Steve Porter '04

It started off like any typical arch sing, group after group filled the Princeton campus with a mixture of harmonies, until it was the Tigertones' turn. The guys gathered together seemingly as if to begin the first song but instead they "dropped trough." Steve Porter, a newly inducted frosh, already a little nervous standing in front of the audience with his pants around his ankles, carefully hopped out to perform his solo. When all of a sudden a girl came running out of the crowd and yanked down his boxers.

Needless to say, as embarrassing as it was to be singing a cappella in only his underwear, it's a quite a bit more embarrassing doing it naked. Luckily, Porter was able to handle this infamous arch sing because he was already a performing pro.

Unlike many a cappella novices that entire the ranks of the singing elite at Princeton, Porter was already an aficionado of the craft. He had begun singing in his sophomore year of high school in the all male Mellow-Ds. "I felt that it was a really unique experience to be able to sing in a group like this in high school," Porter said.

Yet with his arrival at Princeton, Porter was faced with the daunting task of figuring out which group he wanted to join. He decided to look at all the different groups on campus, but eventually selected the Tigertones because, "I really hit it off with all the guys in the group and I really like their diverse repertoire: a bridging of traditional and contemporary songs."

It didn't hurt his decision that Porter's father had been a member of the Tigertones when he attended Princeton, and after joining, the Porters became the first father and son pair to have both been in the group.

For Porter, the most salient perk of the Tigertones is their extensive traveling. The group has embarked on countless roads trips all over the east coast from Vermont to South Carolina. During school breaks they have toured Europe, the Caribbean, and even Japan. Porter recounted how the Japanese people weren't as used to seeing a cappella groups perform so they treated the members of the Tigertones as if they were "celebrities."

But Porter doesn't limit himself to expressing merely his vocal talents. He is also in the dance group BodyHype. Having no previous dancing experience outside of showing off his moves at The Street, Porter was serendipitously asked to join the group in the fall of his junior year. He explained that during freshmen week the Tigertones often sing pop songs, so that year the group covered Britney Spears' hit "Boys," of course comically changing the title to "Girls."

Porter and some other 'Tones decided to choreograph some steps to go along with the song. "I guess someone from BodyHype was there and they decided to ask me to audition," and he immediately clicked with the group.

Though Porter's long time passion has been a cappella, he simply relishes his routines with BodyHype. "The performances are unbelievable. There is nothing like the feeling I get on stage, you really reap the energy from the audience," he said. Porter definitely invents a lot of time and energy into perfecting his performance.

Yet learning the groups' intricate moves has taught Porter about his personal levels of patience. "I have to work hard in BodyHype because it doesn't come as natural for me. I'll have to practice the same moves again and again, but when I finally get it I feel really accomplished."

Having to juggle these two time intensive activities, Porter has taken a crash course in time management. Often having practice from seven to ten with BodyHype followed quickly by Tigertones rehearsal from ten to midnight, Porter said, "I find myself wondering when I can get everything done."

Somehow he has found a balance between these groups and has found time to research and write his senior thesis. A premed and anthropology major, Porter is trying to reconcile traditional remedies of native African and Asian healers with modern biomedicine. So he is writing his thesis on the alternative therapeutic powers of the South African healers in conjunction with opportunistic diseases such as HIV.

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Porter first became intrigued with these concepts after his senior year in high school. He took a year off before going to college and spent this time traveling through South East Asia, and it was in Nepal that he became fascinated by ayurvedic healing. So after this life-altering experience he found himself studying anthropology at Princeton and this provided him with "an academic avenue to reconcile biomedicine and anthropology."

This passion has created a number of different avenues that Porter could follow upon graduating this spring. He plans on taking a year or two off before medical school, and he hopes to win a spot on the program Princeton in Africa or at least return sometime to Capetown, South Africa. "I am really engaged by the people and culture in South Africa. I think that its one of the most interesting and dynamic places on earth," he said.

As for a future in the performing arts, "I don't plan on making a career out of it." Porter did say that he might join up with other Tigertones alumni, but as for now, Porter is content getting everything he can out of his Princeton a cappella and dance experience; "right now I am just soaking it up."