Chicago — Members of seven chapters of historically black fraternities and sororities shook the stage of the Physical Education Complex at Northeastern Illinois University on Saturday night as they competed in what was billed as “the largest step show in the Midwest.”
K.A.O.S. 2004, a step show and party sponsored by Northwestern’s Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity chapter, drew more than 1,500 people to its 15th annual event.
Nine teams of contestants — who came from as far away as the University of Kentucky — were graded on the precision, uniformity, level of difficulty and creativity of their 12-minute step performances.
Some teams displayed their creativity through costuming: Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity members from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State wore faux Egyptian gold headdresses and performed a humorous skit between stepping, while Delta Sigma Theta sorority’s chapter members from throughout Chicago dressed as football halftime show’s marching band players.
Both teams won their respective competitions.
Other teams focused less on costumes and more on stunts that made the crowd roar, such as Iota Phi Theta fraternity’s chapter from Central State University, whose members incorporated baseball bats into their step, swung a still-clapping member in circles and even used a member as a jump rope.
Each team was supported loudly by letter-wearing members of the fraternity or sorority it represented. At the end of each performance, the gym filled with barks from supporters of Omega Psi Phi fraternity or high-pitched “skeewee”s from Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority’s fans.
The event’s emcees, deejays The Hot Boyz from local radio station WPWX-FM (92.3), also frequently rallied Greek pride by setting the event’s attendees on “strolls,” or “party lines,” where members walked in lines doing a dance unique to their fraternity and sorority.
Local dance groups performed in between acts. Members of Total Domination and the Chicago chapter of national team House Arrest II, who featured in rapper Kanye West’s music videos, danced to hip-hop music, and NU’s own Boomshaka danced and pounded sticks rhythmically on the floor.
While some teams themed their performances around skits about “The Matrix” or museum exhibits, members of Christian fraternity and sorority Zeta Phi Beta oriented their step Biblically.
Fraternity members interspersed stepping with calling out Bible verses and at the end announced, “We came here to do one thing, to give honor and love to Jesus. I think we did just that.”
K.A.O.S. began as an annual barbeque for NU’s Alpha Phi Alpha chapter but eventually evolved into a night of step and dancing, according to Brandon Odoi, Medill ’03. The event’s full title — K.A.O.S 2K4 with a touch of D.A.Z.S. — is an acronym for the fraternities and sororities participating.
Shannon Womack, a Communication freshman, praised the event’s organization and high turnout.
“I was very impressed with the event in itself, and I think the Alphas did a really good job of putting it together,” she said.
