Step Teams Head to Nationals

For the first time in five years, Genesis, the Summit High School step team, will be competing in the 2009-2010 national championship this Saturday in Orlando, Fla.

“As long as they know how good they are,” said Coach Steffany Baptiste, a Lawson C. Johnson Middle School special education teacher, Genesis stands a competitive chance of winning.

Stepping is a percussive dance with roots in traditional African drumming. Performances generally last 8-10 minutes and are judged for synchronicity, precision, creativity, uniforms, theme, and sportsmanship.

In 2004, three high school students approached Baptiste, a former member of a sorority step team at Seton Hall University, showing interest in forming a step team, and Genesis was born. The most recent season, which lasts from December to April, saw the addition of a middle school team, competing this weekend as the Hilltoppers.

Baptiste cites creative performance themes for both teams as crucial to victory this weekend. Genesis has an interesting way of deciding on their performance’s theme: they pick a costume and go from there. This year, they wanted to wear 80’s clothing, and narrowed their theme down to Richard Simmons workout videos, complete with leg warmers and jump ropes. The Hilltoppers’ performance will have a football theme.

The girls are looking forward to competing in the national championship and are just out to enjoy themselves.

“We’re more entertaining than other teams,” says team captain senior Shiniqua Jones-Bonner, a member of the squad since her sophomore year. “We don’t step angry.”

Jones-Bonner feels that the 2009-2010 steppers are more dedicated, more positive, and better organized than any other year, and credits those three qualities with the team’s success last season.

Last season, Genesis placed first or second in all seven of their competitions and took third place in the state, earning them a berth in the national championship. In the 2008 season they were ninth in the state and the 2007 season, seventh. But despite their accolades, Baptiste is most pleased with the acceptance and support the girls have found among faculty and students at Summit High.

“It’s nice to know about the praise they get in the hallway,” said Baptiste. “It’s nice to know that the principal and vice principal support them, the fact that they have a showcase. It’s great that they can walk the hallways and people know they’re on a legitimate team.”

The Genesis team will fly into Orlando on Friday and compete on Saturday. The winners will then perform at the Citrus Bowl stadium on Sunday.

Download the movie