"This year, we are expecting more alumni and community members to attend," Quezada said. "Last year, we celebrated 100 years of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. This year, we will be celebrating the 35th year anniversary of our chapter, Theta Zeta, here at Dartmouth."
This year, the theme of the show is based on the TV show "24."
"The Alphas are members of an elite team who are looking to save Greek life at Dartmouth College after Jack Bauer, the top agent, could not," Quezada said. "We chose this theme because we all love Greek life and we love the series. After it came up in one of our meetings, it was a no-brainer."
The show is known to be one of the biggest cultural events held at Dartmouth, primarily providing a stage to showcase minority Greek organizations while bringing together a wide variety of cultural groups.
As usual, students should expect to see performances from dance troupes such as Ujima, SHEBA, Roots of Rhythm and Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity.
"The Step Show is important because it gives us the opportunity to show the Dartmouth community how great of a dance troupe we are," Rictrell Pirtle, the leader of UJIMA said. "Last year, over 1,500 people came to the show and the energy was great. We hope that this year the crowd will be just as energetic as last year."
Quezada stressed that it is an event unique to Dartmouth and a staple of Green Key weekend. The majority of those who attend the event are Dartmouth students and alums that come to see their friends and the Dartmouth groups perform.
Event coordinators occasionally allow one or two students from other teams to perform with a Dartmouth group. Last year, a member of the University of Massachusetts chapter of Sigma Lambda Upsilon sorority performed with the Dartmouth chapter of her sorority. Her chapter, however, was not invited to perform.
Quezada said that this type of participation was rare and not really in the spirit of the step show.
"It's something we juggle every year," Quezada said.
Despite not inviting outside groups to perform, Alpha Phi Alpha sends out invitations to students from other schools, especially to members from other chapters of Alpha Phi Alpha, Lambda Upsilon Lambda and Sigma Lambda Upsilon sorority, to attend the event as spectators.
Stepping is an Alpha Phi Alpha tradition that has been upheld in other chapters for several decades. The Dartmouth chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha held their first step show in the late 1980s. The event gradually grew in size until it was moved to Leede Arena in 1998 to accommodate more people. Event coordinators expect about 1,500 to attend the event this year.
Alpha Phi Alpha, the first African-American collegiate fraternity, was founded at Cornell University in 1906. The Theta Zeta chapter of the fraternity was started at Dartmouth in 1972. In addition to the chapter's other programming, which includes the annual Alpha Week, the Step Show has become a well-known exhibition of an integral part of the minority Greek experience at Dartmouth.
Alpha Phi Alpha members began planning the event Winter term, and rehearsing for their step routine at the beginning of Spring term.
"Every year we work on being unique with our steps, while taking traditional steps from past shows," Quezada said.
The "Ice Age" themed after-party will be held at Cutter-Shabazz Hall following the show.
