The Iota Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. will be holding their annual youth step show March 14 at Indianapolis Metropolitan High School, 1635 W. Michigan Street.
11 teams will be participating in this year’s show and all are welcomed to attend.
100 percent of proceeds collected from the show will benefit the Iota Zeta Chapter’s Carolyn Cain Scholarship Fund. “The scholarship was named in honor of one of our charter members who was a past national scholarship chair,” said Iota Zeta president Latosha N. Higgins.
The funds raised will help send graduating seniors from Indianapolis, Lafayette, and West Lafayette to college.
Higgins, who has been a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. for over twenty years said that the event is a great way to fundraise while educating and entertaining the public. “I think its important to educate people about it, a lot of our young people don’t know why we step so its an opportunity to explain it to them,” she said.
According to the Art of Stepping, one of the first organizations in the nation to teach stepping to children grades K-12 curriculum through mathematical formulas, the dance style is defined as a form of movement with roots in southern Africa, which uses the body as an instrument to produce rhythms and sounds through hand claps, footsteps, and spoken word.
In the United States, stepping was brought to the forefront by historically Black fraternities and sororities and has gained popularity in more recent years through films such as Stomp the Yard and competitive television series like So You Think You Can Dance. “The youth love coming to participate and cheer on their friends and the parents see it as a wholesome activity,” said Higgins. “It gives us an opportunity to show the community what it is we actually do.”
Doors open for the Iota Zeta youth step show at 3:30 p.m. and the show begins at 4 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit 2015youthstepdown.eventbrite.com
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