Blessin Giraldo, Tayla Solomon and Cori Grainger

Lethal Ladies of Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women

The sound of hands clapping and slapping parts of the body. The rhythmic pounding of feet stomping the floor. The shouts from participants as they perform choreography in time to the beats they are creating.

Stepping is a powerful percussive dance to watch as usually three or more dancers use multiple military formations throughout their performance to convey the sounds.

In 2016, documentary filmmaker Amanda Lipitz began following the lives of Blessin Giraldo, Tayla Solomon and Cori Grainger, step team members of the Lethal Ladies of Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, as they navigated school, their team’s desire to win a championship and getting accepted into college. BLSYW, a college preparatory facility, aims to embolden girls in leadership, academic excellence and enrichment.

The film premiered last year to critical acclaim, winning the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Inspirational Filmmaking.

If you haven’t seen the movie, you might want to stop reading now. Each went on to complete their freshman year of college and are continuing to focus on their education.

Giraldo attends Coppin State University, where she is majoring in business marketing with minors in graphic design and communications, Solomon is at Alabama A&M, focusing on urban planning and a minor in political science, and Grainger attends Johns Hopkins University, where she is studying computer science and a Spanish minor.

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