Star Staff Writer
Or, for a park filled with thousands of merrymakers to hush to an awed lull, mesmerized by synchronized hands and feet. The step competition at Anniston’s Juneteenth celebration is always a crowd-pleaser. It is an artful, soulful presentation of the culmination of months of practice and years of tradition. The origins of stepping have been attributed to competitive drill teams of black communities, African American Masonic rituals and most notably to the pledging practices adopted by collegiate black Greek organizations which involved marching in line, according to Dr. Elizabeth C. Fine in her book Soulstepping: Development and Transformation of African American Step Shows. Most assuredly, says Ms. Fine, stepping’s roots are ground in African tradition of speech, song and dance, and to that most who have an opinion about the subject agree. Step teams from all over the Southeast have taken an interest in Anniston’s Juneteenth step show. This year, the Tates Creek Icemen, from Lexington Kentucky, are coming down for the event. And then there are always the regular performers, such as local step team Gamma Phi Chill, who took home top honors in last year’s competition, and have won every competition they’ve ever entered – except one. While none of the step teams in the Juneteenth show are at the collegiate level, college fraternities and sororities do sponsor teams and their roles often exceed teaching steps and choreography to eager learners. Rantron Allen, now a college student who was a member of Gamma Phi Chill while a student at Saks High School, credits the members of the local chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, not only for teaching him steps, but leading his life’s steps toward success. “They give you the urge to go to college,” he says. And that’s a big step for a guy who says he dropped out of school twice. They also gave him an outlet to showcase his talent. “I’m 300 pounds and I can move with the best of them,” says Allen. “If I can be on stage, put me up there. I think I was just born for the stage.” Likewise, Ruby Griffin, who founded Anniston’s Juneteenth festival, speaks positively about the step competition as an outlet where area youth can showcase their talent. “It encourages the development of the whole physical self,” she says. “Their motor skills, their thought processes.” For Griffin, who has seen Anniston’s Juneteenth grow from a few performances on a truck’s flatbed to the largest one-day event in Northeast Alabama, this year’s step competition has special significance. It will be special because it might be the last. Walking a few paces forward to next year, Ruby Griffin wonders if there will be a Juneteenth Festival in Anniston. It’s OK, she says, for her to start that rumor, since she was the one who spearheaded the city’s celebration -- of the day in 1865 when the last of America’s slaves heard the word of the Emancipation Proclamation -- from its conception almost 15 years ago. Lacking corporate sponsors and city funds, festival coordinators must rely on funds provided by the vendors to cover the costs of porta-potties and other such necessities. The city does not provide security, according to Griffin, which is a concern as Juneteenth crowds grow. “It’s a historical event that the whole community should celebrate,” says Griffin. “That everyone was glad to be free. It wasn’t a black man’s thing. It wasn’t a white man’s thing.” For more information about the Juneteenth Heritage Festival visit http://www.juneteenthanniston.homestead.com. Juneteenth eventsTalent contest and dance, Anniston Armory, Friday, 8 p.m.Juneteenth Heritage Festival, Zinn Park, Saturday, June 15th 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. After party, Anniston Entertainment Complex, Saturday, June 15th, 9 p.m. - until |
||
|
|
