University of New Haven’s Elite Step Team held their annual Step competition and exhibition, “Stepping Into Time,” on Dec. 5, at Bucknall Theater.

Stepping is a rising art form, similar to dancing, that is a crucial part of America’s artistic and cultural history. When stepping, the body is used percussively to create specific rhythms through a combination of footsteps, claps and the spoken word, often in sync with others.

Since Elite was the host of this weekend’s competition, they did not compete, but only displayed their show for exhibition; competitors included “UHA STEPPAZ” from the University of Hartford who placed second and “Sexual Chocolate,” the all-male team from Boston College who took first.

The theme of Elite’s show was time travel. Members of Elite reminisced as they took us back to decades gone by. The team had members perform a skit from every decade, starting with the sixties and ending with the present.

In addition to their performance, Elite also kept things interesting by adding an audience participation portion. Jazmin Williams, the Elite Dance Team President, said she was hoping for an interactive audience. Kharik DeFoe, a member of Elite explained that their show took a lot of preparation. He said many hours of practice went into learning the routines, which was difficult because of everyone’s conflicting schedules.

In the end, Elite’s hard work paid off; the crowd reaction was very enthusiastic.