At 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, the university’s Homecoming Step Show will take the stage, featuring music by Tag Team and hosted by comedian Corey Rodrigues. The show features entertainment, music and a night of laughs. Prizes will also be awarded for audience participation.
The step show is a unique opportunity for people to experience a tradition that dates back to Africa and shares a link with African tribal dance.
“Those African communities and tribes used movement and sound to communicate with each other and to show allegiance,” said Corey Cunningham, coordinator of fraternity and sorority life at Marshall. “Likewise, the tradition of stepping as a cultural art form has only uplifted our historically black Greek-lettered and Latino organizations, as stepping celebrates aspects of traditional African culture and stories that have otherwise been culturally denied. Stepping involves the body being used as an instrument to make sounds through various forms of movements, such as clapping, stomping, rhythms and chants.”
This event is like no other step show in Marshall’s history.
“In the south, step shows are this caliber,” said Cunningham. “They’re put on with a high spectacle because of recruitment, alumni and community engagement. I couldn’t think of a better time to present a show with this level of entertainment for the Marshall and Huntington community than Homecoming, when the Marshall Family returns home to celebrate their time here and inspire the new generation.”
In addition to the step show competition, the hip hop/pop rap duo, Tag Team, best known for their 1993 single, ‘Whoomp! (There It Is)” will take the stage. The pair shattered stereotypes in the early 1990s by demonstrating there is more to their music genre than inflammatory lyrics, thus gaining a diverse following.
Comedian Corey Rodrigues is a nationally touring college, club and corporate performer who was the winner of the Catch a New Rising Star, The Funniest Comic in New England and the 2017 Big Sky Comedy Festival.
“I’ve never been to a step show where there is also a comedian and hip hop act along with the emcees and teams who are competing,” said Cunningham. “It’s a special part of Homecoming.”
At the event, winners of the student Homecoming competition called Thundercup will also be announced and prizes awarded.
The Homecoming Step Show is free and open to the public.