''Stomp the Yard'' is a 2007 American dance

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film produced by Rainforest Films and released through Sony Pictures' Screen Gems division on January 12, 2007. Directed by

Sylvain White Sylvain White (born 21 December 1971) is a French film director and screenwriter. Life and career White attended Pomona College, graduating in 1998. He debuted his feature film, ''Stomp the Yard'', at number one in the US. He went on to direct ...

, ''Stomp the Yard'' centers on DJ Williams, a college student at a fictional

historically black university Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

who pledges to join a fictional

Greek-letter fraternity The North American fraternity and sorority system began with students who wanted to meet secretly, usually for discussions and debates not thought appropriate by the faculty of their schools. Today they are used as social, professional, and honora ...

. The film's central conflict involves DJ's fraternity competing in various stepping competitions against a rival fraternity from the same school. The film's script was written by

Robert Adetuyi Robert Adetuyi is a Canadian screenwriter and film director who works in Hollywood. Born in Sudbury, Ontario,"Interview with Robert Adetuyi", ''Sudbury Star'', January 24, 2007. Adetuyi is a graduate of York University, where he studied communicati ...

, working from an original draft by Gregory Ramon Anderson. The film was originally titled ''Steppin, but to avoid confusion over the 2006 film '' Step Up'', the title was changed. Delta Sigma Theta along with other sororities like Gamma Theta were in the movie. The film stars

Columbus Short Columbus Keith Short Jr. (born September 19, 1982) is an American actor and choreographer. He choreographed Britney Spears's Onyx Hotel Tour and worked with Brian Friedman (of ''So You Think You Can Dance'' fame). He is best known for his roles ...

Meagan Good Meagan Monique Good is an American actress. She first gained critical attention for her role in the film ''Eve's Bayou'' (1997), prior to landing the role of Nina in the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Cousin Skeeter'' (1998–2001). Good received further ...

Darrin Henson Darrin Dewitt Henson (born May 5, 1973) is an American choreographer, dancer, actor, director and producer. Hensen was a brief member of freestyle music group Trilogy and was featured on their single "Good Time".Brian White,

Laz Alonso Laz or LAZ may refer to: People * Laz people of the Black Sea area **Laz language First name * Laz Alonso (born 1975), American actor * Laz Barrera (1924–1991), Cuban-born American racehorse trainer * Laz-D (born 1982), American rapper *Laz Dí ...

, and

Valarie Pettiford Valarie Pettiford (born July 8, 1960) is an American stage and television actress, dancer, and jazz singer. She received a Tony Award nomination for her role in the broadway production '' Fosse''. She is also known for her role as "Big Dee Dee" ...

, with

Harry Lennix Harry Joseph Lennix III (born November 16, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Terrence "Dresser" Williams in the Robert Townsend film ''The Five Heartbeats'' (1991) and as Boyd Langton in the science-fiction series '' Doll ...

, and, in their film debuts, R&B singers

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He gained fame for his songwriting abilities when he penned Mario's 2004 hit " Let Me Love You ...

& Chris Brown. ''Stomp the Yard'' was filmed in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, on the campuses of Morris Brown College, Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse College, and Clark Atlanta University, and in the MAK Historic District of Decatur, Georgia. Elsewhere Short, Alonso and Brown had also starred together in the film '' This Christmas''.

Plot

DJ Williams is a young man in inner-city

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. He and his younger brother Duron compete in local dance competitions as members of a crew known as the "Goon Squad". At the end of an intense dance battle, the Goon Squad wins a cash-prize. Sphere, the leader of rival crew The Thug Unit, goes all in for a double-or-nothing battle. DJ accepts to Duron's dismay, knowing they risk violent retaliation from the opposing crew. The Goon Squad wins the second battle and the Thug Unit responds by ambushing DJ and his crewmates after the show. A fight breaks out, and Sphere starts beating up DJ. Duron pushes him away and starts fighting him. Sphere pulls out a gun and fatally shoots Duron, devastating DJ. After DJ is arrested and convicted of assault, his mother (wanting him to avoid prison) sends him to live with his aunt Jackie and uncle Nate in

, Georgia, where he is to attend the historically black Truth University. Nate, the

physical plant Physical plant, mechanical plant or industrial plant (and where context is given, often just plant) refers to the necessary infrastructure used in operation and maintenance of a given facility. The operation of these facilities, or the department ...

director at Truth, aims to teach DJ responsibility and puts him to work doing maintenance as part of a work-study program. DJ sees April Palmer, to whom he is immediately attracted. After registration, he moves into his dorm room, where he meets his new roommate Rich Brown. Rich meets with DJ at a stepping competition on the green between the Truth chapters of rival

fraternities A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity ...

Theta Nu Theta and Mu Gamma Xi. The Mu Gamma Xi crew, seven-time national stepping champions, easily steals the show until DJ runs right through their step line in an attempt to speak to April. April rebuffs DJ's romantic attempts and returns to her boyfriend Grant, the co-leader of the Gammas. That night, DJ, Rich, and their friends Byron, Paul and East go out to a local club called the Phoenix for the "Rep Your City" event. Hoping to impress April and upstage Grant and the Gammas (all of whom are also in attendance), DJ takes to the floor. Despite the animosity between DJ and Grant, the Gammas recognize his skills as a dancer and their chapter president Zeke invites him to pledge for Mu Gamma Xi. DJ turns down both Zeke's offer as well as an offer from the Theta Nu Theta chapter's leader Sylvester. After learning that April is a student history tutor, DJ signs himself up for tutoring so that he can spend time with her. The two slowly begin a friendship and DJ takes April out to dinner. During their date, April discusses the importance of black fraternities and sororities with DJ, and tells him to visit Heritage Hall on the campus' Greek Row. The next day, DJ learns about the significant number of African-American historical figures and celebrities who were members of various Greek-letter organizations, and decides to pledge for the Theta chapter along with Rich and their friend Noel. After "crossing over" to become official Theta members, DJ, Rich, and Noel join the Thetas' step crew. While having dinner, April breaks up with Grant due to his arrogant and selfish behavior and his failure to know anything about her, particularly that green is her favorite color. She grows closer to DJ and they eventually become a couple. While at practice, DJ, Rich, Noel and other new members realize the step dance moves are old fashioned and aren't good enough to win the stepping competition. They decide to take the time to learn fresher moves. Sly then gathers his older members and challenges DJ and the rest to an old school vs. new school stepping contest. DJ blows the contest due to his showboating. They remind DJ, much like Duron did, that it is about the team and not about him. DJ apologizes to the entire fraternity and is quickly forgiven. Sly also requests that DJ show the team some of his street moves. A few days before the competition, Grant stumbles upon DJ's file and discovers his assault record and presents it to the board. The board suspends DJ for not disclosing his criminal record. Dr. Palmer, who is April's father, calls in DJ to his office. He says he is willing to lift his suspension on the condition that DJ stays away from April. DJ declines the ultimatum and walks away. DJ then tells Nate and Jackie about the suspension. They then reveal that Jackie dated Dr. Palmer, a Gamma, until she met Nate and there has been animosity between Nate and Palmer ever since. Jackie confronts Palmer about DJ's suspension and Palmer claims he is only protecting April, who then confronts her father about the situation, having been listening from outside the door. Dr. Palmer reinstates DJ, deciding that he would rather deal with DJ in April's life than to lose April in his. DJ rejoins the Thetas to compete alongside them against the Gammas in the stepping competition. Both teams are tied at the end and it is brought into sudden death rules to determine a winner. Unknown to DJ and the Thetas, the Gammas had recorded DJ practicing his moves prior to the competition. Going first, Grant uses some of DJ’s moves from the videotape. After he finishes, DJ matches Grant move for move, then finishes with Duron's signature move, something the Gammas didn't get on tape. The Thetas finally defeat the Gammas. April goes on stage to hug and kiss DJ. While celebrating their victory, DJ is still wearing Duron's gloves, and he kisses his fist and throws it in the air in honor of his brother. The Thetas have their picture taken, and it is displayed in Heritage Hall.

Cast

as Darnell James "D.J." Williams, a gifted street dancer who starts as a selfish loner. *

as April Palmer, D.J.'s love interest, and Dr. Palmer's daughter. *

as Rich Brown, D.J.'s roommate. *

as Jackie Williams, D.J.'s aunt and Dr. Palmer's old college girlfriend. * April Clark as Maya, April's best friend. *

Brian J. White Brian Joseph White (born April 21, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in films such as ''The Family Stone'' (2005), '' The Game Plan'' (2007), '' 12 Rounds'' (2009), '' I Can Do Bad All by Myself'' (2009), ''Good Deeds'' ( ...

as Sylvester, the president of Theta Nu Theta. *

as Zeke, the president of Mu Gamma Xi. * A. JC. Jones as Al "Big Al", voted most respectable Kappa since 2007. *

Jermaine Williams Jermaine Charles Williams is an American actor, producer, and dancer. He dances for the Norwood Kids Foundation. He is from Rialto, California. He is best known for his role as Mush Mouth in ''Fat Albert'' and Noel in ''Stomp the Yard''. He a ...

as Noel, Rich's friend. * Chris Brown as Duron Williams, D.J.'s younger brother who was killed in the beginning of the movie. * Allan Louis as Dr. Palmer, April Palmer's father and Nate's adversary. * Chuck Maldonado, Celebrity Choreographer and Creative Director of World of Step

Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on April 24, 2007 by Artists' Addiction Records. It peaked at 20 on the

Top Soundtracks The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

. "Hall Of Fame" written by Jason Horns & performed by Tha J-Squad Published by Tha J Squad Beat Mastaz (ASCAP) Courtesy of Tha J Squad Beat Mastaz Productionz

Alpha Phi Alpha boycott threat

A boycott of the film was threatened by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and supported by Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, due to a conflict between the organizations and ''Stomp the Yard'' producers Will Packer and Rob Hardy (both members of Alpha Phi Alpha) over the unauthorized use of some of Alpha Phi Alpha's trademarks in the film. The groups ended their threat when Sony Pictures and Screen Gems agreed to the removal of all references to the fraternity from the film. Sony and Screen Gems made a decision for a donation to The Washington D. C. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, a project of Alpha Phi Alpha. The disputed scenes of Alpha Phi Alpha steppers which were deleted from the final release print appear in both versions of the ''Stomp the Yard''

movie trailer A trailer (also known as a preview, coming attraction or attraction video) is a commercial advertisement, originally for a feature film that is going to be exhibited in the future at a movie theater/cinema. It is a product of creative and techni ...

. Despite the controversy, the filmmakers were honored by Alpha Phi Alpha at the Fraternity's 103rd Anniversary Convention held in New Orleans in 2009.

Reception

The film opened at number-one with a first-weekend gross of $22 million, becoming the first film in three weekends to beat out ''

Night at the Museum ''Night at the Museum'' is a 2006 fantasy comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. It is based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc. The film had an ense ...

'' at the box office. ''Stomp the Yard'', produced on a budget of $13 million, eventually went on to gross $61 million in the United States and $75 million worldwide.(2007)
''Stomp the Yard'' box office results
''BoxOfficeMojo.com'' Retrieved September 2, 2007. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 25% based on 89 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "While ''Stomp the Yard'' contains impressive musical and dance numbers, it loses its momentum during the intervening soap opera-style subplots." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 44 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Sony Pictures held a national high school stepping competition in conjunction with the release of the film. The winning team was from

North Stafford High School North Stafford High School is one of the five high schools in the Stafford County, Virginia public school system. It instructs students in grades 9 through 12. History Completed in 1981, North Stafford High School was the second high school to b ...

in the suburb of Stafford,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Sequel

Rainforest Films announced a ''Stomp the Yard'' sequel, called '' Stomp the Yard: Homecoming''. The studio signed on studio partner Rob Hardy to direct. Columbus Short, who starred in the original Sony Screen Gems release, makes a cameo appearance as DJ. Other cast members include

Terrence J Terrence Jenkins (born April 21, 1982) is an American actor, television presenter, model and entertainment reporter best known as the host of BET's popular music video countdown show ''106 & Park'' from 2006 until 2012.MacCash, Doug. "Back in ...

of ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rate ...

'', Tyler Nelson from ''

Taking the Stage ''Taking the Stage'' is a musical reality show set at the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is produced by Nick Lachey Nicholas Scott Lachey ( ; born November 9, 1973) is an American singer, actor, television per ...

'', former Cheetah Girls member

Kiely Williams Kiely Alexis Williams (born July 9, 1986) is an American singer, dancer and actress. She is known for her membership in the girl groups 3LW, the Cheetah Girls and BluPrint. Career 1999–2002: Career beginnings and 3LW In 1999, Williams along ...

, singer/rapper

Teyana Taylor Teyana Me Shay Jacqueli Shumpert ( Taylor; born December 10, 1990) is an American singer, actress, dancer and choreographer. In 2005, she signed a record deal with Pharrell Williams' Star Trak Entertainment imprint. Afterwards, she choreographed ...

Pooch Hall Marion "Pooch" Hall, Jr. (born February 8, 1976) is an American television and film actor known for his role as Derwin Davis, the football player on the sitcom '' The Game'', and as Ricky in the 2011 film ''Jumping the Broom''. He also played th ...

from '' The Game'', and Miracle's Boys.

References

External links

Official website
* * * {{Sylvain White 2007 films 2000s musical drama films African-American musical drama films American dance films 2000s teen romance films American romantic drama films American romantic musical films American teen drama films American teen romance films Hip hop dance 2000s hip hop films Films about dance competitions Films about fraternities and sororities Films directed by Sylvain White Films produced by Will Packer Screen Gems films Rainforest Films films 2007 drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films