What is strolling? An energetic, synchronized dance made popular by Black and Latino Greek organizations.
“I dance a lot in my room,” Eliza Lopez confessed with a sheepish grin. “It’s sad, but true. I love to dance.”
There’s nothing sad about Eliza, or her dancing. Just the opposite. An hour after her interview, she and her teammates exploded with rhythm and passion on stage, to the raucous applause of hundreds of fans. Eliza and her sorority sisters made up the Lamda Pi Upsilon sorority’s national stroll team. Along with a dozen Greek Latino organizations, they were competing in an annual strolling contest sponsored by LatinoStep.com.
Strolling, sometimes called party walking, is a synchronized routine done in single file to predetermined music. But no description can do strolling justice. You have to see – and feel – it to understand. Strolling started in historically black Greek organizations in the 1920s. The rhythm and energy in this style was a natural for Latino Greeks, who have also made strolling their own.
What do the dancers stroll to? Anything with a beat. Hiphop and R&B are predominant, with the occasional sounds of reggaeton, crunk or even salsa threatening to tear down the house. Some dance routines cleverly combine several styles of music, so that the women can better showcase their talent.
During a stroll competition, judging is based on originality, difficulty, and synchronization. The harder and more creative a routine, the harder it is to keep things coordinated. But on stage the stroll teams just make it look like they are having the time of their lives.
Strolling routines vary greatly, but one thing is always the same: being in the spotlight is intense! Even though each routine lasts only a few minutes Eliza explains, “You need stamina to be on stage.” In fact, before a competition most teams will spend hours practicing every day.
Hard work? Definitely. But they wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t fun – and more. Strolling has become a venue for self-expression and solidarity among some fraternities and sororities. Performing gives the Greek brother and sisters an opportunity to show that they can be sexy, powerful, confident – and still be themselves.
“We don’t all need to be stick thin,” said Valerie Ruiz, one of Eliza’s curvy teammate from Lambda Pi Upsilon. “You gotta accept yourself as you are.” These are not the words you’d expect to hear – much less believe -- from most performers, but for strollers it’s true.
“When you’re strolling, it’s more about character, not physical appearance.” explained Laura Bueno, a Sigma Lambda Gamma team member from SUNY Stony Brook. And these strollers have a whole lot of character. All that energy and enthusiasm is contagious. Watch the music flow through strollers long enough and you might just find yourself dancing, too…
