Stepping to their own beats, Tiger Stomp contestants and performers turned the Student Activities Center into an arena of movement and music Friday night.
The winning fraternity was Auburn's Theta Delta chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. The winning sorority was Auburn's Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
Comedian Steve Brown, who is most recognized for his appearance on BET Comic View, was the host for the event.
Brown began the show with shout outs to different classes, hometowns and ethnic groups. Brown then urged the crowd to have fun.
"I'm not your traditional step show host," Brown said to the crowd. "I like to turn step shows into a party."
DJ Big Sweatt provided the music for the evening. Brown asked Sweat to play several different types of music to get the whole crowd involved. After several songs, Brown told Sweat to stop.
"I want all the black folks to sit down," Brown said. "I want y'all to play something for the white folks inhere."
Laughter erupted from the crowd when Sweat played bits of The All American Rejects' "Gives You Hell" and Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA."
Four fraternities and two soroities competed, and the intermission entertainment was provided by AU Rhythm.
Kappa Alpha Psi, the winning fraternity, surprised the crowd by including a Panhellenic sorority, the Kappa Kappa Gammas, in its show.
The theme of Kappa Alpha Psi's show was based on a nursing home, where nine Kappa Kappa Gammas were nurses. The nurses served the patients "nupe juice," which made the old men young again.
The show then showcased Kappa Alpha Psi's stepping while also featuring the Kappa Kappa Gammas.
Kelsey Lott, sophomore in special education and Kappa Kappa Gamma vice president of standards, said participating in the step show was a great experience.
Lott said Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Alpha Psi first worked together on Kisses for Kappa, a philanthropy event benefitting
Lee County Red Cross. "While we were doing chapter visits to spread word about Kisses for Kappa, some of the members of Kappa Alpha Psi thought it would be a cool idea to secretly add us into their Tiger Stomp show," Lott said. "At first, I think we were just going to have a small part, but as planning went on our part got bigger." Lott said they practiced every night for two weeks to get the moves right. "No one knew that we were a part of Kappa Alpha Psi's step show--not even members of our own sorority--for a long time," Lott said. "It was a huge surprise for everyone." Courtney Peterson, sophomore in pre-physical therapy, was a member of the winning fraternity. Peterson said this was his first step show performance.
"On stage, I was a little nervous at first, but after the curtains opened things eased up a little bit and we just started having fun out there," Peterson said. "When we won, we realized all the hard work paid off--all the late night stepping and practicing finally paidoff."
Peterson said working with Kappa Kappa Gamma was a great experience. "It was real fun," Peterson said. "We bonded real well and made new friendships. We had fun at practice." The winning sorority, the Auburn Kappa Upsilon chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, showcased a genie theme.
The show began with a video in which a girl found a magic Delta genie bottle.
When the bottle was rubbed, members of Delta Sigma Theta, dressed as genies, gave the girl three wishes. Each wish displayed the skills of the members of the sorority. "My experience with Tiger Stomp was stressful, but it was fun," said Delta step master Ashley Copeland, senior in biomedical sciences. "It was a lot of hard work, but in the end it was all worth it, and we won." Copeland said she started planning for the show over Christmas break, and the team started practicing Jan. 22.
Members of the audience agreed with the judges' choices for the winners.
"My favorite for the girls was definitely the Deltas," said Jerrica Johnson, junior in social work. "It was more creative and had more thought put into it."
Kara White, sophomore in pre-pharmacy, said she liked Kappa Alpha Psi's performance.
"I liked how they incorporated the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority in it," White said.
The second place fraternity was the UAB Kappa Kappa chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, and the second place sorority was the Auburn Kappa Chi chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
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