Step Afrika! draws crowd with culture
SAB-sponsored Step Afrika! attracts more than just UWT students.
Kim Tan
Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment
During their performance, a little competitive challenge was held between the men and ladies of Step Afrika!. The audience decided the winner by clapping as loud as possible for the group they favored. The men won the first round, while the ladies prevailed in the second.
Throughout their performance, Step Afrika! encouraged audience participation by having audience members clap their hands and stomp their feet to create musical sounds. They even invited audience members to get up on the stage to learn a few of their dance moves. Twelve brave audience members were taught step-by-step by two Step Afrika! dance crew members for about five minutes.
One audience member who got up on stage was Cheri Hans, a UWT Global Studies student. "I love dancing. I was ready to do more," she said, adding that she liked the audience participation.
In another crowd-pleasing sequence, the performers donned African clothing and danced to drum music. This dance gave the audience a feel of a traditional African village as similar kinds of dancing are traditionally linked to the celebration of birth as well as other rituals in African tribal life.
Another dance that Step Afrika! incorporated was the South African gumboot dance. This dance was originally performed by mine workers who imitated certain moves from officers who guarded the mines. The dance is performed in rubber boots to create a unique sound. The dance motions integrate quick feet movements with the slapping of hands on legs and feet.
Step Afrika! ended their performance with a simple message to all students: "Just finish."
Jamie Glaze, former BSU Secretary and founder of GRIPS (Girls Reclaiming Individual Purpose in Society), which encourages middle school to high school young women to reach academic goals, said that she was happy that "they ended with promoting education, saying finish. We try to press that message onto them, and that's the reason we bring them here, too: To show them that campus has a lot of good things going on so, that they are inspired."
She added, "I liked everything that they did; I like how they connected the genres of dance."
Step Afrika! member Ryan Johnson said, "Step Afrika! brings a lot of messages." Johnson summed it up by saying, "Teamwork, commitment, and discipline, that's what it's all about."
Visit www.stepafrika.com/home.htm to find additional information about Step Afrika!.
Throughout their performance, Step Afrika! encouraged audience participation by having audience members clap their hands and stomp their feet to create musical sounds. They even invited audience members to get up on the stage to learn a few of their dance moves. Twelve brave audience members were taught step-by-step by two Step Afrika! dance crew members for about five minutes.
One audience member who got up on stage was Cheri Hans, a UWT Global Studies student. "I love dancing. I was ready to do more," she said, adding that she liked the audience participation.
In another crowd-pleasing sequence, the performers donned African clothing and danced to drum music. This dance gave the audience a feel of a traditional African village as similar kinds of dancing are traditionally linked to the celebration of birth as well as other rituals in African tribal life.
Another dance that Step Afrika! incorporated was the South African gumboot dance. This dance was originally performed by mine workers who imitated certain moves from officers who guarded the mines. The dance is performed in rubber boots to create a unique sound. The dance motions integrate quick feet movements with the slapping of hands on legs and feet.
Step Afrika! ended their performance with a simple message to all students: "Just finish."
Jamie Glaze, former BSU Secretary and founder of GRIPS (Girls Reclaiming Individual Purpose in Society), which encourages middle school to high school young women to reach academic goals, said that she was happy that "they ended with promoting education, saying finish. We try to press that message onto them, and that's the reason we bring them here, too: To show them that campus has a lot of good things going on so, that they are inspired."
She added, "I liked everything that they did; I like how they connected the genres of dance."
Step Afrika! member Ryan Johnson said, "Step Afrika! brings a lot of messages." Johnson summed it up by saying, "Teamwork, commitment, and discipline, that's what it's all about."
Visit www.stepafrika.com/home.htm to find additional information about Step Afrika!.
Be the first to comment on this story