As one of the closing events for the 2009 Pan-Afrikan Week, the National Pan-Hellenic Council here on campus hosted the step show competition in Stewart Theatre this past Friday. Even though the show had its share of technical difficulties and a trip of the fire alarm, it did not dampen the fun and excitement of many who attended the event.

Marquis McCullough, a junior in science education, opened up the show singing the Black National Anthem. He was followed by a middle school student group named HOPE who showed off some of their stepping moves. The crowd was rather impressed with what the young group of students did and many cheered them on as they stepped including Candace Holston, a senior in psychology.

“I’m happy that they brought in the youth to showcase their talent,” she said. After the two preliminary acts, it was time to get to the competition. The first organization to come up was the Omega Iota Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. from UNC-Chapel Hill. The theme of its performance was boot camp with a twist. The performance wowed the crowd and would go on to be the first of many dazzling performances that would leave the audience in awe and at times speechless.

The next organization to take the stage was the Kappa Lambda Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. The finale of its performance (in a synchronized moves, one member jumped in and out of another’s legs) literally had the audience jumping out of their seats.

The third organization that was next up to perform was the Eta Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. The theme of this fraternity’s performance followed that of last year’s most successful movie, The Dark Knight. However, in the middle of the performance, because of all of the excess smoke coming from the smoke machine, the fire alarms went off forcing everyone in Talley at that time to evacuate the building causing a 15-20 minute delay of the show.

In between setting up for the next act (the Alphas would perform towards the end to finish their performance), the members of the audience kept themselves entertained by singing and dancing to the songs played by the event DJ.

The Epsilon Beta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi from Fayetteville State University performed after the show was started up again. Its theme in the beginning of the act was dancing in the rain.

With a Bourne Identity/secret agent theme, the Xi Zeta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. had the performance and the storyline/plot, some would say, that commanded the attention of the crowd throughout their act.

The ladies of the Mu Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. shortly followed with their robotic-themed performance whose concluding number left many in the audience fascinated and others dumbfounded. Since they were not able to finish earlier, the Alphas were the last group to perform.

While the judges were adding up the scores to determine the winners, there was a dance contest held between N.C. State students and the middle school students that proved to be quite entertaining and gave everyone some laughs. Afterwards, the winners were announced. For the sororities, the Mu Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. won first place and was awarded $1,000 and the Omega Iota Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. won second place and were awarded $500.

As for the fraternities, the Eta Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. won first place and second place went to the Xi Zeta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. Both fraternities were awarded the same amount of prize as the sororities who had placed first and second respectively.

When asked what she thought about the step show Miriam Featherstone, a senior in psychology, said “since this is my last year here at N.C. State, it was very good to see that the step show went well and a good way to end Pan-Afrikan Week.”