The Showtime Steppers are a nationally recognized step team, and the first professional step team of its kind. The group, which originated from a

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

high school, was professionally founded by Jenerian "El Hadjo" Young, and is currently being led by Shane "Mr. Showtime" Wilson. This group has become one of the most established professional step teams in

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and is widely known as "America's Favorite Step Team". The group has performed several times on national television, and has performed live for

Kirk Franklin Kirk Dewayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970) is an American Gospel music, gospel musician. One of the List of best-selling gospel music artists, best-selling gospel music artists, his accolades include 20 Grammy Awards. ''Variety (magazine), Var ...

, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and his family,

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...

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, and Tonex.

Biography

The Showtime Steppers originated in the late 1990s at

Eastern Hills High School Eastern Hills High School is a four-year state school, public secondary education in the United States, high school in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. The school is educating students in grades 9–12, as part of the Fort Worth Independent Sc ...

in Fort Worth. They were then known as the high school step team "Alpha and Omega" and later as the "Sigma Beta Steppers". After the first year, they were guided by Anthony Arnold, a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and sponsored by Caprice Williams, a former teacher at the school. During the 2003–2004 school year, the group was undefeated, winning first place in over 20 step shows including that year's state championship step show. Because the steppers were not under direct sponsorship of

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1914. The fraternity's founders, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, wanted to ...

fraternity and were not registered under the national Sigma Beta Club guidelines, the team began to run into complications using the name "Sigma Beta". Therefore, prior to the start of the 2004–2005 school year, the team was reformed under the name "Showtime Steppers". The name is based on one of their original routines in which they called out, "It's showtime in the house tonight and it's our time to get it hype!" In the fall of 2005, because of the graduation of all of the original group's members but one, a new team was formed by recruitment. This eventually led to a division of entities. The high school step team continued to perform under sponsorship at the high school and were occasionally supervised and assisted by the alumni (sometimes referred to as "The Brotherhood"). Meanwhile, the alumni also continued to perform on a national level.

Stepping

"Stepping" or "step-dancing" is a form of percussive dance in which the participant's entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken word, and hand claps. Though stepping may be performed by an individual, it is generally performed by groups of three or more, often in arrangements that resemble military formations. Stepping also draws from elements of

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

tap dance Tap dance (or tap) is a form of dance that uses the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion; it is often accompanied by music. Tap dancing can also be performed with no musical accompaniment; the sound of the taps is its ow ...

, marching, and African and Caribbean dance, and can include semi-dangerous stunts as a part of individual routines. Some forms of stepping use props, such as blindfolds, canes, rhythm sticks, or fire. Popularized by the

National Pan-Hellenic Council The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a coalition, collaborative umbrella council composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities, commonly called the Divine Nine, and also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organi ...

member organizations who perform at local and national competitions, stepping has been featured in films such as ''

School Daze ''School Daze'' is a 1988 American musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee and starring Lee along with Laurence Fishburne (credited as Larry Fishburne), Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell. Released on February 12, 19 ...

'' (1988), ''

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'' (1988), ''

Drumline Marching percussion instruments are percussion instruments (usually drums, such as snare, bass, and tenor drums) specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum(s) to a special harness (also called a carrier ...

'' (2002), '' Stomp the Yard'' (2007), and '' How She Move'' (2008). Stepping has also been featured on TV shows including ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom television series and a spin-off of '' The Cosby Show''. It aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987, to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet) an ...

'', '' Sister, Sister'',

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

's ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'', and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

''.

Notable awards

* 2004 - 1st Place at State Championship (Texas) Texas Step Shows
/ref> * 2005 - 2nd Place at State Championship (Texas) * 2008 - 1st Place on

's ''

: BET's Top 10 Live'' - (Wild Out Wednesday)

Notable performances

* Three performances on

's ''

: BET's Top 10 Live'' ** June 21, 2006 (Wild Out Wednesday) ** January 30, 2008 (Wild Out Wednesday) ** September 10, 2008 (W.O.W. All-Stars) * Special Presentation to President

and Family *

's ''

(Season 3)'' *

's ''Spring Bling '07: Get 2 Steppin Spring Bling '07
/ref> *

's ''Spring Bling 2006: Get to Steppin *

KTXA KTXA (channel 21), branded as TXA 21, is an independent television station in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS outlet KTVT (channel 11). ...

''Dance Club 21'' (formerly

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

's Dance 360) ">Videos MySpaceTV : Show Time Steppaz !!!! par prince of "D" Town
/ref> * Tonex Concert *

Concert * World of Dance Tour (2010 & 2011)

References

External links

Official "Shane-O" MySpace page

Official "El Hadjo" MySpace page

''Stomp The Yard'' official site

Official Phi Beta Sigma site
{{authority control Dance companies in the United States African-American dance Dance in Texas