Stomp the Yard

Directed by Sylvain White

The century-old American tradition of step dancing is one many Americans (mostly whites, I dare say) don’t know much about—even though on many historically black college campuses, step dancing is much bigger than, say, football. Some less complex step routines are reminiscent of racy moves performed by marching bands in halftime shows, but when steppers get stomping—with elements that require precise timing, enormous athleticism, strength, stamina and skill—they’ll kick football bands right outta the arena every time.

Stomp the Yard captures all of that and explodes with talent and energy. The film’s choreographers have integrated some breakdance moves and styling—as well as some gymnastics into the routines—updating step and giving it a modern edge that complements the story.

Oh, yeah, that’s right, this film has a story! At Atlanta-based, historically black, prestigious (and fictional) Truth University, the two top frat houses on campus—those promising members shortcuts to bright, prosperous futures through brotherhood—battle each other annually for the coveted National Step Dancing trophy. They train arduously throughout the year while recruiting frosh pledges who can keep step with the routines and rituals that are part of their frat’s particular step dancing heritage.

Into this bucolic bastion of traditional black bourgeois life comes DJ (Columbus Short), an LA ghetto refugee who’s survived a street fight in which his brother was killed by a rival b-boy whom DJ and bro bested in a dance battle. Got that?

So, Theta Nu Theta (TNT!) and Mu Gamma compete for DJ when they discover his dancing prowess. DJ shuns the Greek thing until April (Meagan Good), his tutor and wet dream (and, coincidentally, the daughter of Truth University’s provost), sends him to Heritage Hall, where he sees photos of prominent frat and sorority members: Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, among them. DJ goes Greek, joining TNT because April’s boyfriend, the insufferably snobbish and underhanded Grant (Darrin Dewitt Henson) is a Mu Gamma.

OK, that’s enough plot to make the point: It’s disheartening that those who write and green light films like Stomp the Yard—with inherently captivating niche feats like step dancing, cheerleading and tango, to name a few—feel it necessary to wrap these surprisingly entertaining, unfailingly impressive human achievements in such boringly predictable stories.

Granted, in a cultural milieu that expects and accepts that films starting with “urban”—as Stomp the Yard does—will be about gangs and violence, this movie’s view of middle-class black life is refreshing. Its positive message about brotherhood and teamwork is laudable. The acting’s admirable, the dancing exceptional. All of which makes the formulaic, predictable story even more disappointing as it unfolds. We’ve seen this dozens of times before, and it was boring then. Simply put, it’s unworthy of the formidable talents represented in Stomp The Yard.”

The camera work and editing are incredibly irksome. Dance is energy flow, interruption and redirection. Good dance camera work captures all that, allowing audiences to feel the fulfillment of movements and gesture. It should enhance movement for viewers, rather than edit it. In Stomp the Yard, the music video-style shooting, extreme camera angles, visual effects and quick-cut-to-pulsing-beat edits are spectacular, but they prevent viewers from seeing and fully enjoying the magnificent dance performances. Too bad the filmmakers don’t have more faith that their audiences could connect with the dancers without all the showoff gimmickry.