by Angela Diggs

Created on: February 08, 2009

Step dancing is an ornate form of dance that utilizes the entire body to produce beats. It consists of foot stomps, hand claps and verbal chants. The origin ofstep dancing comes from Africa. The advantage of this type of dance is that it can be combined with other steps. When a person just begins to learn step, they know the basic beats and tempo's however, what truly makes a routine stand out is the level of complexity it has.

A complex dance routine involves a combination of jumps, hand claps, foot stomps, verbal chants and ground slaps. When all these elements are involved at the same time, it makes the entire routine look extraordinary. The size of a step team also has an effect on the level of difficulty. The more people their are, the more precise each stepper must be in hitting every step on time.

The way to learn complex step routines is to learn on at a time. Each stepper learns a single part of a routine. For example, a step may start out with two hand claps. This is the beginning part of the routine. The coach or step teacher will progress from the hand claps to a hand clap and a foot stomp in between. It may go like this. Clap, clap, one foot stomp and one more clap at the end. You can do this in your spare time to pick it up. Do it a little faster.

That would be considered the introduction to the step routine. The teacher would proceed to review the introduction one last time. Clap, clap, stomp, clap. Once every stepper knows it, the teacher will add on another section. The add on would be the "scissor" . The name is self explanatory. It involves the arms being crossed over each other to the point that the right hand is on the left elbow and the left hand is on the right elbow. Once this is the case, the arms should lift up and hit the backs of each other. At the end of this part, the arms fold back down again.

This is the beginning of a complicated maneuver. Section two would include more foot stomps and (under the leg) steps. For example, after the "scissor" a stepper would go into a foot stomp, hand clap, hand on leg and (clap under the leg) step. When this is done faster it has a nice beat.

Allow me to review the entire step from the beginning. Clap, clap, foot stomp, and clap. The arms fold into a "scissor" and come back down again. From there the the stepper stomps his or her foot, claps the hand and slaps his or her leg transitioning into bringing the knee up and clapping under the leg.

That would be the first part of a complicated routine. Once a person practices it a few times, it will begin to blend nicely.

Learn more about this author, Angela Diggs.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.