Values Expressed In Foot Stomping Cheers- Part V: Dancing (with editorial comments and examples)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part V of a five part pancocojams series that explores the values that are expressed in particular foot stomping cheers.

This post provides my editorial comments about and showcases ten examples of foot stomping cheers whose words largely refer to dancing.

Click the "values foot stomping cheers" tag for more posts in this pancocojams series.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, socio-cultural, and recreational purposes.

All content remains with their owners.

Thanks to all those who contributed examples that are included in this post.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/an-overview-of-foot-stomping-cheers.html for Part I of a three part pancocojams series on foot stomping cheers.

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list.html for Part I of a five part alphabetical listing of foot stomping cheers.

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GENERAL OVERVIEW ABOUT FOOT STOMPING CHEERS [slightly revised 8/25/2917]
Foot stomping cheers are recreational compositions that originated with African Americans girls pretending to be cheerleaders in front of pretend audiences. These foot stomping cheers were (are?) usually performed by girls, particularly by working class African American girls ages around 5-12 years. The earliest demographic information about these types of cheers that I've found so far is the late 1970s (Washington D.C. and Atlantic City, New Jersey).

"Foot stomping cheers" are also called "cheers" or "steps".

Foot stomping cheer compositions have a distinctive call & response textual structure that I've termed "group/consecutive soloists". That term emphasizes the fact that these cheers traditionally begin with the group voice, and then the soloist's voice, and these cheers always immediately begin again from the beginning, repeating multiple times until every member of the group has had an equal length turn as the soloist. These chanted words are accompanied by a metronome type synchronized choreographed routine that is made up of bass sounding foot stomps alternating with (individual) hand claps (or sometimes body pats). The word "metronome" is purposely used because the cheer's movement routine is performed without stopping throughout each iteration of the cheer. If someone "messes up the beat" by forgetting a word of the cheer or missing the beat in the movement routine, the cheer must begin again from the beginning.

The values that I've identified in foot stomping cheers and showcased in separate posts in this series are "self-confidence", "physical attractiveness", "sexiness/romantic relationship", "toughness/confrontational language", and dancing/stepping skills. Most of these values are interrelated, but are discussed separately to allow space to showcase selected cheer examples of each value.

As of the date of this publication, I've only found on example of foot stomping cheers that includes profanity other than the mildly profane word "ass". The only two examples of foot stomping cheers that I've found that could be said to refer to race or ethnicity are one example that includes what is commonly known as "the n word" (That example represented that word by the letter "n" followed by randomly selected keyboard symbols) and one example that refers to skin color by the soloist referring to herself as "this light skin chick" (in an example of "Hollywood Swinging").

As of this date, I haven't found any examples of foot stomping cheers that refer politics (including mention of any President's name), religion, race/ethnicity, national names or other geographical places except for city or neighborhood references, or historical events. Furthermore, few (pre-2000) examples of foot stomping cheers refer to sports (such as basketball or football, including any sports related activity such as making a basket or scoring a touchdown).

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Part IV: FOOT STOMPING CHEERS THAT REFER TO DANCING
This category is probably the one that is least often mentioned in the few published descriptions of foot stomping cheers that I've found as of this date.* Dance style foot stomping cheers that I have found appear to include far fewer self-bragging or insulting content. Instead, the purpose of these cheers- to provide opportunities to show off the girls' dancing (and "foot stomping") skills, is actually the underlying purpose of all foot stomping cheers.

The main difference between this sub-set of foot stomping cheers and other ones is that the most of the words of these cheers directly mention a dance or (usually several (then) popular R&B/Hip Hop and/or Reggae dances. Dance style foot stomping cheers may also mention once popular old school dances.

*The earliest published commentary about foot stomping cheers ("steps"), that I've found is record notes for Old Mother Hippletoe, Rural and Urban Children's Songs; http://www.newworldrecords.org/liner_notes/80291.pdf; (vinyl record, 1978); Barbara Borum and other Washington, D.C., schoolgirls, vocals; Cheerleading; Band 3; Recorded 1976 in Washington, D.C., by Kate Rinzler. The Mother Hippletoe record notes written by Kate Rinzler refers to "foot stomping cheers" ("steps") as "cheerleading" and describes that recreational activity this way:
"Unlike the more communal games, neighborhood cheerleading as performed by girls in Washington, D.C., requires rehearsal and is often dominated by a single dynamic girl who solicits recruits and kicks out slackers. Girls practice by themselves, best friends cheer together, groups proliferate, and everyone who wants to gets into the act.

In 1973-75, fieldwork for the Festival of American Folklife revealed cheerleading girls taking turns doing a dance step or a simple gymnastic trick. In 1976, perhaps because of the popularity on television of the Olympic Games, there was a sudden citywide interest in gymnastic pyrotechnics: complete frontward and sideward splits, forward and backward flips, and cartwheels ending in jumped splits.

The texts of the cheers suit the girls' growing sense of attractiveness, group solidarity, and allegiance to school and boyfriend. They also attest to their knowledge and misinformation about forbidden subjects —inebriation, aggression, sexuality—and to their interest in the heroes and heroines of movies that exploit these subjects."
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As of this date, other than these record notes, I haven't observed any foot stomping cheers sessions or read any accounts of girls doing foot stomping cheers (steps) while incorporating "simple gymnastic tricks" with dance moves.

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THREE VIDEOS EXAMPLES OF PERFORMANCE MOVEMENTS THAT ARE SIMILAR TO FOOT STOMPING CHEERS [added August 29, 2017]
Unfortunately, I've found very few video examples on YouTube or elsewhere of foot stomping cheers. For those who have no idea what "foot stomping" looks like, videos of stepping are the most readily available video examples, since basic forms of stepping are very similar to foot stomping. Here's a video of a girl demonstrating the performance art of "steppin":

Video Example #1: step



swtytwty9988

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Video Example #2: Sesame Street - Girls clap out a song about K



Posted by wattamack4, July 11, 2007
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This cheer has the same lyric structure & a very similar performance activity as the footstomping cheer entitled "L.O.V.E". The words to this Sesame Street cheer and the words to examples of "L.O.V.E." (which is featured in Part III of this pancocojams series on Values In Foot Stomping Cheers https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/08/values-expressed-in-foot-stomping_40.html. The tune for the jingle that the girls chant is exactly the same as the tune for "L.O.V.E". However, "L.O.V.E." is the only foot stomping cheer that I've found that uses that foot tapping to the front and side type of movement. Also, while there are some foot stomping cheers where girls stand in more than one horizontal line, that isn't the formation for most of these types of cheers - and I've never seen a girl stand out in front as the leader of the cheer like it is shown in this video. Furthermore, unlike the chanting in that video, the second iteration of that cheer wouldn't have repeated the name of the first soloist, but would the new soloist would have chanted her name or nickname.

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Sesame Street - 7 girls slide



sesamestreet66 Published on Nov 20, 2007

Seven girls dance to a chant about the number seven
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This video shows a group of girls "chanting" while performing an alternating hand clap and foot stomping routine which is similar to foot stomping cheers, the girls who I observed doing these types of cheers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania didn't lift their arms high like the girls in the video do when they clap their hands.

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TEN EXAMPLES OF FOOT STOMPING CHEERS THAT REFER TO DANCING
(given in alphabetical order)

These examples aren't meant to be all of the examples of in this categories that I've collected or found as of this date.

EXAMPLE #1
A BULLDOG
Group: Ah bull dog.
Ah bull dog.
Ah bull dog.
Ah bull dog.
Soloist #1: My name is Kayla.
Group: Ah bulldog.
Soloist #1: And I’m gonna show you how to work that bulldog.
Group: Ah bulldog.
Soloist #1: First you roll it.
Control it.
Then you bounce it.
Announce it.
Then you pop it.
Don’t stop it.
Then you creep it.
Don’t sleep it. (or “Don’t weep it”.)
Then you stop,
Think,
A ring a ding ding.

Repeat the exact same cheer with the next soloist. Continue with this pattern until every member of the group has had one turn as soloist.
- Jasmine, Indonesia, Brittany, Kayla, Felicia, & Tiara (African American females ages 9-12 years), Alafia Children’s Ensemble, Braddock, Pennsylvania, Collected by Azizi Powell 10/2000

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EXAMPLE #2
AT THE PLAYGROUND
All: I’ve fallen.
I can‘t get up.
I’ve fallen
And I can‘t get up.
Smack, Jack!
Homie don’t play that.
Kick off your shoes [or "Put up your dukes"]
and let’s get loose!
We kick our beat at the playground. playground
You know.
All except the soloist:
Bust it "T", Bust it "T", Bust it! [Use first initial of the soloist’s name or nickname]
Swing it "T", Swing it "T", Swing it!
Kick it, "T", Kick it "T", Kick it!
She kicks her beat at the playground,
you know, playground.
- African American girls ages 7-12 years old; Lillian Taylor Camp; Pittsburgh, PA, early
1990s; collected by T.M.P. ; transcribed from audio tape by Azizi Powell, 1996
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This cheer text was corrected on June 11, 2017 to add missing words (as per my daughter T.M.P who collected it from that summer camp attendees.

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EXAMPLE #3
CANDY GIRL
All: Candy Girl.
All my world.
Look so sweet.
Special treat.
Soloist #1: This is the way we do the Bounce.
Candy Girl.
Group: Do the Bounce. Do the Bounce.
Soloist #1: All my world.
Group: Do the Bounce. Do the Bounce.
Soloist #1: Look so sweet.
Group: Do the Bounce. Do the Bounce.
Soloist #1: Special treat
Group: Do the Bounce. Do the Bounce.
All: Candy Girl.
All my world.
Look so sweet.
Special treat.
Soloist #2: This is the way we do the Snake.
Candy Girl.
Group: Do the Snake Do the Snake.
Soloist #2: All my world.
Group: Do the Snake. Do the Snake.
Soloist #2: Look so sweet.
Group: Do the Snake. Do the Snake.
--T.M.P.(African American female; memories of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the mid 1980s; audio recording 1992; In 2000 I observed members of Braddock, Pennsylvania's chapter of Alafia Children’s Ensemble perform this cheer with the exact same beat, and tune, and the same words except for then popular R&B/Hip Hop dances)

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EXAMPLE #4
CANDY GIRL (Version #2)
does anybody know candy girl? little girls i know still play it!

candy girl, oh my world
look so sweet, special treat
this is the way you do the "wop"(or the "snake", or whatever dance is cute that u know the name of)
candy girl, say wop,wop
oh my world, say wop, wop
look so sweet, say wop,wop
special treat, say wop,wop(and then move on to the next dance)
-bitsy196 (African American female, Los Angeles, California); http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=4123&page=4; “remember when?”; 6-25-2003 [no location given];
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The participants in this online discussion thread were young adult Black women who were members of various historically Black Greek lettered sororities.

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EXAMPLE #5
DISCO
Disco 2x [repeat two times]
Reeses pieces reeses my pieces (say sombodies name) what you ganna do when they come for you (the person who's name was said says) i'm gonna step aside disco roll my eyes disco stomp my feet disco and do the hilltoe ah ha and do the hilltoe.
-Ciera S.; (African American girl), 10 years old; collected by Azizi Powell, Pittsburgh, PA); 5/16/06

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EXAMPLE #6
DO IT! DO IT!
All: Do it! Do it!
Do it! Do it!
(Now) Freeze!
Now stop and let the first row kick it!

(The girls in the first row recite the next lines, the girls in the 2nd row stand in place in an agreed upon stance)

First Row: With the “Drop Top”
(All the girls in this row do their own version of this R&B dance)

Second Row: Do it! Do it!
(All the girls in the second row do their version of the same dance along with the girls in the first row. This imitative movement repeats while saying that phrase after each dance step)

First Row: And the “Roll Your Body”
Second Row: Do it! Do it!
First Row: Do “The Butterfly”
Second Row: Do it! Do it!
First Row: Bust “The stop”
Second Row: Do it! Do it!
First Row: Shake your rump.
Group: Do it! Do it!
Do it! Do it!
Freeze!
Now stop and let the second row kick it!

(The same pattern as above, with some of the same dances and some different dances-“The Pop”, “The Crybaby”, “The Rodeo”)
-African American girls, 8-10 years old, Alafia Children’s Ensemble (Braddock, Pennsylvania), 1998; collected by Azizi Powell, 1998

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EXAMPLE #7
ELEVATE YOUR MIND
elevate your mind
get yourself together
when i count to 3
do the "rock" with me...
I said a 1, 2, 3 do the "rock" with me...

repeat that last line 2 times then repeat the entire cheer until everyone puts a “dance” in…
-AKA2D '91 (no location given); retrieved on 12/29.2009; http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=4123&page=2 “remember when”

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EXAMPLE #8
FLY GIRL
Group: Fly girl one.
Fly girl two.
Pump it up, Shavona
Just like you do.
Soloist #1: My name is Shavona.
Group: Yeah.
Soloist #1: And I’m a fly girl.
Group: Yeah.
Soloist #1: I know karate.
And I got the body [pronounced “boh-day”to rhyme with “karate]
All you got to do
is put a move in the groove.
You jump side to side.
Front to back.
And break it down with the
“Cabbage Patch”
- African American girls, around ages 6-12 years, Lillian Taylor Camp, Pittsburgh, PA. 1989-1992

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EXAMPLE #9
ON THE LIST
Group: On the List
On, on the list
I saida on the list
On, on the list
Soloist #1: Well, Linda is my name
and I’m first on the list
and I got a little story
that goes like this.
One or more persons in the group says: "Kick it!"
Group & Soloist: Put your hand up in the air
like ah Coca Cola and ah Root Beer!
Kick off your shoes
and relax your feet
and move your body
to Linda’s beat. (soloist #1 says “to MY beat”)
(The soloist and group perform beat pattern #2 (see below) and then the entire chant begins again with the next soloist)
-TMP, mid 1980s Pittsburgh, PA, transcribed from audio tape in 1996 by Azizi Powell

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TINGALING A LING
Entire Group -Tingaling A Ling
School bells ring
Boolicka, Boolicka
1st Soloist - And (soloist's name or nickname) sings.
(Soloist does a brief step move or dance move).

The cheer then repeats from the beginning with the next pre-selected soloist who says her name/nickname and does a different step or dance move in the same brief length of time. This continues until every member of the group has had one turn as the soloist.
- T.M.P, mid 1980s, transcribed by Azizi Powell from casette tape in 1996
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The cheer "Tingalingaling" has its source in Shabba Rank's Dancehall song with that title.

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This concludes this five part series on values expressed in foot stomping cheers.

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