Caitlin Williamson – Special to the Southern News
Southern’s school spirit is not only found in our athletic teams and cheerleaders, the Mighty Owl family finds multiple ways to represent our university to the highest level. Southern’s own Steppin Up drill team, established in 2002, has been making waves for the past 11 years with unique forms of the style “stepping” dance routines. The Steppin Up drill team has performed all over earning first place with their performances against other competing schools, but the most recent stage they’ll be taking on is at Tufts University to continue their reign.
Leading captain Jasmine Crawford said, “Steppin Up drill team has competed in this competition for years and has always won the number one spot, but they fell short of that title last year. They will be back and stepping with a vengeance to regain their first place title!”
Founded by Ricky L. Blakes, the step team has been passionately performing in his honor as well as mastering the craft of stepping for over a decade now. This year is especially different with the vision and creative mind set of current coach, Ariel Bernard. Bernard’s unique mindset has brought the team to be “one of the best they have seen in a while,” Crawford explained. Not only do Bernard’s artistic abilities set her apart from the rest, she is also one of the first coaches to ever perform with her team during competitions and shows.
This amazingly unique form of expression, stepping, splits the team into four lines with a captain designated to each line. “[Captains are assigned] to assist their lines in and outside of practice with steps, as well as informing them of any vital information that comes from their Coach Ariel or their Executive Board,” said Crawford, being the captain of line two.
Other captains are Shayla Rountree, for line one, Denonte Mckinney, line three, and Aisha Sharp, in line four.
The team performs at homecoming and pep rallies for our university showing the academic community the routines they use for competitions through the tri-state area. For some audience members, this is a completely new form of dancing to view, but with the intense and upbeat personalities of every member the only reaction to be left with is excitement.
Steppin Up has held six annual, “Shout Out,” step shows where Southern’s own fraternities and sororities compete against one another with stepping performances to claim the winning title of the show. This incorporates not only winning titles for our schools against competing universities, but also allowing non-members of the team to show off their abilities and passion of the craft of stepping.
Captain Jasmine Crawford, said, “Steppin Up isn’t just a step team, but they are a family. For the past eleven years, they have been striving for greatness, and they have no plans of ever stopping.”
Stepping all the way to great victories and claiming titles, the Steppin Up drill team will continue to make Southern proud and represent the university with class and intensity!
