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The young women, grouped in two horizontal lines of four apiece, stand tensed and ready, each one holding her fists together at chest height. And smiling.
Suddenly, there is a flurry of movement and corresponding noise. In near-perfect synchronization, the eight whirl their arms in a variety of directions, occasionally clapping hands together — as well as on knees, shoes, chest — all the while dipping, weaving, bending and stepping, their moves punctuated with rhythmic stomps of their feet. After a couple of minutes, they end as they began, standing with fists together in front. And smiling.
This is the language of the Boston College student group Females Incorporating Sisterhood Through Step (FISTS) — a language not just of the body but the soul and spirit.
Founded in 1999, FISTS is nominally a dance team that performs at the annual BC Arts Festival, the AHANA Leadership Council “Showdown,” Relay for Life and other events. Their percussive style of dance, known as stepping, melds elements of African and Caribbean traditions with numerous other influences, cultural and otherwise; stepping is associated with, though not limited to, historically African-American fraternities and sororities.
But FISTS is equally concerned with service and solidarity, offering its members the means to build friendships, self-confidence, discipline and leadership skills.
“It’s just awesome,” says freshman Janeisa Lashley, who signed up for FISTS on the spot last fall after seeing them perform on the Campus Green. “I love all the girls and the quality time we spend together. I also like the fact that I’m a freshman, and they’re upperclassmen, and I can learn a lot from them.”
The mentoring aspect of FISTS is one of its most important qualities, say seniors Carissa Wright and Breana Ware, who have both held leadership positions on the team.
“When I first came here, I was worried about being far from home, and how I would find my place at BC,” says Ware, an Atlanta native who has been FISTS president the last two years and also served as secretary. “But the upperclass girls on the team helped me adjust to being at college, and gave me good advice on how to balance things.”
Wright, who as team co-captain is responsible for leading practices, recalls: “Being able to ask these older girls about anything, from boys to what classes I should take, was such a help to me. They really cared a lot about me. They’d check in to see if I was OK, even offer to tutor me.”
Members say they care about and look after one another because the demands on time and energy are profound. “You need to have a lot of discipline and time management, you always need to check your syllabus and schedule, because this is a lot of work,” says co-captain Corinne Pierre-Louis ’13, “Regardless of how easy it might look on stage, putting on a good show takes a lot of preparation.”
FISTS takes that message of strength and support beyond Boston College, organizing workshops and other events at schools in the Greater Boston area. “We work with their step teams, and with girls especially, to teach them about discipline, the importance of commitment, eating right, practicing, listening to their captain,” says Ware.
“They’re not just learning about stepping,” says FISTS vice-president Alysa Delerme ’11. “They’re learning about college life, the activities that we have here, and they see how bonded we are and what this brings to our lives.”
The satisfaction FISTS members derive is multifaceted. There is, of course, the pleasure that comes from putting on a good show, and seeing the enthusiasm their performances invariably generate among audiences. Knowing you’ve helped a teammate make it through a rough time, or perhaps given a schoolkid something reassuring to think about, also brings plenty of gratification.
But FISTS also offers enlightening insights into the meaning of leadership. In a close-knit group like this, sorting out roles — as officers, friends and teammates — can be an intricate process. What works best, members say, is to keep in mind that the team speaks with many voices. For example, even as Ware and Wright discuss their leadership experiences, they are quick to credit Delerme for the part she’s played in the team’s development.
Ware and Wright, who were both candidates for the 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Award, have plenty of accomplishments and milestones to look back on: for Ware, the Multicultural Christian Fellowship and the Mock Trial Association; for Wright, the Shaw Leadership Program, the 48 Hours Council and the Huntington’s Disease Society of America fundraiser; both also have served as resident assistants.
But FISTS is something else. “Being in the group forced me to develop leadership qualities in a way nothing else has,” says Wright. “I had to learn to appeal to someone as a leader, a sister and a friend, and to bring empathy into the practice room.”
Adds Ware, “Learning to take criticism after being in a leadership position is a growth experience, and makes you that much better a leader. I think we’ve all learned what works best, not just in a team setting, but with others — and that’s something we can carry with us.”