Nineteen teams from six states will travel to the south suburbs for what is billed as the biggest non-Greek middle school and high school step show in the United States.
The Evergreen Park Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., which has about 70 members including Chicago, Chicago Heights and Richton Park residents, hosts the third annual Kappa League Step Show on Feb. 15 at Southland College Prep Charter High School in Richton Park.
“I’ve been involved with Kappa League for over 20 years,” said Corey Levy, director of operations at Southland College Prep and director of Kappa League at the high school. “Kappa League is our mentoring program.”
Kappa Alpha Psi states on its website that Kappa League is a career-development program for the educational, occupational and social guidance of male students in sixth to 12th grades.
The majority of Southland College Prep’s Kappa League consists of male freshmen to seniors from the school, but some step team members come from Homewood-Flossmoor High School, which Levy said typically has an all-girls team, and St. Laurence High School, a former boys school that went coed in 2017 in Burbank.
“We all do community service,” said Levy.
She said about 38 of the 58 Kappa League members at Southland College Prep are nonstepping.
“One of the things we really try to focus on is that self-dignity piece. What does it mean to be a good citizen?” she said.
Jadyn Erves, a Southland College Prep junior and one of the step team’s three captains, said Kappa League members encouraged him to join.
“I enjoy the brotherhood bonding the most and also enjoy competing with the step team,” said Erves, 17, of Park Forest. “I’ve gained responsibility definitely. I hold myself accountable more — leadership skills, caring for others on my team. The school aspect and the mentorship aspect help me a lot.”
He was part of their “Phantom of the Step Show” exhibition performance at the 2024 Kappa League Step Show, which drew 1,400 attendees.
“The complex movements and the way the team has to interact with each other to make the moves form properly, the way the entire team has to be in unison and the performance has to be the best it can be, is what’s different from any type of dance style or performing art,” Erves said.
With Southland College Prep being the host, the high school’s 20-member step team cannot compete but will present an exhibition routine of “The Cinderella Story.” The event also features Kappa Alpha Psi members DJ Malik Shabazz and DJ Knowledge, both of Chicago’s South Side.
“We try to find a theme that we haven’t seen done before. We try to be as unique as possible,” said Levy, director of Southland College Prep’s step team. “There’s gonna be that little twist. In the original Cinderella story she loses her slipper whereas with the Kappa League twist she loses her step show jacket.”
Stepping has deep roots in African American culture and has always been about unity, pride and powerful expression, according to Southland College Prep.
“(You) use your entire body, not only your feet and hands. You’re verbalizing as well. It’s an expression of dance using the entire body,” said Levy, who started Kappa League programs at other schools including O.W. Huth Middle School in Matteson and Calumet Middle School in Calumet Park.
The show has grown from nine teams at the inaugural event in 2023 to 12 teams in 2024 and 19 teams ranging from all-boys and all-girls to coed from Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia this year. There are middle school and high school divisions.
A Homewood-Flossmoor High School team will compete for the first time. The show will also feature returning high school division competitor GenXsis Step Team, of the south suburbs, and its middle school team called Childish Behavior returning to compete in the middle school division.
“It’s a warm, welcoming environment,” Levy said. “The big thing is word of mouth. We try to make sure we have our eye, our pulse on all the little details, making sure everyone is comfortable, giving them their own space.”
Each team performs one 10-minute routine and trophies are awarded for first, second and third place. Levy said a cash prize of $250 goes to each division’s second-place winner, $500 to the first-place middle school winner and $1,000 to the first-place high school winner.
The event also features exhibition performances by two middle school teams that Levy said are not at competition level, and an inaugural guest performance by Devastating Divas of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. His wife, Tasha Levy, is president of the sorority’s Chicago Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter.
“Seeing the progression of levels is going to be a good thing for the audience to see,” Corey Levy said. “It will be a fantastic time for everyone.”
Southland College Prep’s step team, which recently did a half-time routine at Loyola University Chicago, performs for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago on Feb. 22 and before an April staging of “Bust” at Goodman Theatre in Chicago. The team will compete at the national Stomp Wars on April 5 in Texas.
Corey Ballenger, a Southland College Prep senior and one of the step team’s captains, said older friends prompted him to become part of Kappa League and try stepping.
“We have a bond that is not just stepping. We can talk with each other. We’re all really friends. That’s a big part of it,” said Ballenger, 17, of Matteson, who is also a member of the Soul Children of Chicago, which incorporates some dance moves into its choir performances.
Ballenger, who said it was challenging to prepare 11 new Southland Charter Prep step team members during practices six days a week for the Kappa League Step Show performance, praised Levy’s leadership.
“He’s a great mentor. He’s taught us a lot of things. He’s just a great person to talk to,” Ballenger said. “For everyone he’s there to talk with you and he’s just been a great role model through the years.”
Kappa League Step Show
When: 4 p.m. Feb. 15
Where: Southland College Prep Charter High School, 4601 Sauk Trail, Richton Park
Tickets: $17
Information: 708-748-8105; scphs.org
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
