
BEFORE
DISCOVER STEPPING
GET FAMILIAR WITH THE DANCES
 DURING
STEP IT UP!
STEP ID CHALLENGE!
 AFTER
MAKE MUSIC
GET SOME RHYTHM IN YOUR LIFE
A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR INSTRUCTORS
STEP AFRIKA! OCT. 15, 2014, 7:30PM
YOUNG AUDITORIUM
Step
Afrika!
About the Company
Step Afrika! is the first professional company in the world dedicated to
the tradition of stepping. Founded in December 1994 by C. Brian
Williams, the company is critically-acclaimed for its efforts to promote
an 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 & South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the
Caribbean.
Based in Washington, DC, Step Afrika! serves as a cultural ambassador
for the United States, representing the nation at events and festivals
around the world. The company also completes an annual 50-city tour
of American colleges and universities from Maine to Mississippi and is a
model for the use of stepping in educational settings, espousing themes Photo credit: Jati Lindsay
such as teamwork, academic achievement and cross-cultural
understanding.
What is Stepping?
Stepping is a dance that uses the body as an instrument. It combines footsteps, claps, and spoken words to produce
complex rhythms, and has roots in African dance and military marching. In stepping, the dancers wear hard-soled shoes
that crack and slap against the floor. Step Afrika! is a dance company committed to furthering the tradition of stepping.
This guide is intended for instructors to share with their students in preparation for attending the Step Afrika!
performance at Young Auditorium. In addition to this resource, we suggest that you use the following web
resources:
Young Auditorium Website (Step Africa video, promotional materials and ticket information)
http://www.uww.edu/youngauditorium/season/step-afrika
Step Afrika! Website (Learn more about the company, their performance, and their dedication to arts education)
http://www.stepafrika.org/
Discover Stepping before the performance
Stepping is a rising art form and an important part of America’s artistic and cultural heritage. In stepping, the body is used
as an instrument to create intricate rhythms and sounds through a combination of footsteps, claps and the spoken word.
Stepping is based on a long and rich tradition in African-based communities that use movement, words and sounds to
communicate allegiance to a group. It draws movements from African foot dances, such as Gumboot, originally conceived
by miners in South Africa as an alternative to drumming, which was banned by authorities.
The stepping tradition in the United States grew out of song and dance rituals practiced by historically African American
fraternities and sororities, beginning in the early 1900s.
In addition to step shows and competitions on college campuses, today stepping can also be found in schools, churches
and community organizations around the country. The form is also spreading its wings to new venues and participants,
such as Latino and Asian American Greek-letter organizations.
Step Afrika!, as the first professional dance company dedicated to the tradition of stepping, is evolving the dance form to
include other styles, such as Tap, Modern and Hip Hop, and introducing stepping to new audiences around the world.
Why use the body as an instrument?
The drum is a very important musical instrument in African culture. In some parts of Africa, each family has its own unique
drum rhythm, and this rhythm is passed down through generations. Drums help send messages across long distances, like
announcing births or marriages to neighboring towns.
When the slave trade brought Africans to America, the Africans brought their drum rhythms with them. They used drums to
“talk” to neighboring slaves. When plantation owners discovered that messages were being sent, drums were forbidden.
As a result, enslaved Africans continued to play drum rhythms, but they began to use their bodies to make the sounds.
Dance forms such as tap, hambone, and stepping are all examples of how the drum now lives in African American culture.
Learn More About
Stepping

Stepping has been highlighted in motion pictures such
as Stomp The Yard, School Daze, Mac and Me, Drumline,

and How She Move.
Historian Jacqui Malone calls stepping “one of the most
exciting dance forms to evolve in the Twentieth Century”
in Steppin’ on the Blues, Chicago: University of Illinois

Press, 1996.
Elizabeth Fine details the tradition of stepping
in Soulstepping: African American Step Shows. Chicago:
University of Illinois Press, 2003.
Photo credit: The Napoleon Complex Project
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Get Familiar with the Dances
before the performance
Tribute
Tribute pays homage to the African American step show. Based on steps and styles seen in step shows across the USA,
Tribute expands on stepping’s roots by increasing the length of the step from the traditional 2 minutes to 10 minutes. It
combines the distinct stepping styles from different fraternities and sororities and blends them together to showcase the
incredible variety of stepping. Tribute includes all the exciting elements of the step show--the use of props, ripples and floor
work, creative formations and audience participation.
Indlamu
Indlamu is a traditional dance of the Zulu people. It is performed with drums and full traditional Zulu attire and is regarded
as a touchstone of Zulu identity. Indlamu often referred to as a “war dance” –is marked by the Zulu kick -a movement
where the dancers lift one foot over their heads and bring it down hard on the downbeat. For more than 15 years Step
Afrika! has studied the dance traditions of the Zulu people through the Step Afrika! International Cultural Festival. Step
Afrika! makes this Indlamu uniquely its own featuring solos created by each dancer as well as the addition of contemporary
dance.
Isicathulo
Isicathulo or “the gumboot dance” is a tradition created by South African workers who labored in the oppressive mining
industry of then-apartheid South Africa. Isolated from their families for long periods, the miners transformed their rubber
boots into percussive instruments to not only entertain and pass time but to share secret messages with each other. Step
Afrika!’s Isicathulo highlights both of these uses of “the gumboot dance” through the interaction of a group of mine workers
with their “super.” Isicathulo has become one of the most popular dance forms in South Africa and has striking similarities
to the African-American tradition of stepping.
Chicago
Chicago finds the rhythm in everyday situations. It is a percussive symphony using body percussion and vocals to narrate
a story and changes in rhythm and tempo to play out the action. Inspired by a summer spent in the windy city, this groundbreaking work requires the Company to maintain up to five complex polyrhythms simultaneously, create the characters in
the story and interact with each other through movement and vocals.
Photo credit: The Napoleon Complex Project
Photo credit: Tony Powell
Can you
match the
picture with
the dance?
Photo credit: Meredith Hanafi Photography
Photo credit: Jati Lindsay
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Step it up! during the performance
Audience participation has been a part of the step tradition since its inception in the 1900s. Throughout any Step Afrika!
performance, the audience is invited to clap, stomp, cheer and participate in call and response with the artists. The
Company may also bring members of the audience onto the stage to learn a step!
Step ID challenge! during the performance
Challenge yourself—You will see Step Afrika! perform four major dances, each with a distinct style. Learn about the
different styles of step before the performance by reading the descriptions and pictures in this guide, and then attempt to
identify each dance during the performance (without looking at the program!)
“If you can talk, you can sing; if you can walk, you can dance.”
African Proverb
Make Music after the performance
As you experience Step Afrika! pay close attention to how the dancers make music with their bodies. They stomp their feet,
clap their hands, and use their voices. After the performance, find a friend or group of friends. Together, pick out your four
favorite sound movements. Practice these movements with each other until you can perform the sequence several times.
Together, perform this dance for your class (and ask your professor for extra credit—you’ve earned it!).
Get Some Rhythm in Your Life
after the performance
Rhythm is patterns of long and short sounds organized by beat, accent, and tempo. Listen for rhythms Step Afrika! creates
with their bodies. Spend a day listening to the rhythms that are part of your everyday life. Do you hear crickets sounding a
slow beat as you fall asleep at night? What rhythms do your classmates make when they go up or down the stairs?
Memorize and practice one of these rhythms using only your body as an instrument. Then share it!
Create Polyrhythm—In class or with your friends, divide into four groups: A, B, C, and D. Have each group choose a different
part of the body to create rhythm: clap hands, slap knees, stomp feet, call out a short word like “yes!” Break it down into four
beats: group A sounds all four beats, group B sounds beats 1 and 3, group C sounds 2 and 4, and group D sounds twice on
each beat. Rehearse separately and then have all four groups come together to practice and perform.
Practice Call and Response—In call and response, a leader calls out words and a group responds. Call and response can be
done both with voice and dance. Practice the following call and response sequence that is a favorite of Step Afrika!
Call—Attention!
Response—Huh!...Huh!
Call—Brothers and Sisters!
Response—Yes!
Call—Brothers and Sisters!
Response—Yes!
(Be creative and make up your own call/response!)
Acknowledgements
Some of the content in this guide was created by:
Step Afrika! Dance Company
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Education Department, Cuesheet for Students “Step Afrika!”
Please direct all comments and queries to Shannon Dozoryst, Director of Education and Outreach
Young Auditorium
930 W. Main St.
Whitewater, WI 53190
[email protected]
262-472-1432
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