Step Up: About 1,200 attend Step Afrika dance performance
Patrick SillerThe auditorium roared louder than the drums could pound on stage.
Dance troupe Step Afrika enchanted 1,200 people - Warriner Hall's Plactha Auditorium capacity - by creating rhythms through tap dancing, snapping, clapping and alternating "sh" and "ah" noises.
"The turn out was really good," said Carly Wilson, a Detroit junior and employee for Minority Student Services.
"I expected a good turn out, but there are people in the balcony and that doesn't normally happen at any event," she said. "The audience was really interactive, they participated well and gave good feedback."
Step Afrika is an ensemble precision dance group that promotes an understanding of and appreciation for stepping, a form of dance that grew out of the song and dance rituals practiced by black fraternities and sororities in the early 1900s.
Based out of Washington, D.C., Step Afrika promotes appreciation for stepping and uses dance traditions as an educational tool for young people everywhere. The company also encourages teamwork, academic achievement and cross-cultural understanding in their use of step.
"They did a good job showing the history of stepping, and then also encompassed the stuff they learned in Africa," said Lance Franklin, a Detroit senior. "I'd see them again. No doubt about it."
Thursday evening was the third time Step Afrika performed at CMU.
"It's always good, that's why we brought them back," said Traci Guinn, director of Minority Student Services. "They are always different troupes so I can't say that one is better than the other."
Christina Beek, Walker freshman, said the show was much more than she anticipated.
"My favorite part was probably when they had everyone come up there. They were having them (audience members) do the steps with them and having them repeat after them. They had little kids up there and the little kids were so cute," she said.
One child, Lorenzo Mata, 5, a Mount Pleasant resident went up on stage to dance with Step Afrika.
"He just loves step dancing and break dancing," said his father, Ramon Mata, 30, a Mount Pleasant resident. "He really likes that movie 'Stomp the Yard.' He knows three of the moves when we're at home."
To learn more about stepping and Step Afrika go to stepafrika.com.
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