Welcome week fun still to come with annual Step Tease event

Grace Kish

Following the kickoff of the University Activities Council Welcome Week events comes the annual Step Tease on Thursday, Aug. 16.

This year, six different Greek organizations are performing in the step tease along with the “Sound of the South” dance team, the Troy University Dance Department and Funny Maine, who will be DJing the event.

To kick off the show, Erin Nicole Smith, a junior dance major from Huntsville, is choreographing the Troy Dance Department’s opening number.

“Every person from the dance department who participated in this last year loved it,” Smith said. “We had so much fun being able to perform for a crowd this big because there’s a lot of people in Troy who come to the step tease show.”

Smith described last year as an incredible learning opportunity because the dance department brought in a choreographer from outside the department, but this year Smith said she is excited to have choreographed the opening number herself.

Smith said this is an event the dance department loves to participate in, as step is an upbeat, more hip-hop style than what the dancers typically perform.

“It’s really awesome to be able to do a really high-energy dance and kind of show the campus that we don’t just do ballet or contemporary — that we really are a very diverse, well-rounded group of dancers that aspires to do this for their career,” Smith said.

After the department of dance’s piece, the sororities and fraternities participating in the step tease each show off the individual pieces they have been working on for weeks.

De’korrius Johnson, the president of the UAC and a senior global business major from Trussville, explains the event as an opportunity for Greek life, the dance program and Sound of the South to get their organizations out there and show how much fun being involved in them is.

Johnson said the Step Tease is his favorite Welcome Week event, and it is something he looks forward to planning every year.

“I actually love it,” Johnson said. “It’s one of my favorite events, too, so I’m always excited to be a part of it.

“Everyone did an amazing job last year.”

According to Johnson, the Step Tease has history on Troy’s campus.

“This dates back from a long time,” Johnson said. “So I carry the torch from everyone else.”

The pride, hard work and diversity displayed at this event have seemed to make it “everyone’s favorite event,” according to Johnson, andhe expects it to be “the largest turnout that they (UAC) have” aside from the monthly $2 movie night.

Johnson said the best possible outcome for this event would be “getting all of the students and everyone involved” as well as “piquing a lot of people’s interests” in Greek life and dance at Troy.

Zoey Rowell, a junior psychology major from Panama City, Florida, said she was excited to be off work as an RA in time to attend this event.

The UAC’s Step Tease will be held Aug. 16 in Janice Hawkins Park. Admission is free for students, and the event takes place from 7 to 9 p.m.