Step Afrika!
| WISH LIST
$300: artists for 2 classroom
demonstrations;
$750: intensive
interactive workshop for up to 50
students;
$1500: Step Up to College
artist residence for at-risk youth
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When C Brian Williams, a young graduate of Howard University, traveled to
Southern Africa in 1991, he came across the gumboot dance; created by South
African mineworkers, it bore a strong resemblance to the stepping he had
learned in his college fraternity. He later met members of the Soweto Dance
Theatre, and the Step Afrika International Cultural Festival was born – the first
known attempt to link the two forms of dance. Today Step Afrika! is the only national company exploring this
cultural connection, in performances both national and international. Here at home there is a double focus: on
performance and arts-in-education. From single shows to multi-week school residencies, programs combine
stepping with lessons in teamwork, discipline, commitment, and academic achievement, winning Step Afrika! the
Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding Contribution to the field. And there’s something simply powerful about the
work: it’s “not just physically or rhythmically impressive,” says the Washington Post. It “feels essential ... [like]
quiet, white hot fire.” Isn’t this something we want to nourish and preserve?
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