Correction appended

A crowd of around 150 energetic and diverse students gathered Saturday afternoon in Kogan Plaza to watch one fraternity and five sororities perform step dances, the final event for the Multicultural Greek Council Welcome Week.

Each group, which all have members from GW, represented their Greek-letter organizations and its culture, and also showcased their organization’s traditions in their dances.

Delta Sigma Theta was the first sorority to perform. Dressed in red shirts and black shorts, the group of five girls introduced themselves as “dazzling divine divas” and stepped to the history of their sorority as the first multicultural Greek-letter organization at GW.

The five men of Alpha Phi Alpha – the only fraternity to perform at the show – said stepping is a major part of their fraternity’s tradition.

“As a part of the city chapter of Washington D.C., we have been performing up and down the East Coast,” said Fritz Leopold, a member of APA at Catholic University.

Leopold said each chapter has their own traditional moves that they bring to their performances.

“Ours is ‘the train,’ and we have come to be recognized for it,” Leopold said. “Our step master developed our other moves and got us to where we are today.”

Alpha Kappa Alpha – whose performance had six girls in black skirts, white ruffled shirts and black heels – performed a step routine that highlighted the history of their sorority.

The girls spoke of their sorority’s reputation for having high morals and high standards, as well as their affection for the colors pink and green. They left the stage with their secret hand symbol and a high-pitched sound representative of the sorority.

Sigma Lambda Upsilon followed that group, and the women of Lambda Pi Chi – the first Latina sorority founded in the U.S. – performed next, with four girls stepping.

Lorena Reyna, a frequent visitor to step shows, said that she liked Lambda Pi Chi’s step because it “incorporated a part of their culture and shared it with the audience.”

Although she liked the performance, Reyna said she wished there were more performers in each dance group.

“All of the step dances were done on a smaller scale with a lot less members,” Reyna said. “The dances tend to look better with thirty people, not five.”

Sigma Psi Zeta, founded in 2003 on GW’s campus, came on in white shirts and jeans with moves that, according to sophomore Alicia Chau, were “taken from other sororities and transformed into something that was meaningful to us.”

Kappa Phi Lambda worked off of their step dance from last year and came out strong wearing winged white T-shirts, jeans and black heels, and were the last group to perform.

Susie Lee, a member of Kappa Phi Lambda, said that she enjoyed the event and seeing what the other groups had to bring to the stage.

“It’s great to see all of the groups unified and working together,” Lee said.

Most of the groups said they plan to participate in the Feb. 6 step show on GW’s campus and plan to bring more intricate and concrete steps.

Sept. 10, 2009
The article originally stated that Lambda Pi Chi followed Alpha Kappa Alpha. In addition, Sigma Psi Zeta was originally called Sigma Psi Theta.