STEP AFRIKA!

American award-winning dance performance troupe, returns to South Africa.

Step Afrika!, the American award-winning dance performance troupe, returns to South Africa in September to celebrate, inspire and amaze audiences. With roots firmly in South Africa, Step Afrika! brings American-style excitement to an age-old dance form.

Step Afrika! celebrates stepping, an art form born at African American fraternities and based in African traditions. As the first professional company dedicated to stepping, Step Afrika!’s intricate kicks, stomps and rhythms mixed with spoken word pound the floor and fill the air. Step Afrika! was launched in 1994 as a partnership with the Soweto Dance Theatre, a historic dance troupe founded by the late Mbuyiselwa Jacob Semela. For 11 years, the American group travelled annually to South Africa in order to offer free workshops and performances to artists and children alike. Step Afrika!’s last appearance in the country was in 2003…. and they are eager and happy to return!

As part of their stay, Step Afrika! will host workshops in Pretoria and Durban, as well as perform at the State Theater in Pretoria. Step Afrika!’s visit to South Africa is in partnership with the United States Mission to South Africa and the State Theatre.

Step Afrika! is the first professional company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Founded in December 1994, the company is critically-acclaimed for its efforts to promote an understanding of and appreciation for stepping and the dance tradition's use as an educational tool for young people worldwide. Step Afrika! reaches tens of thousands of Americans each year and has performed on many stages in North and South America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.

Based in Washington, DC, the company has been featured on CNN, BET, PBS & NPR as well as numerous books, documentaries and articles that seek to explore the tradition of stepping. Step Afrika! serves as a cultural ambassador for the United States, representing the nation at events around the world through special invitations from American embassies.

Step Afrika! conducts an annual 50-city tour of American colleges and universities from Maine to Mississippi. The company is a model for the use of stepping in educational settings, espousing themes such as teamwork, academic achievement and cross-cultural understanding. Step Afrika! frequently conducts residencies, master classes and in-school performances for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Washington Performing Arts Society, the Smithsonian Institution and in schools and community-based organizations around the world.