BOONE—Step Afrika!, an African-American dance company, will perform Nov. 17 at Appalachian State University. The 8 p.m. performance in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts is sponsored by the student-run Appalachian Popular Programming Society.
Tickets are on sale at the Schaefer Center and online. Advance tickets are $5 for Appalachian students and $7 for guests. Tickets will be $7 the door.
Step Afrika! is the first professional dance company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping. The company began in 1994 as an exchange program with the Soweto Dance Theatre of Johannesburg, South Africa, and has expanded to become an international touring company presenting performance, residencies and workshops worldwide.
Over the past 19 years, Step Afrika! has grown to become one of the Top 10 African-American dance companies in the U.S. and the largest African-American led arts organization in Washington, D.C. Each year, the company performs in 10 countries for more than 50,000 people and touches 23,000 youth through its arts education programs.
Today, the company continues to promote an appreciation for stepping as a contemporary dance genre and its use as an educational, motivational and healthy tool for young people. Step Afrika! accomplishes this mission through arts education activities, international cultural exchange programs and performances.
C. Brian Williams, founder and executive director of Step Afrika!, is a native of Houston, Texas, and a graduate of Howard University. He learned to step as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. – Beta Chapter and launched the historic Step Afrika! International Cultural Festival in partnership with the Soweto Dance Theater in December 1994. Williams has performed, lectured and taught around the world. He has been cited as a “Nation Builder” by the National Black Caucus of State Legislators; one of Washington, D.C.’s “arts innovators” by Washingtonian Magazine; and earned the Pola Nirenska Award for Contemporary Achievement in Dance.
For more information, contact A.P.P.S. chairperson Khedema Robert at 828-262-2855 or advisor Jana Vise at 828-262-3032.
About Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University, in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The transformational Appalachian experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and embrace diversity and difference. As one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina system, Appalachian enrolls about 19,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.
