the step team come from four different universities around New Jersey: Rider, TCNJ, Seton Hall and Bloomfield.

“We pretty much live in different parts of New Jersey,” he said. “We don’t live next to each other. We’re all random kids from around New Jersey.”

To practice, the team has a quite unusual schedule and can practice anywhere from one to six hours, he said.

“This whole week, the team is split up,” he said. “Half of the team practices at Rider and the other half practices up north. Saturday, we’re going to have a full-team practice. To get a team together is difficult.”

Even if the team is scattered across the state, Lewis doesn’t mind. He feels being in the same fraternity helps.

“Being fraternity brothers, it’s kind of like having a blood-brother,” he said. “Our team just clicks.”

One of the things that Lewis really enjoys is knowing what he does may encourage children to go to college one day, even if it is just for joining a step team, he said.

“If kids see step teams and that persuades them to go to college, it’s one step closer,” he said.
While many feel dancing and step is an art form that a person is born with, Lewis feels otherwise. While he always had rhythm, he had to learn to step when he first came to college, he said.

“Anybody can learn to step,” he said. “Some people are born with it, some people learn it.”
The PBS Step Team has plans to perform in exhibition on Nov. 30, for the Rider Step Show. They will not compete this time in order to give other colleges the opportunity to perform better.

Last year, the team won nearly $30,000 from
competitions. They could win nearly $1,000 to $2,000 a performance.

And how does Lewis respond to the accolades of being on the award-winning team?

“Not to brag, but I think I’m one of the best on the team,” he said. “I say that all the time.”