Story, Video: The Eastview Steppers Are Knockin' At Your Door

While its popularity is growing, the tradition of stepping has yet to become a widespread activity among suburban high schools in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

But the students at know their steppers well.

"We get so much support from the whole school," step team member Bri Allen said. "They're good superfans."

Step is an African-American tradition in which the body is used as a rhythm instrument; footsteps, clapping, other body movements and spoken chants all become part of a step routine.

"The key to being a good stepper is ... you gotta have motivation and rhythm," said Eastview step coach Julian Hines, who helped found the team as an Eastview student in 2002.

While the Eastview steppers technically are a club, Hines' goal is to run the group more like a team, he said; while 40 members used to participate, Hines held auditions this year and narrowed the team to 14 students.

As more people of color move to the suburbs, step teams are increasing their presence in suburban high schools, Hines said; while step is more popular in Minneapolis and St. Paul schools, and Burnsville High School both have teams, he said.

Eastview's team starts practicing in October for the school's fall dance shows, then go into basketball season where they perform at games and pep fests; they also perform at the school's multicultural fair and go to to teach stepping to students there.

Hines hopes the team can at some point participate in step competitions, he said.

"It's exciting to see who can do what," he said. "It's very competitive sometimes ... It's awesome."

The Eastview steppers' first performance will be at the school's fall dance shows, scheduled for 6 and 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 6.