Stomp & Shake Cheerleader Cheers Have Little Expectations Of Attendees Participating In Those Cheers. But Some Traditional Cheerleading Cheers Have That Expectation.

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision -March 23, 2025- Title change from "No Expectation" to "Little Expectations"

This pancocojams post presents my conclusions about the differences between the expectations for and behavior of attendees at athletic games and other events in which stomp & shake cheerleaders or traditional cheerleaders perform.

The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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*I haven't found any online discussion of the differences in expectations and behavior between attendees at stomp and shake cheerleading and traditional cheerleading games and other events. Please share links to any observation or discussion about this difference and please share your observations and comments about this subject in the comment section below for this post. Thanks!

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES ABOUT THIS SUBJECT
Since its beginning in the 1970s, stomp and shake cheerleading has been and continues to be a spectator sport in which the attendees at athletic games and at other events expect to be entertained. Attendees at those games/events don't expect to be-and are rarely ever- a "formal", scripted part of the entertainment.*

Stomp and shake cheerleaders don't try to command attendee participation or lead attendees in chanting certain word and/or doing certain motions during their cheers. They are aware that and are okay with the roles that they and attendees have.

Attendees at stomp and shake cheerleader games/events are expected to be (hopefully enthusiastic but not too enthusiastic) spectators. As spectators, attendees are expected to share their opinions about that entertainment they are experiencing throughout the cheerleader performances of the cheerleader squad that they support as well as the opposing cheerleader squad and not just at the conclusions of those performances. The level of those attendees' enthusiasm indicates how well or how poorly they think the both of these cheerleader squads performed.

In contrast, the attendees at traditional cheerleader games/events expect that those cheerleaders will lead certain cheers that they (the attendees) that include attendee participation. As such, those attendees are expected to participate  in the cheer by saying certain words and/or by performing certain motions when they are commanded to do so.

*Update- March 23, 2025. I changed the title of this post and made minor changes in the wording above to reflect my discovery of a few stomp and shake cheers that were part of a 2015 YouTube video* whose lyrics include cheerleaders purportedly leading the attendees at athletic games in cheering for their team with such words as "Everybody say "Go Panthers Go" and a few  similar type cheers. Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZDrwnYuiJ4 2015 Basketball Cheers and Chants, Starlet Pride, Jan 25, 2015 for that video of a Black American stomp and shake cheerleader demonstrating those and a few other cheers.

That video reminded me to never say "never" regarding whether people engaged in these and other customs. 

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EXAMPLES OF CHEERLEADERS LEADING THE FANS IN CHEERING
Example #1:
cheerleaders: "When I say "Blue", you say "White"
cheerleaders: "Blue!"
audience: "White".
-my memories of high school cheer, 1962-1965 Atlantic City, High School,Atlantic City New Jersey;
Blue & white are that school's colors.

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Example #2 & #3
..."Get the Crowd Excited

When it's time to get the fans involved, we have a few great cheers to help you spread the enthusiasm:

Y-E-L-L (repeat 4x)

Everybody YELL YELL

BJH BJH

Go BJH!

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Hey, You Black Knight (mascot) fans,

Stand up and clap your hands!

Go Knights Go,

Go Knights Go!

Hey, You Black Knight Fans

Now let's see you wave your hand!

Go Knights Go, Go Knights Go!

Go Knights Go, Go Knights Go!"...
- https://www.liveabout.com/cheers-chants-and-yells-for-cheerleaders-p2-588624 30 Great Cheers and Chants for Cheerleaders [retrieved March 16, 2025]

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THE POSSIBLE SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS BETWEEN THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE EXPECTATIONS/BEHAVIORS OF THESE TWO GROUPS OF ATTENDEES

I believe that these differences between the expectations/behaviors of these two groups of attendees at cheerleader games/events [i.e. stomp & shake cheerleaders games/events and traditional cheerleaders games/events do have socio-cultural implications particularly regarding race (with stomp and shake cheerleading attendees being predominately Black Americans and traditional cheerleading attendees being predominately White Americans.)

Here are some thoughts that I have about this subject. These thoughts are given in no particular order and numbered for referencing purposes only)

1. I believe that White Americans are more accustomed than Black Americans to participating in fun, recreational singalong sessions at community events such as at wedding receptions and at folk music/shanty gatherings at bars or clubs. It is expected that attendees at these events know the words to those songs and/or be willing to learn those words and publicly sing along with others. 

I think that these singalong sessions are similar to cheerleader led cheers at athletic games or other events that include certain words/motions that attendees are supposed to say/do.

2. In contrast, I believe that Black Americans are used to being audiences-not participants-at social singing events (and, to a much lesser extent, also at religious events). I can't think of any Black led or majority Black attended event for adults that focused on or even had a small portion of the program in which we (adults) were supposed to sing Black American recreational folk songs. My guess is that many Black American adults can't even name one Black American recreational folk songs, but I believe that the fault for that mainly should be given to the American educational system and mass media that defaults to White people (in Europe and in the USA), automatically attributing most if not all folk music compositions to White people.

At our social and religious singing events, we Black Americans expect to be the audience. We expect to listen to and watch the performances of one or more featured singer, singing group, choir, chorus etc,  Usually, at Black American adult events, the singers are professionals or people who have rehearsed those songs together. The people in attendance at those events don't expect to sing in public. Sure, at some point in those programs, some people might sing along. However, they volunteer to sing at that time and/or they sing because they want to sing and/or because their spirit (or the Spirit) moved them to do so. Also, those programs aren't advertised or promoted as singalongs.  

Furthermore, I believe that we (Black Americans) are much more focused on dancing and/or performing other syncopated movements such as fraternity and sorority stepping or strolling than singing along with each other. Attendees at historically Black (African American) Greek letter fraternity and sorority events are usually quite raucous and some members of those organizations might chant along or join in the performers' routine. However, for the most part, stepping and strolling are attendee spectator events, and not participatory events.

3. I believe that a person refusing to immediately do what a group demands or asks her to do conveys a different cultural message than immediately acquiescing to that group. 

In African American street culture, in particular, the soloist's initial refusal to comply with the group's command may be part of the "tough" street girl persona.  A "tough girl" does what she wants to do when she wants to do it. Nobody can tell her what to do and when to do it.  The fact that the girl initially refuses to do what is demanded of her demonstrates or suggests that the girls (and their community) place a high value on being independent and not (immediately) doing what people demand that they do.

My interpretation of that initial refusal is the soloist showing that she doesn't do whatever anyone tells her to do (i.e. She's strong and tough and not someone who can be bossed around. I interpret the soloist's eventual compliance as since she has made that point, she then can acquiesce, with something like an unspoken statement of "Well, since you insist, here's how I do [what the group wanted her to do.].

That said, I believe that the girls who chanted/chant the traditional "command ("demand") form or the adapted "immediately compliant" form of these cheers don't consciously recognize the messages that these types of cheers convey.

Here's an example of the first type of command-refuse/command-agree foot stomping cheers:

Show Me How You Get Down (title) 

Entire Group  - D.O.W.N and that's the way we get down
I said ah D.O.W.N and that's the way we get down 
Group (except for the soloist) - Hey [girl's name or nickname]
Soloist #1- Hey what?
Group except for the soloist - Hey [girl's name]
Soloist #1 - Hey what?
Group except for the soloist- "Show me how you get down
Soloist#1- No way
Group except for the soloist- "Show me how you get down
Soloist- Okay" 
I said ah D.O.W. N. (soloist does a dance motion while she chants]
And that's the way.
That's the way
That's the way 
I get down.
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The cheer can end here and immediately start again from the beginning with the next soloist.
Or
The members of the group can imitate the dance moves that the soloist did while chanting
"She said ah D.O.W.N " and that's the way" etc. The cheer then immediately begins from the beginning with the next soloist.

This pattern continues until every one in the group has one equal timed opportunity to be the soloist for this cheer.   
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This command and (eventually) agree pattern may reflect that cultural value that some African Americans (and some other people) place on not readily agreeing to do something that a group or someone in authority commands you to do. Some people may believe that not readily agreeing to the group's or the authority person's commands/demands shows your strength i.e. shows you aren't a "punk" (a weak and foolish person).

Although foot stomping cheers are seldom if ever performed since around 2009, this command-refuse/command-agree textual pattern lives on in some children's traditional cheers and/or children's camp songs such as "Show Me How You Get Down". 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/03/what-does-get-down-really-mean-in-show.html  for  the pancocojams post entitled "What Does "Get Down" REALLY Mean In The "Show Me How You Get Down" Children's Cheers?"

Also, click -- for a pancocojams post that presents an alphabetized list of command-refuse/command-agree cheers.

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