WHERE GREAT SERVICE IS ALWAYS THE STAR OF THE SHOW

Continued from pg. 19

Step Afrika! blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities; traditional West and Southern African dances; and an array of contemporary dance and art forms into a cohesive, compelling artistic experience. Performances are much more than dance shows; they integrate songs, storytelling, humor and audience participation. The blend of technique, agility, and pure energy makes each performance unique and leaves the audience with their hearts pounding.

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 theatres 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 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 exhibit. In November 2017, Step Afrika! made its OffBroadway debut with the critically-acclaimed production, The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence. The show successfully ran for three weeks at the New Victory Theatre in New York City

Founded in 1994, as an exchange program with the Soweto Dance Theatre of Johannesburg, Step Afrika! is the first professional Dance Company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping.

Step Afrika! is one of the top 5 African American dance companies in the United States, the largest African American led arts organization in Washington, DC and Washington, DC’s only cultural ambassador.

There are 14 full-time dancers—all college graduates—many of whom attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and are members of Historically Black Greek Fraternities and Sororities.

Step Afrika! engages 30,000 college students across the nation, teaches teamwork and discipline to hundreds of kids as part of the Summer Steps with Step Afrika! summer camp and expands culture-based arts education for more than 20,000 Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia school students each year.

Primary arts education activities include in-school performances for K-12 students; reading, exercise, and creative movement programs for pre-school students; and seven-week college preparatory programs for middle and high school students;

In 2018 and 2019, Step Afrika! traveled internationally to promote cultural dialogue and exchange in Jordan (2018), Ghana (2018). Croatia (2019), Ukraine (2019), Zambia (2019), Angola (2019), and South Africa (2019).

In 2020, Step Afrika! premiered its new feature-length work, Drumfolk

To learn more, visit stepafrika.org.