This New Documentary Will Make You Want to Join A Step Team
“I’m like, a notch down from Beyoncé,” says Tayla Solomon, a member of the Lethal Ladies of Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women (LLOB) step team. “Because I do still mess up.”
That confident-yet-real attitude pretty much sums up why we’re obsessed with the dancers of LLOB—and the new documentary about them, Step. The film follows the team as they navigate applying to college, practicing for the first place title that has eluded them throughout the years and dealing with their often-challenging family lives.
But through it all, step is what they fall back on. “I like to step because it’s empowering,” says one team member. “It’s a form of art that brings us all together,” says another. “I go somewhere else when I step, it’s like therapy.”
And these young women don’t just talk the talk—they are good.
In addition to serving the intricate, hard-hitting rhythms that we’d expect from a step team, they add their own flair to the routines—like juxtaposing moments where they totally let loose, or showing off gasp-worthy tricks.
Plus, they aren’t afraid to tackle important issues in their work. For one performance, the team took on a #BlackLivesMatter theme, even incorporating the rallying cry “Hands up, don’t shoot.”
And we dare you not to shed a tear by the end—especially at the students’ graduation. (Spoiler alert: Every single member of the BLSYW graduating class was accepted to college!)
Fun side note: Blessin’, the founder of LLOB and one of the featured students in the film, recently auditioned for “So You Think You Can Dance,” and kinda killed it.
