PALS sponsors Step Afrika

  Tuesday, January 29, 2013 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

The Pittsburg State University Performing Arts and Lecture Series will sponsor a performance by Step Afrika at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19, in Pittsburg’s Memorial Auditorium.

Step Afrika, the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping, has performed across the U.S. and around the world since its founding in 1994.

Stepping was created by African American college students and grew out of the song and dance rituals practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities in the early 1900s. Stepping comes from a long and rich tradition in African-based communities that use movement, words and sounds to communicate allegiance to a group. Today, stepping can be found in high, middle and elementary schools across the US as well as in churches and community-based organizations.

In stepping, the body is used as an instrument to create intricate rhythms and sounds through a combination of footsteps, claps and spoken word.

The company conducts an annual 50-city tour of colleges and theaters across the U.S. and is a national model for the use of stepping in education, espousing themes such as teamwork, academic achievement and cross-cultural understanding.

Tickets for Step Afrika’s Pittsburg Performance are $10 for the general public and $7 for persons 17 and under or 65 and older. PSU Students are admitted free. All seating on the floor is reserved and balcony seating is general admission.