top of page
Untitled design - 1.png

Take A Step Towards A Brighter Future.

ABOUT PROJECT S.T.E.P. 

Project S.T.E.P. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and mentorship program committed to providing early learning opportunities through performance and production. The acronym S.T.E.P. “Showing Teamwork Evolves Pride” sets a standard in how working together can help build for success. 

 

Our program tiers are Academic Achievement, Leadership Development and Community Involvement. Standard activities include: 

 

  • Learning step/dance 

  • Program planning

  • Community service and outreach 

  • Coping skills and stress management 

  • Group goals, values and expectations

  • Physical and artistic activities 

HISTORY OF STEP

"Stepping" is a historical form of communication and storytelling that is widely performed by fraternities and sororities that belong to the National Pan-Hellenic Council, an organization which directs the traditionally African-American national sororities and fraternities.

 

Stepping is partly rooted in the experience of Black men working on the railroad. To keep up their morale and esteem and to forget about the pain, they stepped. It was a tune that they marched to, a tune about a story and pain. Step served as a sort of code for Black people to tell their story since speaking out was oftentimes too dangerous. Since then it has grown and evolved.

 

Like most music and dance in Black culture, step dance relies on improvisation, call and response, complex meters, propulsive rhythms and a percussive attack. Stepping dates back to the early 20th century, when Black veterans of World War I enrolled in colleges. Inspired by their military training, they brought to their dances a highly rigorous, drill-like component and combined it with elements from other Black dances, just as today's steppers often add hip-hop movements.

bottom of page