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Monday, June 6, 2022

Comparing Examples Of The "Introduce Yourself" Foot Stomping Cheers From The 1970s and the 1980s To The "Introduce Yourself" Cheer In 2006 Movie "Bring It On: All Or Nothing"



waveandsmile, Jan 4, 2007

introduce yourself NO WAY! introduce yourself OKAY! -snip- The words to this example of "Introduce Yourself" (combined with "Shabooya Roll Call") are given in this post.
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Edited by Azizi Powell This pancocojams post showcase a video clip of and the words for the "Introduce Yourself" cheer combined with the Shabooya Roll Call" cheer from the 2006 American cheerleader movie Bring It On All Or Nothing.
This post also presents some examples of that type of "Introduce Yourself" cheer which pre-date that 2006 cheerleader movie. The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and recreational purposes. 
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of the YouTube video that is embedded in this post. 
-snip- Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list_6.html for additional examples of "Introduce Yourself" foot stomping cheers **** EXAMPLES OF "INTRODUCE YOURSELF" CHEERS (prior to 2006) These cheers are given in chronological order.

Example #1 (an example from Atlantic City, New Jersey in the late 1970s)

NTRODUCE YOURSELF 
"Hey girl, hey you, introduce yourself. Introduce yourself."
Then each individual girl says a rhyme about themselves, like,
"My name is Joan (group says "check") I'm from AC ("check") I come to say ("check") Don't mess with me ("Check it out")
-Joan C. (White American female, Atlantic City, New Jersey, late 1970s; from an electronic message to Azizi Powell; 2/11/2007; In that email Joan C wrote that his was chanted by Black, Latino, and White girls at the Catholic High School in Atlantic City, New Jersey
-snip-
This is one of the earliest foot stomping cheers that I've come across. 

Joan C's recollection of this year from the "late 1970s" places it in a similar time frame as the Washington, D.C. cheers that were collected in 1976 by kate Rinzler and featured on the 1978 Mother Hippletoe. This cheer is also in the same time frame as the "Humpty Dumpty" cheer from New Orleans, Louisiana that is included in the 2016 book Yo Mama Mary Mack and Boudreaux and Thibodeaux: Louisiana Children's Folklore and Play"by Jeanne Pitre Soileau. 

Ironically, Joan C and I both blogged on Mudcat's online folk music discussion forum, but I didn't "know" her. I had shared some foot stomping examples on several Mudcat discussion threads, and Joan sent me this example. Prior to her sending me that example, I had no idea that she was from my hometown of Atlantic City, New Jersey.


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Example #2 (from memories of Elkhart Indiana in the late 1970s/early 1980s)

INTRODUCE YOURSELF ROLL CALL 
All: Chick – boom Ah Ah chick a boom roll call
First Person: Hey Sonji
Second Person: Yeah baby
First Person: Hey sonjie
Second Person: Yeah baby
First Person: Introduce your self
Second Person: Right on
First Person: Introduce your self
Second Person: Right on my name is sonji
First Person: Check
Second Person: I like to sing
First Person: Check
Second Person: And when I sing
First Person: Check
Second Person: I do my thing
All: OOOOHHHH roll call Chick a boom, ah ah chick a boom roll call

Then each person is “called” one at a time. They make up a rhyme about what they like and the cheer repeats itself {African American girls; Late 70’s – early 80’s Elkhart Indiana}
-Sonjala A. (African American female); collected by Azizi Powell, 3/15/2008

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Example #3 (from memories of the early/mid 1980s, no city or state given)

INTRODUCE YOURSELF 
Hey Serenity! Yeah!
Hey Serenity! Yeah!
Introduce yourself! I'll Try!
Introduce yourself! Allright!
My name serenity! Yeah!
Im 24! Yeah!
My reputation is so much more! Yeah!
So when you see me! Yeah!
Just step aside! Yeah!
Cause serenity! Yeah!
Don't take no Jive! 2 3 4.....Hey (whose next) Introduce yourself.
- serenity_24 (no location given); http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=4123&page=2  12-29-2000, “remember when”
-snip-
The portion of this cheer that begins with the line "so when you see me...just step aside" is the same as the words in the "Hula Hula" foot stomping cheer. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list_6.html  for examples of those cheers. 

-snip-
All of the participants in that discussion thread were members of historically Black Greek letter sororities.
-snip-
Notice that Serenity gave her age as 24 years old in 2000 when she wrote that cheer in that "remember when" discussion thread. That means that Serenity was born in 1976. My  research suggests that the girls who performed these types of cheers were ages 7-12 years old. Therefore, it's likely that Serenity remembers this cheer from the early 1980s or the mid 1980s.  

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Example #4 (an example from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the mid 1980s)

INTRODUCE YOURSELF
Group: Hey, Shaquala!
Soloist #1: Yo! *
Group: Innn-TRO-duce yourself.
Soloist #1: No way.
Group: Innn-TRO-duce yourself.
Soloist #1: Okay
My name is Shaquala.
Group: Hey! Hey!
Soloist #1:They call me Quala.
Group: Hey! Hey!
Soloist #1: My sign is Aries.
Group: Hey! Hey!
Soloist #1: I like to dance.
Group: Hey! Hey!
Soloist #1: I wanna be a dancer for the rest of my life.
-Tazi M Powell (African American female, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Directions: Repeat the entire cheer from the beginning with the next soloist. Each soloist substitutes her first name or nickname and provides information in the same categories such as her first name, her nickname, her astrological sun sign, what she likes to do. The cheer continues from the beginning until every member of the group has had one turn as soloist.

* When the African American interjection "Yo!" was dropped from usage in the late 1980s, the soloist's part was changed to “What?”; These words were spoken in a scornful "what are you bothering me for" tone, and not in a questioning manner.

** The word "introduce" was elongated so that it was pronounced "innn-TRO-duce".
-snip-
The second portion of this cheer (when the soloist actually complies with the group's command to introduce herself) is very similar to portions of the "Jump In Jump Out Introduce Yourself" singing game/cheers. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/06/videos-text-only-examples-of-jump-in.html 
for a pancocojams post about those singing games/cheers.

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WORDS TO "INTRODUCE YOURSELF/SHABOOYA ROLL CALL" THAT ARE CHANTED IN THE 2006 MOVIE "BRING IT ON: ALL OR NOTHING"

"Britney:

Hey Amber.

Amber:
Hey what?

Everybody:
Introduce yourself!

Amber:
No way!

Everybody:
Introduce yourself!

Amber:
OK. 1,2,3,4,5, my name is Amber and I say "hi". 6,7,8,9,10, back it up and meet my friend. Hey Winnie!

Winnie:
Hey what?

Everybody:
Introduce yourself!

Winnie:
No way!

Everybody:
Introduce yourself.

Winnie:
OK. 1,2,3,4,5, my name is Winnie and I say "hi". 6,7,8,9,10, back it up and meet my friend. Hey Britney.

Britney:
Hey what?

Everybody:
Introduce yourself!

Britney:
No way.

Everybody:
Introduce yourself!

Britney:
OK. Sha boo ya, sha sha sha boo ya, roll call. My name is Britney. I cheer so strong. And when I shake it, you better bring it on. Sha boo ya, sha sha sha boo ya, break it down now.

Sierra:
I'm Sierra! And.

[Sierra quits when she realized they've stopped]"


from https://www.quotes.net/mquote/981987
-snip-
The "12345" portion of this cheer is very similar to the foot stomping cheer of that name that I collected in 1997 from girls and boys who participated in the Alafia Children's Ensemble cultural program. My daughter and I founded that after school program in Braddock, Pennsylvania and later in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Here's the words to that cheer.   

[title] 1-2-3-4-5  

All: 1-2-3-4-5
Soloist #1 My name is Alana
and I say “Hi!”
All: 6-7-8-9-10,
Soloist #1: I’m gonna step aside
and meet my friend
Soloist #2 My name is Jasmine
and I want to say “Hi!
All: 6-7-8-9-10,
Soloist #2: I’m gonna step aside
to meet my friend
Soloist #3 My name is Talia
and I’m here to say “Hi!”
All: 6-7-8-9-10,
Soloist #3: I’m gonna back it up
to meet my friend.

This cheer repeats from the beginning with each member of the squad or group having one turn as the soloist. When everyone has had a turn, the entire group chants the following lines in unison:
All: 1-2-3-4-5
We are Alafia and we say “Hi”
6-7-8-9-10
We’re gonna step together
cause that’s the end.
-African American girls (age 5-12 years) and African American boys (age 5-7) years; Alafia Children’s Ensemble, Braddock, Pennsylvania, 1997
-snip-
"Alafia" was the name of a children's game song group that I founded and co-led with my daughter in Braddock, Pennsylvania and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This is an adaptation of a very popular cheer (in Braddock and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) that I learned from a member of this group. When that cheer was chanted outside of our group, at the end of the cheer, instead of the name "Alafia", the children chanted their school's name or the word for their school's mascot (for example, "We are the Gators and we say "Hi".).
-snip-
The "Shabooya Roll Call" portion of that cheer also pre-dates the 2006 Bring It On All Or Nothing movie. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/the-right-rhyming-pattern-for-shabooya.html for the pancocojams post entitled "The Right Rhyming Pattern For Shabooya Roll Call Verses".  The earliest dates that I've found for "Shabooya Roll Call" chants/cheers are 1992 (Prince- "My Name Is Prince" and Spike Lee - Get On The Bus" (movie scene). 

Notice that the movements that are done while chanting the "Introduce Yourself"/"Shabooya Roll Call" cheer in the
Bring It On: All Or Nothing prom scene (that is shown in the embedded video) has been significantly modified (i.e. The movements that the chanters in that movie did aren't the same as those that were done in the movie's earlier "Shabooya Roll Call" dancing on the table scene. Also, neither of those Bring It On: All Or Nothing dance movements are as s percussive and rhythmic as those that African American girls and boys perform.(during the 1990s Alafia group sessions and elsewhere.)

Also, when a group performs foot stomping cheers, every member of the group is supposed to have the same amount of soloist time and a person chanting definitely isn't supposed to be ignored as was done with Sierra at the end of that movie clip.

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2 comments:

  1. The example of "Introduce Yourself" that is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1980s and the example of that cheer from the 2006 "Bring It On All Or Nothing" movie both begin with a formulaic structure that I call "command/refusal/command/compliance" (crcc). The group commands the soloist to do something (in this case to introduce herself). The soloist refuses and the group commands her to do that same thing again and that time the soloist complies with that command.

    There are a number of command/refusal etc. foot stomping cheers.
    My guess is that that pattern reflects the value that African American culture places on being strong and individuals not letting anyone tell them what to do.

    Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/examples-of-childrens-cheer-rock-boat.html for more comments about command/refusal etc. cheers and a few other examples of those types of foot stomping cheers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here's a command/refusal etc. beginning in a "Rock The Boat" foot stomping cheer (note: not all "Rock The Boat" foot stomping cheers have that command/refusal etc. beginning).

      ROCK THE BOAT
      Rock the boat. Don't tip it over.
      Rock the boat. Don't tip it over.
      Hey, Aniya. "Hey what?"
      Hey, Aniya. "Hey what?"
      Can you rock the boat? "No way."
      Can you rock the boat?! "Ok."
      She slides. She slides. She do The Butterfly.
      She dips. She dips. She shakes her little hips!
      -ti55, Mar 16, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9QuTsAtQPY
      -snip-
      The "rock the boat/don't tip it over" line is a clear indication that this cheer was heavily influenced by The Hues Corporations' 1974 R&B record "Rock The Boat".

      Delete