 "Photo: Allen Broome")
Sophomore Rubi Valdez taps beats and imagines steps while sitting in class, walking on campus and even in the shower. Step follows her throughout her daily life.
Five female students meet on a weekly basis to clap their hands and stomp their feet as they practice stepping. The women are members of the campus club Feet of Nature.
The club performs annually at Multicultural Night and at Set It Off, a talent competition, to expose audience members to step and teach them about the history behind the dance, said junior Sarah Napoliello, president of Feet of Nature.
“Step is a type of dance that they started in Africa as a tribal thing,” Valdez said. “It’s making a beat yourself with your hands and your feet.”
Step combines aspects of dance and athletics, but focuses mostly on rhythm, Napoliello said.
“Step is about the background beats and breaking music down,” she said. “Other types of dance are about the flowy parts.”
The members use their knowledge of dance and creativity to come up with step patterns, Napoliello said.
“It’s something we make up as a group, so you get input on what we want to do,” Valdez said. “Making a beat yourself means you don’t have to rely on music.”
Valdez began stepping in high school when she formed a step group during her junior year, she said. Valdez then joined Feet of Nature during her freshman year at Chico State to continue stepping.
Currently, Feet of Nature has only female members, unlike Valdez’s high school step group. Most step teams have members of predominantly one gender, but Feet of Nature encourages men to join too, Valdez said.
While some members have experienced stepping at different times in their life, others first encountered it in college.
Sophomore Kandia Meanes was unfamiliar with competitive dance when she joined Feet of Nature during her freshman year. While she is still learning about stepping, the beats are incorporated into many aspects of her life, she said.
“All my friends know that if I’m walking in a group, I start stepping out of nowhere,” Meanes said. “I do it without even thinking.”
The inspiration for movements used in step often comes from everyday life, Napoliello said.
“Step is always a form of expression for me, especially if I’m really annoyed, pissed off or frustrated,” Napoliello said. “Step is a good way to get my aggression out. When we are frustrated or excited is when we get the best steps.”
Feet of Nature mostly uses steps without background music during performances, Napoliello said. Members call out to one another to keep the steps on time.
“It’s a way for us to be interactive with each other and the audience,” Napoliello said. “But we try to let our steps speak for themselves.”
Feet of Nature only uses music clips as its members “stroll,” which is the way step performers enter and leave the stage, said sophomore Talia Callari. Because most stepping occurs without music, the group concentrates to stay on top of the beats.
“When you step, you maintain the time yourself,” Callari said. “We always want to make it sound like one person instead of many.”
It is more challenging to coordinate larger groups in a step routine, Napoliello said. Regardless, she hopes more people will join Feet of Nature after seeing the group perform.
Feet of Nature practices at 5 p.m. Thursdays by the benches outside the Cross Cultural Leadership Center. While the group holds official tryouts at the beginning of each semester, students interested in joining can visit practice for an informal audition.
“If people are willing and determined to learn and try, then we are willing to have them,” Napoliello said.
Hillary Feeney can be reached at
hfeeney@theorion.com
For more information, visit:
CSU Chico Office of Diversity website
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