The Showtime Steppers are a nationally recognized step team, and the first professional step team of its kind. The group, which originated from a

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

high school, was professionally founded by Jenerian "El Hadjo" Young, and is currently being led by Shane "Mr. Showtime" Wilson. This group has become one of the most established professional step teams in America, and is widely known as "America's Favorite Step Team". The group has performed several times on national television, and has performed live for

Kirk Franklin Kirk Dewayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970) is an American songwriter, choir director, gospel singer, and rapper. He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel ensembles such as The Family, God's Property, and One Nation Crew (1NC) ...

, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

and his family,

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, Lil' Fizz,

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, and

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Biography

The Showtime Steppers originated in the late 1990s at

Eastern Hills High School Eastern Hills High School is a four-year public high school in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. The school is educating students in grades 9–12, as part of the Fort Worth Independent School District. In an historical footnote, the band from ...

in Fort Worth. They were then known as the high school step team "Alpha and Omega" and later as the "Sigma Beta Steppers". After the first year, they were guided by Anthony Arnold, a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and sponsored by Caprice Williams, a former teacher at the school. During the 2003–2004 school year, the group was undefeated, winning first place in over 20 step shows including that year's state championship step show. Because the steppers were not under direct sponsorship of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and were not registered under the national Sigma Beta Club guidelines, the team began to run into complications using the name "Sigma Beta". Therefore, prior to the start of the 2004–2005 school year, the team was reformed under the name "Showtime Steppers". The name is based on one of their original routines in which they called out, "It's showtime in the house tonight and it's our time to get it hype!" In the fall of 2005, because of the graduation of all of the original group's members but one, a new team was formed by recruitment. This eventually led to a division of entities. The high school step team continued to perform under sponsorship at the high school and were occasionally supervised and assisted by the alumni (sometimes referred to as "The Brotherhood"). Meanwhile, the alumni also continued to perform on a national level.

Stepping

"Stepping" or "step-dancing" is a form of percussive dance in which the participant's entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken word, and hand claps. Though stepping may be performed by an individual, it is generally performed by groups of three or more, often in arrangements that resemble military formations. Stepping also draws from elements of

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perf ...

, marching, and African and Caribbean dance, and can include semi-dangerous stunts as a part of individual routines. Some forms of stepping use props, such as blindfolds, canes, rhythm sticks, or fire. Popularized by the

National Pan-Hellenic Council The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative umbrella council composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). The NPHC was formed as a permanent ...

member organizations who perform at local and national competitions, stepping has been featured in films such as '' School Daze'' (1988), ''

Mac and Me ''Mac and Me'' is a 1988 American comic science fiction film cowritten (with Steve Feke) and directed by Stewart Raffill. Starring Christine Ebersole, Jonathan Ward, and Tina Caspary alongside Lauren Stanley and Jade Calegory, it centers on a "M ...

'' (1988), ''

Drumline Marching percussion instruments are instruments specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum(s) to a special harness (also called a carrier or rack) worn by the drummer, although not all marching bands us ...

'' (2002), ''

Stomp the Yard ''Stomp the Yard'' is a 2007 American dance drama film produced by Rainforest Films and released through Sony Pictures' Screen Gems division on January 12, 2007. Directed by Sylvain White, ''Stomp the Yard'' centers on DJ Williams, a college stu ...

'' (2007), and '' How She Move'' (2008). Stepping has also been featured on TV shows including ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom (and a spin-off of '' The Cosby Show'') television series that aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) a ...

'', '' Sister, Sister'',

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

's ''

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 ...

'', and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's '' America's Got Talent''.

Notable awards

* 2004 - 1st Place at State Championship (Texas) Texas Step Shows
/ref> * 2005 - 2nd Place at State Championship (Texas) * 2008 - 1st Place on

's ''

: BET's Top 10 Live'' - (Wild Out Wednesday)

Notable performances

* Three performances on

's ''

: BET's Top 10 Live'' ** June 21, 2006 (Wild Out Wednesday) ** January 30, 2008 (Wild Out Wednesday) ** September 10, 2008 (W.O.W. All-Stars) * Special Presentation to President

and Family *

's '' America's Got Talent (Season 3)'' *

's ''Spring Bling '07: Get 2 Steppin Spring Bling '07
/ref> *

's ''Spring Bling 2006: Get to Steppin *

KTXA KTXA (channel 21) is an independent television station in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside Fort Worth–based CBS station KTVT (channel 11). B ...

''Dance Club 21'' (formerly

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

Dance 360 Dance 360 (2004-2005) was a modern hip-hop television series that aired on UPN in which different dancers competed to win 360 dollars, an Xbox or a cell phone from Boost Mobile, and a Fuse Sunbird scooter. Sometimes, clothing gear from Ecko Un ...

) ">Videos MySpaceTV : Show Time Steppaz !!!! par prince of "D" Town
/ref> *

Concert *

Concert * World of Dance Tour (2010 & 2011)

References

External links

Official "Shane-O" MySpace page

Official "El Hadjo" MySpace page

''Stomp The Yard'' official site

Official Phi Beta Sigma site
{{authority control Dance companies in the United States African-American dance America's Got Talent contestants Dance in Texas