Amongst crimson canes, gold boots,

“skee-wees” and “oo-oops,” spectators have been crowding into

Diddle Arena each homecoming for the National PanHellenic Council

(NPHC) step show.

Members of the NPHC sororities and

fraternities, also called the “Divine Nine,” anticipate the event

to showcase uniformity, precision and creativity.

Cincinnati junior Keion Tillman, a

member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, will perform for the first

time in the show in Diddle Arena at 7 p.m. on Oct. 22.

Tillman said he can’t wait to be in

front of the crowd.

“I look forward to anything that’s

got me performing,” he said.

Being new to the show, Tillman and

his fraternity brothers put in long hours and lots of energy to

create a good routine.

Most teams start preparing in the

summer. Kappa Alpha Psi started practicing in mid-June.

“This is everybody’s first year

stepping so we didn’t know the difficulties,” he said. “It’s a big

show and the first time people have seen Kappa step in about two

years.”

Louisville senior Regina Garr is

looking forward to the show for a totally different reason than she

was last year.

Garr, a member of Delta Sigma Theta

sorority, served as the chairperson for the step show committee

this year.

The committee began planning at the

end of last spring, which included setting the date, picking a

host, and creating a theme.

“We put the show together from A to

Z,” Garr said. “It’s a lot of work that leads to one successful

show.”

This year’s theme is “Old School v.

New School: Confessions of Dangerous Steppers.”

Garr said the group chose the theme

because there will be more alumni here to celebrate their

organizations’ anniversaries and they believed everyone has a good

chance of winning.

“WKU has one of the biggest step

shows in Kentucky,” she said. 

The committee picked Ron G from Last

Comic Standing to host the show after watching numerous comedians

on YouTube.

They wanted a host that would keep

people laughing and get the crowd involved.

Garr said the committee has a few

different surprises in store this year.

“Everyone will just have to come to

see what new and exciting things will be done in this year’s show,”

she said.

The winning sorority and fraternity

will take home a trophy, cash prize and the most-coveted bragging

rights.

Louisville junior Italy Hester, a

member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority, said her sorority is determined

to win the show.

“We set the bar high at the yard

show, so we have to come hard during the step show,” Hester

said.

The yard show, held at the beginning

of the fall semester, served as a preview for the homecoming step

show.

Tillman said his fraternity will try

not to break any canes during this year’s show.

“People look forward to that because

we’re the only ones that step with canes,” he said.

Although Garr isn’t stepping with

her sorority sisters this year, she said it will mean a lot if they

win.

Last year, it was a close call

between Delta Sigma Theta sorority and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority

for the throne.

“Since we lost by one point last

year, it’ll mean that we still have our fire behind us as divas,”

Garr said. “I’m going to celebrate and be extremely

happy.”

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15

at the door. Doors open at 6 p.m.