Homecoming kickoff: all-out step battle of the residence halls

Mark Robinson
Staff writer

VCU’s Homecoming festivities officially commenced Monday evening, at the Siegel Center, where students trickled into the arena to witness the Rockin’ and Stompin’ Residential Hall Stepoff presented by the Homecoming Committee.

Though lack of participation may have hampered the event – only two out of the 10 residential halls were actually represented – students still felt like they got their money’s worth.

“It was live,” sophomore Bryonna Davis said.

Freshman Tiffany Barrie agreed. “It was good – better than a night in the dorm.”

DJ Bones manned the ones and twos and kept the show moving during the intermission periods, of which there were several.  His accomplice, Wayne Bowser, emceed, aiding the patchy format with a sense of humor and a few dance moves.

The show opened up with the RA step exhibition, which turned out more like a dance session due to an apparent lack of stepping experience.

Sophomore Sajan Moktan, a biology major, was happy to take part in the exhibition. “Honestly when we found out that we were kicking off the Homecoming, me and my team felt really honored and we just had fun with it.”

The group’s routine included dance favorites like Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Jump on It” and New Boyz’s “You’re a Jerk.”

A separate competition that featured members from the 16 Homecoming spirit teams took place during the breaks between the step team performances. Two groups of competitors were given 30 seconds each to imitate an ’80s rocker – the crowd response determined who would move on to the final round.

A slew of air guitarists, and one Vanilla Ice impersonator,that found himself in the wrong decade, gave it their all.

Kyle, a spunky air guitarist representing the Notochords, was eventually awarded first place by the crowd for his efforts.

Rhoads Hall’s step team stormed the stage with the intention of taking the top spot. Their routine, which lasted 10 minutes, ended with them parading off the stage to Wale’s verse of the Waka Flocka Flame song “No Hands,” perhaps an allusion to the artist’s eminent performance scheduled for Friday in the very same Siegel Center.

Johnson Hall’s step team cast themselves in the underdog role and came into the performance with something to prove.

Freshman Kiana Grant volunteered to join Johnson’s squad to prove the doubters wrong. “I want to prove that Johnson can win,” she said. “We’ve all been working really hard to make this the year.”

Johnson Hall took a narrative approach and staged their performance as a bedtime story turned nightmare. They crawled onto the stage clad in ripped clothes and zombie makeup. Johnson’s performance included many features by individual performers and garnered a comparable crowd response to Rhoads’.

The panel of judges comprised of students from VCU’s Greek community ultimately rewarded Rhoads Hall first place in the competition. The honor comes with a free pizza party for the entire hall.