Texas A&M Greek life stepped into the spotlight during the 19th annual Stompfest Wednesday.
Stompfest is a dance competition based off of a form of dance called “stepping,” which has origins in Africa and is used to tell stories. Each Collegiate Panhellenic Council group partners up with a National Pan-Hellenic Council fraternity or sorority, and creates a step dance routine to be reviewed by a panel judges based off of technique, appearance and crowd appeal. The event promotes diversity and community within the two separate greek communities through culture and dance.
This year, Stompfest’s theme was “Once Upon a Time”, where each group picked a classic fairy tale and created costumes, dialogue, and a stepping routine to tell the story to the audience. Some of the most familiar ones were Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and Rapunzel. Each performance was filled with pop and rap songs and newer dance moves to catch the attention of the audience and the judges. The Robin Hood-themed performance by Delta Gamma members took first place this year.
Ariaan Modder, president of the National Panhellenic Council, has participated in Stompfest for the last few years. Modder said stompfest is one of the many events that the NHPC puts on in hopes of creating a niche for freshman and sophomore college students within the university.
Justin Mays, social chair of the NPHC, said the event has flourished within the past few years and that each one gets bigger and better than the last.
“Today there’s a lot of pop culture that influences the step performances,” Mays said. “Most of the performances have around 3 to 4 different steps. But each year is different than the year before. Two years ago, we didn’t even have props. The girls work really hard every year.”
Member of the newest Kappa Delta pledge class, Haley Murphy, said she is proud of her sisters and their determination that was put into their performance.
“A lot of hard work and effort was put into this year’s Stompfest,” Murphy said. “The choreography was amazing, and I know that each and every one of them gave it their all.”
In addition to raising funds for NPHC’s umbrella philanthropies, Modder said event is about creating unity.
“It’s about bringing the Greek life together,” Modder said. “The entire Greek community is all here over one event.”
