Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College continues its 2016-17 season with the much-anticipated return of Step Afrika! on Saturday, April 1, 2017 at 8pm. Holding the distinction of the first professional company in the world dedicated to the art of stepping, the company will conduct a three-day residency that includes not only a public performance but also a free after-school stepping masterclass on Thursday, March 30 at 3:30pm and three educational shows for schoolchildren.
Tickets for Saturday evening are $25 and can be purchased at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the box office at 718-951-4500 (Tue-Sat, 1pm-6pm).
The repertoire for the company’s 2017 Brooklyn residency performance includes:
Tribute (choreography, Jakari Sherma), a piece paying homage to the American step tradition and its roots in African American fraternities and sororities.
Ndlamu (choreography, Jackie Semela), a traditional dance of the Zulu people
Isicathulo (choreography, Jackie Semela), based on the South African gumboot dance
Solo, (choreography, Christopher Brient)
Chicago (choreography, Jakari Sherman), a “percussive symphony” that transforms traditional stepping into contemporary performance art
About Step Afrika!
Founded by C. Brian Williams in 1994, Step Afrika! aims promote an appreciation for stepping and its uses as an educational, motivational, and healthy tool for young people. Performances are much more than dance shows; they integrate songs, storytelling, humor, and audience participation. Over the past two decades, the Company has grown to become one of the top ten African American dance companies in the U.S. as well as Washington D.C.’s largest African American arts organization.
Step Afrika! promotes stepping as an educational tool for young people, focusing on teamwork, academic achievement and cross-cultural understanding. The Company reaches tens of thousands of Americans each year through a 50-city tour of colleges and theaters and performs globally as Washington, DC’s one and only Cultural Ambassador. Step Afrika! has earned Mayor’s Arts Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education (2005), Innovation in the Arts (2008), and Excellence in an Artistic Discipline (2012), and most recently performed at the White House for President Barack Obama and the First Lady. Step Afrika! is featured prominently at the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African-American History & Culture with the world’s first stepping interactive.
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