Dance group steps all the way to USU
One of the United States’ most unique dance groups is coming to USU’s Kent Concert Hall on Thursday, March 29, to celebrate stepping – a form of dancing where clapping, stomping and speaking is used to create rhythm and music.
Step Afrika was the world’s only professional stepping group when it was founded in 1994. Since then, the Washington, D.C., based group has performed on four continents and been named as cultural ambassadors for the United States, performing in various countries around the world at U.S. embassies’ requests, according to the group’s Web site. Recently their choreography was seen in the movie “Stomp the Yard.”
“It’s going to be a killer show,” said Kyle Milne, arts and lectures director of ASUSU. “They incorporate so many elements of dance. They want to make sure that you have a good time.”
Milne said he expects the group’s performance to interest many students. “Stepping culture is very much embedded in college life.”
In fact, stepping existed on college campuses long before it ever was done in more formal performances. Although it was born from many African-American traditions of dance and movement, stepping began in the early 1900s in fraternities among African-American students, according to Step Afrika’s Web site. It’s unique from other from other dancing because it doesn’t use any sort of musical backing. Instead, stepping creates the music and rhythms as part of the dance.
Now, the popularity of stepping has increased. It is still practiced in many colleges, but it has received increased attention as the subject of several films, documentaries and books. However, performing stepping professionally is still a relatively new phenomenon.
Brian Williams, founder of Step Afrika, first became interested in starting the dance group when he visited South Africa and saw people performing their traditional “gumboot” dance that he noticed resembled the stepping that he had performed in college. Shortly after, he met with members of the acclaimed Soweto Dance Theater in South Africa and organized the South Afrika International Cultural Festival, which linked steppers in the United States with traditional African dancers.
“Stepping is about how African Americans express their Africanness at times when they weren’t very connected to the continent,” said Williams in a November 2003 interview on “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio.
In 1996, the group began performing and touring the United States. By 2000, they had received critical and popular acclaim, selling out a tour at the prestigious Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C., and being profiled on the CNN and BET networks.
Milne said he was immediately interested in involving Step Afrika as part of the Arts and Lecture Series when he was introduced to them through a demo video. He said he thought the group would be interesting and exciting for students as well as help them appreciate great art.
Additionally, it can serve as an introduction to stepping for students who are unfamiliar with the dance. Milne said he hopes the show will help increase students’ interest in USU’s upcoming student step show and in the Greek system in general.
The USU show will feature at least five Step Afrika performers doing a variety of fraternity and sorority stepping styles as well as traditional African dances such as the South African gumboot dance and the South African Zulu dance. The show will begin at 7 p.m. It costs $5 for students and $10 for nonstudents.
-tliljegren@cc.usu.edu