Step out

I'd never seen people 'stepping' until I saw previews for movies like 'Stomp the Yard' and then saw stepping championships on tv etc. I never paid much mind to it really, often looking on with slight interest just because it was a dance form (and I love dance) that incorporated percussive elements (and I love percussions). However it just never grabbed me really.
Then I went to various local shows, one being a show in UWI held by foreign hall students (from other Caribbean islands) and saw (local) trinis stepping (and chanting, as is often a part of stepping). From the first moment I saw a group of trinis do this I got annoyed. I wasn't sure exactly why I was annoyed by this at first but now I realize it's because I feel like my people are once again emulating something from the states that we could more than do (and do better) on our own.

Not a single stepping group that I've seen have done anything different to the stepping I've seen in the U.S. We have neither tried to modify it or incorporate local elements into it. It's pure emulation (in my eyes). And this peeves me. I admire americans doing it for what it is.. some tricky hand and foot movements and group co-ordination. But come on.. trinis must be able to come up with something a lot better than this. Why are why copying this (I refrain from saying crap, though that's how I feel despite my respect for it) dance form?! It's shit like this that is robbing us of our international individuality, our creativity and passion for uniqueness.
Someone must come with the excuse that stepping has African roots etc. This is barely true. It's mostly an american-made dance form and if it WERE heavily reliant on African culture, there'd be a lot more rhythm, colour and better vocalization.

So I appeal to my trini steppers.. at the very least make stepping YOUR OWN. Do something different. Do not be content in the mediocrity of mimicry and emulation. Excel in your own right and bring something new to the table.

Step out of the foreign-made box you're in and step into an endless realm of possibility and originality.