This pancocojams post presents videos of and my comments about certain cheers that are performed in styles that are the same as or adaptations of what I've termed "foot stomping cheers".
Links to the words for most of these featured cheers are given below. However, words for two examples of "Fly Girl" and one example of "Super Fly Girl" are given below.
Addendum #1 showcases four vintage clips from the Sesame Street television series which I believe were patterned after historically Black Greek letter fraternity or sorority stepping or foot stomping cheer movements, but not the words to specific step chants or foot stomping cheers. Note: Foot stomping cheer movements are very similar to some stepping movements.
For comparison purposes, Addendum #2 to this post showcases a video example of a cheerleader "foot stomp" that I believe is an adaptation of foot stomping cheers.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and all those who published these videos on YouTube.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/an-overview-of-foot-stomping-cheers.html for a multi-part pancocojams post on foot stomping cheers.
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list.html for a multi-part pancocojams post that presents alphabetized text (word only) examples of these five featured foot stomping cheers and a number of other foot stomping cheers.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT FOOT STOMPING CHEERS
"Foot stomping cheers" is the term that I coined in 2000 for a relatively new category of children's recreational play that involves chanting and choreographed foot and hand clapping movements. I coined the term "foot stomping cheers" to distinguish examples of that category from other cheerleader cheers or from historically Black Greek letter fraternity/sorority step chants. However, from my direct collection and from my online collection, it appears that these examples are usually called "cheers" or "steps".
In my observations (in mostly African American neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and some surrounding cities from the mid 1980s to around 2008), foot stomping cheers were performed by mostly African American girls ages around 6 to 12 years of age.
I've also "collected" online examples of foot stomping cheers, including those that were posted to my no longer active cocojams.com website and have also read some examples of those cheers in certain books on African American culture. Those off-line published examples of what I refer to as "foot stomping cheers" were usually either categorized as "playground rhymes" or mis-categorized as "hand clap rhymes". These online and off-line examples of these cheers came from mostly African Americans throughout the United States from the 1990s to early 2000s.
I stopped directly collecting foot stomping cheers in 2008 and therefore don't know if any foot stomping cheers are still being performed anywhere. However, this pancocojams post documents that mostly adapted forms of certain foot stomping cheers were being chanted and performed as of the date of these examples, usually with accompanying movements that differed from the movements that I had previously documented as being characteristic of foot stomping cheers.
Foot stomping cheers are composed using a variant form of call & response that I've termed "group/consecutive soloists". Usually, the group voice (often without the first soloist) is heard first. The soloist then responds to the group. This pattern continues throughout the cheer with the soloist having a short portion- either words and movements or movements only. The group may or may not chant again before the cheer begins again from the beginning with a new soloist. This pattern continues until every member of the group has had one equal (same amount of time) turn as the soloist.
My observations was that the order of soloist is usually determined before the cheer begins, often with girls trying to be the first to call out "first", "second", "third" etc.
The foot stomping cheers that I observed were performed by girls who stand in semi-circles, or in lines (usually horizontal lines). However, some examples that I've collected online also indicate that foot stomping cheers can be performed by girls standing in a circle with the soloist in the middle.
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I've classified foot stomping cheers into the following sub-categories, or combinations of those categories, largely based on the words of those cheers:
1. Introduce yourself cheers
2. Dance style cheers
3. Confrontational cheers
4. Self-bragging cheers
While the words to foot stomping cheers are important, the most important thing in the performance of foot stomping cheers is keeping the beat. Foot stomping is performed in a metronome like manner throughout the entire cheer. Once the beat starts, with very few exceptions, the exact same beat continues without any pauses until the end of the cheer.
The idea of the metronome-like beat pattern for foot stomping cheers can best be demonstrated by the Pop group Queen's 1977 hit song "We Will Rock You" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEcCYpbYMJ4
The following beat patterns were (are?) standard for foot stomping cheers: "stomp clap, stomp stomp clap" or "stomp stomp clap, stomp stomp clap". Either one of these beat patterns is used for a particular cheer and that cheer pattern is continued without stopping throughout the entire cheer.
The "stomp" portion of this pattern is made by hitting the foot hard on the ground or the floor to make a bass sound. The "clap" portion of the cheer was made by girls clapping their own hands (individual hand claps). In some cheers, girls alternated body pats with stomps. Hands could be clapped in front of a girl, between her legs, or less often - in my experience, over her head.
Drama (role playing) is an important part of chanting foot stomping cheers, particularly when chanting cheers in the sub-categories that I've termed "confrontational cheers" and "self-bragging" cheers. In confrontational cheers the girls are pretending to have disdain for and aggressive stance toward their (imaginary, unnamed) opponent. These cheer performances fail if the stompers/chanters don't have "attitude" (i.e. How they say the cheer (intonation), their facial expressions, their moves and body gestures are supposed to support and reinforce the word of the cheer.
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Some of the cheers that are featured in this post are (or were) actually cheers that are/were informally performed by (mostly African American) girls as young as 5 years old to around 12 years old pretending to be cheerleaders. In some cases, the performance style, and/or the word patterns and tunes of some of these featured cheers were adapted and were/are performed by community, middle school, or high school cheerleader squads. In addition, some of these cheers (in their adapted forms) were featured in certain television and movie series.
[Update: This comment is from a 2021 pancocojams post entitled "What Does "Don't Take No Jive" REALLY Means In Children's Cheers & The Florida Gator's Chant" https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/what-does-dont-take-no-jive-means-in.html ]
Around 2007 I stopped collecting children's rhymes and
cheers offline (through observation and directly asking children about their
recreational activities). However, I'm still do online searching for these
rhymes and cheers. As a result of my online searching, my sense is that girls
don't perform foot stomping cheers anymore. If that's the case, one reason for
the demise of foot stomping cheers is that that informal recreational activity
was started in imitation of actual cheerleading. However, it has become easier
for Black American girls to join actual cheerleading squads and the structure
of foot stomping cheers (where every member of the group has to have an equal
time as the soloist) isn't compatible with actual cheerleading experiences. I
think that two other reasons for the demise of the informal recreational
activity I refer to as "foot stomping cheers" is the popularity of
Hip Hop majorette dance teams (such as the Dancing Dolls on the television
series Bring It!) and the existence of high school, middle school, and other
pre-university step teams.
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
These videos are given in no particular order. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
As a reminder, visit my multi-page compilation of text (word) examples of these cheers and other cheers, beginning with http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list.html [Numbers - C]. Links for the other posts in this compilation are given in that post and in each subsequent posts in that series.
Example #1: Shabooya !! {Dance on duh Table}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naw2tty2yic&ab_channel=iluzyoo
ilozyou, Apr 2, 2011
movie: bring it on all or nothing
-snip-
Update: March 12, 2021: The video clip that was showcased in this video is no longer available.
An earlier version of "Shabooya Roll Call" is featured in the 1996 American movie Get On The Bus. It's likely that Shabooya Roll Call came "from the streets:.
Notice that the three girls in the 2006 Bring It On: All Or Nothing movie clip take turns being the soloist while they do a foot stomping routine (although I consider that routine's movements exaggerated. Every member of the group taking one equal length turn being the soloist is a distinctive characteristic of foot stomping cheers that I refer to as "consecutive soloists".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/the-right-rhyming-pattern-for-shabooya.html for a pancocojams post about "Shabooya Roll Call". That post includes the words to that cheer.
Also, click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWLdsqhYVxM "Bring It On (1/10) Movie CLIP - We Are Cheerleaders! (2000)" for a clip from the first movie in the Bring It On cheerleader series. I believe that the concept (but not the words or the movements) of this clip is based on introduce yourself (Cheerleader Roll Call" foot stomp cheers. Both "Introduce Yourself" and "Cheerleader Roll Call" are names of cheers that I collected from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area and elsewhere.
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Example #2: Shaw Cheerleaders "Move Girl"
Shaw High School Cheerleaders Before the game hype
Brandon Thurman, Published on Jan 9, 2011
-snip-
"Move Girl" is a dance style foot stomping cheer.
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Example #3: playing gigalo at cheer camp
bby209angl, Published on Aug 3, 2010
this was my first time playing it was fun :)
-snip-
"Gigalo" ("Jigalo") is another example of a dance style foot stomping cheer that has been adapted as a children's camp song.
From watching multiple videos of this Gigalo (also spelled "Jigalow"), it appears foot stomping is "optional" for some people who chant/sing this "song". Yet, I definitely recall seeing girls do foot stomps alternating with (individual) hand claps while chanting versions of Gigalo in the late 1980s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Notice the group/consecutive soloists call & response pattern of Gigalo's words
"Gigalo" reinforces my theory that these dance style foot stomping cheers evolved from "show me your motion" circle games with one person in the middle who purposely or randomly chooses a new middle person at the "end" of each iteration of the game song.
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Example #4: Hula Hula! Who think she bad?
Naturalandthecity, Published on Dec 22, 2011
hula hula! Who think she bad?
-snip-
"Hula Hula" is a confrontational/introduce yourself foot stomping cheer.
"Hula Hula" was a popular foot stomping cheer in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region in the late 1980s and 1990s. I've collected examples of this cheer (with that title and different titles) from various cities throughout the United States.
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Example #5: POPCORN ON A TRAIN
Ashaletta Johnson, Published on May 14, 2011
-snip-
"Popcorn On A Train" is an example of a dance style foot stomping cheer.
Notice the group voice begins the cheer and each member of the group has one equal turn to show off her motion.
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Example #6: our cheer super fly girl
LABELmeCUTE, Uploaded on Jul 31, 2010
ok so heres another video from vegas i never got to upload i know its later but here it is,there were just cheering in the hall way in the circus circus hotel(excuse all of the popping lol)
from row.:Hakiyah,Haley
-snip-
"Super Fly Girl" cheer begins at .019 in this video.
I believe that the Westside Jaguars refers to a cheerleading squad from Los Angeles, California (Google Search, Facebook). This video appears to have been filmed during a cheerleading practice while on a road trip to Las Vegas.
Notice that there's no foot stomping in this cheer performance. However, the group/consecutive soloist elements still remain in the textual version of this portion of their cheer performance:
Lead- Who wants to be a super fly girl
Ready
Group- Okay
Group- Who wants to be a superfly girl
Soloist 1 (Hakiyah) - I do I do I do
My name is Hakiyah. I’m a super fly girl
I roll with the Jaguars all around the world
Cause I can float like a butterfly
Sting like a bee
That’s why they call me Kiyah.
[Girl does a dance or acrobatic movement like a split]
Hakiyah - Go Kiyah. Go Kiyah go.
Group- Go Kiyah. Go Kiyah go.
[The rest of the group does the same movements that Kiyah just did. Kiyah stands and watches them.
Foot stomping cheers were originally performed by girls pretending to be cheerleaders in front of imaginary audiences. In contrast, this video shows an actual cheerleading squad* performing a version of "Fly Girl" (and other cheers). Judging from the examples of this cheer that I've found online, "Fly Girl" [not "Super Fly Girl"] appears to have been a rather widely known foot stomping cheer.
"Fly Girl" is an introduce yourself foot stomping cheer. All versions of "Fly Girl", including the "Super Fly Girl" adaptation that is given above are introduce yourself cheers which are combined with Self-bragging elements.
FLY GIRL (Version #1)
Group: Fly girl one.
Fly girl two
Pump it up, Teresa,
Just like you do (or, “Show me what you do”)
Soloist #1: “Oh” (or “Well”) My name is Teresa
Group: What?
Soloist #1: And I’m a fly girl.
Group: What?
Soloist #1: It takes a lot of men
To rock my world.
‘Cause I can fly like a butterfly,
Sting like a bee.
And that’s why they call me
SEXY.
Repeat the cheer from the beginning with the next soloist. Replace the former soloist’s name or nickname with the name or nickname of the new soloist. Continue until every one has had one turn as soloist.
--Collected by Azizi Powell, African American female (T.M.P.) audio recorded in 1992 (memories of the mid 1980s)
Other examples of "Fly Girl" also includes dance style cheer elements:
FLY GIRL (Version #2)
Group: Fly girl one.
Fly girl two.
Pump it up. Ayesha.
Just like you do.
Soloist #1: My name is Ayesha.
Group: What?
Soloist #1: (And) I’m a fly girl.
Group: What?
Soloist #1: I’m rough and tough
And I can strut my stuff.
Cause I can sway.
Group: She can sway.
Soloist #1: And I can even do the go go reggae.
Let it flow
Group: She can even do the go go reggae.
Let it flow.
Repeat the cheer from the beginning with the next soloist who substitutes the name of a current dance step, always placing the word reggae after the dance name. Continue until every group member has had one turn as soloist.
- African American girls; age 10 years {Lillian Taylor Summer Camp, Kinsley Association), Pittsburgh, PA 1992)
-snip-
Other examples of "Fly Girl" can be found at http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list_40.html "Foot Stomping Cheers Alphabetical List (D- G)"
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/06/muhammad-alis-float-like-butterfly.htm "Muhammad Ali's "Float Like A Butterfly Sting Like A Bee" Line & Its Use In "Fly Girl" Foot Stomping Cheers" for one of pancocojams' posts about "Fly Girl" foot stomping cheers.
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Example #7: Show us how you get down
Girl Scout Troop 2780, Published on Oct 22, 2015
Girl Scout Songs sung by Troop 2780
"Show us how you get down"
This is a song that teaches about the different levels each girl scout can get to become
Caller calls out...
Hey Daisies
Crowd Answers: Yeah...
Hey Daisies
Crowd Answers: Yeah...
Show us how you get down
Crowd Answers : No way
Show us how you get down
Crowd Answers: Okay
Stomp your feet and boogie to the beat and turn around and jump shake that body jump jump shake that body
Continue with
Hey Brownies,
Hey Juniors
Hey Cadettes
Hey Seniors
Hey Ambassadors
Hey Leaders
Hey Girl Scouts (two times)
-snip-
"Get Down" ["Show Us How You Get Down"} appears to have been a rather widely known foot stomping cheer (in the 1980s/1990s/to at least the early 2000s).
I'd categorize this foot stomping cheer as an introduce yourself/dance style cheer.
In this Girl Scout adaptation, only one girl serves as the soloist and the group doesn't perform any foot stomping alternating with (individual) hand clapping routine.
"Show Us How To Get Down" has also been adapted as a [children's] camp song. Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yw9XdG7FpY a video sound file with the words to that "song".
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ADDENDUM #1: Sesame Street Clips
Video Example #1: Sesame Street - 6 dance
Posted by wattamack4, June 23, 2007
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Video Example #2: Sesame Street - 7 girls slide
Posted by sesamestreet66, November 20, 2007
"Seven girls dance to a chant about the number seven"
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Video Example #3: Sesame Street - Three Girls clap a song about Vegetables
Posted by wattamack4, July 31, 2007
-snip-
The idea behind this cheer seems to me to be based on the handclap rhyme "Concentration". However, the movements routine that the girls do is the same as the movements used for many foot stomping cheers routines and stepping performances.
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Example #4: Sesame Street - Girls clap out a song about K
Posted by wattamack4, July 11, 2007
-snip-
This cheer has the same lyric structure and tune as the foot stomping cheer entitled "L.O.V.E", but the stomping/stepping routine isn't the same.
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ADDENDUM #2: Stomp Cheer
kmt122181, Published on Jul 14, 2008
-snip-
This video is an example of how some foot stomping cheer movements have been adapted by middle school and high school traditional cheerleading squads.
The standard foot stomping cheer beat patterns that I observed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (from the mid 1980s to 2008) were (depending on specific cheers) either "stomp clap, stomp stomp clap" or "stomp stomp clap, stomp stomp clap".
In contrast, here's a quote from that video:
Narrator: “the most difficult thing about this cheer is keeping the beat. You have to remember that it’s Stomp x stomp stomp x stomp stomp xx stomp stomp x"
-snip-
"x" = clap
Also, note that this is a unison cheer while foot stomping cheers are usually group/consecutive soloists (except for cheers like "Move Girl" and "Popcorn On A Train" where the soloists don't talk but perform a movement.)
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