On March 28, United Student Government (USG) hosted their annual Keating Steps event to highlight the talented performing groups at Fordham University. The event typically takes place in the first semester of the school year on Keating Hall’s steps, but due to unfavorable weather conditions Keating Steps was pushed to March 28, then moved to Fordham Preparatory School’s Leonard Theatre just prior to the event. As much as I enjoyed the event regardless of its location, relaxing on Eddie’s while watching the Satin Dolls, Sláinte, Jetés, b-Sides, Ramblers and Hot Notes would have been lovely. Plenty of students attended the event though, whether that was to enjoy good music and dance, support their friends or get a free shirt that was given to the first 50 students in attendance of the event.

Vice President of Student Life of USG Brian Inguanti, FCRH ’24, introduced the Satin Dolls as the opening group. Fordham’s all-female and femme a cappella group began their set with an introduction of “The Best Part” by Meghan Trainor, a fitting start to a night of performances as the lyrics preach “the best part of being a singer at all is singing to the world my songs.” The Dolls then transitioned into a duet of “Mood Ring” by Lorde and a solo of SZA’s “Kill Bill.” Both songs had a breezy feel to them which made the Dolls’ overall performance seem effortless.

The second group to perform was Sláinte, Fordham’s Irish dance team. Sláinte’s first number was more traditional, beginning with the team split in two groups occupying space on the stage at different times. Towards the end of the number, the two groups came together and marched powerfully towards the end of the song. Sláinte changed the course of their not-so-traditional performance as they danced to Jackson 5’s “Blame It on the Boogie.” The number was not only fun for the audience, who jumped in to clap along to the beat, but for the team who was all smiles during their steps and glides.

Sláinte’s performance was followed by Executive President of USG Santiago Vidal, FCRH ’24, who gave a briefing on the possibilities of increasing student activity fees. Vidal stated the increase would not only bring more events for students to enjoy, but they will be of better quality. Additionally, he says the funds will help to “put clubs on a national stage” and earnestly asks that students vote “yes” on the fee increase.

Up next was Fordham’s ballet club, The Jetés. They performed a total of five dances. Notably, The Jetés included a preview of two numbers from their upcoming performance of “Peter Pan,” which will take place on April 22 and 23. Annabel Graham, FCRH ’26, performed “Crocodile” in a striking bright green morph-like suit, both the costume and her impressive spins eliciting loud applause from the large audience. Another fun and notable “Peter Pan” number was “Peter and His Shadow,” with Peter being played by Noel Bernard, FCRH ’24, and his shadow by Peter Wolff, FCRH ’23, respectively.

The b-Sides, Fordham’s co-ed a cappella group, opened with a solo rendition of “Lost In Japan” by Shawn Mendes, performed by Sam Feinstein, FCRH ’25. They continued into a solo of Dua Lipa’s “Break My Heart,” where the talky chorus “I would’ve stayed at home,” gave way to a lot of fun, sporadic inclusions by the rest of the b-Sides while they sang behind the soloist, though they gave her space to get some great vocal runs in.

Fordham’s only all-male a cappella group, the Ramblers, opened with a solo performance of Young the Giant’s “Otherside,” a song I had never heard before but thoroughly enjoyed. They followed it up with “Your Song,” which is a wonderful a cappella choice. I never imagined beatboxing to Elton John, but it worked well. 

Lastly, the jazz fusion a cappella group, the Hot Notes, began with an introduction of “Hit Me With A Hot Note And Watch Me Bounce” by Duke Ellington, a very short but sweet group performance and an ode to their namesake. Though my favorite performance of the entire night was the soulful sendoff of “Cowboy Casanova” by Carrie Underwood.

Despite all of its unfortunate cancellations and postponements, Keating Steps was a success. It was a treat to see Fordham’s several performance based clubs come together and put on an exceptional show. Lucky for us, all of the participating groups will be hosting their own concerts or showcases throughout the spring semester, so we won’t have to patiently wait for next year’s Keating Steps in order to see them entertain again.