By Ellie O’Day
The Afro News Vancouver : The Vancouver International Children’s Festival is delighted to present Step Afrika! – a show that will captivate the whole family! With energy and skill to spare, the dancers of Step Afrika! get the house jumping with their distinctive South African gumboot dance, stomping and slapping in their rubber work boots. More traditional is the South African Zulu dance, with jaw-dropping leaps and kicks, moving rhythms and Zulu chants. There is also a modern take on stepping that was developed in college sororities and fraternities, using props and creative formations akin to Hip Hop.
Step Afrika’s motto is “if we can dance together, then we can work together.” The physicality of the dance form demands strength and flexibility, and that the company work together as a coherent, disciplined and focused unit.
Like jazz, stepping is an Afro-American invention. One hundred years ago, African American students in college fraternities and sororities created stepping, inspired by African dance and the tightness of military marching. Stepping uses the body as an instrument – claps, footsteps, words and complex rhythms. Historian Jacqui Malone, author of Steppin’ on the Blues, said stepping is “one of the most exciting dance forms to evolve in the twentieth century.”
Step Afrika! is the first professional company dedicated to stepping. Every year they perform in 150 events, in 50 cities around the world. The company was founded in 1994 as a cultural exchange with South Africa. With their partners, the Soweto Dance Theatre, they annually co-host an international cultural festival in South Africa. Throughout the year they bring stepping to K to 12 and college students with their Stepping into Schools program, integrating language and social studies content.
Tickets are already selling well to Step Afrika!, so book your tickets soon. Eight shows, running 55 minutes, June 1-5 morning and midday, plus Friday evening at 7pm. Step Afrika! will also be part of our family Variety Show, Saturday, June 4 at 6:30pm, sharing the bill with musicians Mauvais Sort from Quebec, Lelavision’s soundscape sculptures in Physical Music (USA), Australia’s acrobatic troupe Circa in 46 Circus Acts in 45 Minutes and hosted by comedian and entertainer Norman Foote. Both shows are at the Granville Island Stage (Arts Club), recommended for ages 5 and up.
Vancouver International Children’s Festival – May 30-June 5, 2011.
Now On Granville Island!
Tickets at 604.873.3311.More information at www.childrensfestival.ca.