I recently went to a party at the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in Bronx, New York, and its name is Step Afrika! Founded in 1994 by C. Brian Williams, Step Afrika! has developed into a world class company and the leading authority on the art of stepping.
I quote from their own story: “Stepping originated in the early 1900s as African American students began attending colleges and universities in greater numbers. On campus, they formed Greek-letter organizations, fraternities and sororities that fostered scholarship, service, and community. Within these organizations, stepping emerged as a way to express pride, unity, and honor tradition. Over time, stepping evolved into a highly stylized performance practice, with each organization developing its own distinctive sound, movements, and traditions.”
That paragraph explains the genesis of the art but not what it’s like to experience it. Stepping combines storytelling and humor with polyrhythmic rapid movement: clapping, stomping, yelling, finger snapping, and total exuberant energy synchronized en masse. You could expect a spontaneous outpouring of high energy from one performer, but this company duplicates it throughout the entire company in perfect unison and harmony.
Initially, the sound was overwhelming, but then it took on a life of its own, engaging the audience and elevating the entire auditorium. With humor and mime, the moderator encouraged interaction with the audience, causing a loop of mounting energy that kept building into one swelling, gyrating entity.
The staging consisted of laser lighting with an abundant use of hot colors and alternating fractal images. Costumes were simple but stylish and contemporary. The music was comprised by an on-stage DJ spinning records to accompany the dancers’ movements during the stepping segments, and on-stage African drums were used in the traditional dance segments.
The choreography was unique and innovative, pushing the dancers to greater feats of athletic agility which swept the audience into the enthusiasm. Then, suddenly, the stage went dramatically silent and dark. The hectic activity was replaced with a black/white film of the company’s trip to Africa in quick cuts without sound or explanation.
The film ended in color with the Step Afrika! members teaching their movements to traditional African dancers who, in turn, taught their high stepping to the Step Afrika! performers.
At that point, the big African drums were pushed on stage, accompanied by the dancers in stylized traditional African dress. The drums became a chief player in the action as the dancers exploded onto the stage with soaring split leaps and high kicks.
One of the dances featured metal bracelets on both the male and female dancers which were used in syncopation with the drums to hold the beat for the dance.
I especially loved this part of the program, I loved the power of the drums to transport me to another realm and the freedom of the dancing, even though I knew it was choreographed and practiced until it still seemed organic, authentic, and filled with explosive joy.
And Step Afrika! is not just another pretty face. They use their platform as an educational tool, reaching out to colleges and institutions for young people so that they can teach the next generation. Their prime directive is “using stepping as a tool to inspire, educate and unite – building community one step at a time”
Step Afrika! is the proud recipient of multiple art awards and even headlined at President Barack Obama’s Black History Month Reception. They also performed at the first Juneteenth Celebration at the White House. Step Afrika! is more than just a unique performing dance company. It’s a national treasure!
Barbara Angelakis is one of the founders of LuxuryWeb Magazine, and she is its Senior Travel Writer. She travels the four corners of the world with a thirst for knowledge and a twinkle in her eye, seeking out the history of people and places and sharing her experiences. She specializes in culture and history along with luxury destinations, hotels/resorts/cruises/spas, and most recently Jewish Heritage, exploring the historical connection between Jews and their host countries. She has been recognized for outstanding coverage as “Journalist of the Year” by the Tanzania Tourist Board and is the recipient of the MTA Malta Tourism Press Award, the first American to receive this honor. For the past 25 years, Barbara has written extensively for LuxuryWeb Magazine, and her work can also be found at The Jerusalem Post, Jewish Link, Epoch Times,and Vision Times.
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