Step Afrika! Lights Up DCA

Photo by Rachel Lukas.

Holding the attention of an auditorium packed with kids is no easy task, but Step Afrika! made it look that way when it hosted an hour-long matinee for area schoolchildren the morning before the dance troupe’s ticketed evening performance Jan. 18 at Door Community Auditorium (DCA) in Fish Creek.

The dances of the Washington, D.C.-based troupe blend several Black traditions, including traditional African dances and some created in historically African American fraternities and sororities. Then Step Afrika! members add spoken word, chants and body percussion, creating beats by clapping, stomping and striking their bodies.

And the kids loved it. The performers encouraged audience participation by teaching the crowd simple dances and chants, and they sprinkled in bits of Black history all the while.