Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
Have updated this draft with the SA! repertoire |
||
Line 18:
==Performances and repertory==
Step Afrika! Core Repertoire
*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 ground-breaking work requires the Company to maintain up to 5 complex polyrhythms simultaneously, create the characters in the story and interact with each other through movement and vocals.
*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.
*Ke Nako
Ke Nako means “it’s time” in Southern Sotho, one of the 11 official languages for the Republic of South Africa, Ke Nako focuses as much on the music of stepping as it does the physical movement.
*Nxt/Step
nxt/step premiered in October 2006 as a first-ever multimedia merger of stepping, video and live music. nxt/step is a suite of three movements setting traditional stepping to rock, jazz, hip hop or classical music. It demonstrates the versatility and personality of the dancers through solos, trios and group steps and the use of props such as canes and chairs.
*Step Challenge
Every great step show includes an element of competition between steppers from different fraternities, sororities, and teams. Step Afrika!’s Challenge invites the audience to judge a competition between the men and the ladies of Step Afrika!. Historically, men and women did not “step” together but rather created their own unique approach to the tradition of stepping. In the Challenge, the audience decides which style will win.
*Trane
The train is a powerful symbol in African American culture; it represents freedom, the underground railroad and the promise of a better life. In stepping The Alpha Train is a traditional element practiced by the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Trane pays homage to these traditions and to the works of some of the great jazz masters including John Coltrane (for whom the piece is named) and Duke Ellington.
*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.
*Trio
Trio shows a different side of stepping. Stepping is usually performed by a group but in Trio Step Afrika! highlights the talents of its individual dancers. Each of three dancers is given the spotlight to engage the audience through the quality, energy and personality of their stepping.
*The Wade Suite
Wade merges the South African gumboot dance, collegiate stepping, and tap with the African-American spiritual. It honors the social and artistic role of the church in African-American communities. The dancers represent different segments of the community coming together to perform and celebrate with their Deacon.
*Bridgetower Sonata
The Bridgetower Sonata, moves through significant aspects of the life and legacy of the largely unknown Afro-Polish violin virtuoso, George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower . The works follow the structure and texture of Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 9 Op. 47.
*Green is the New Black
Green is the New Black will explore the opportunities for harvesting the energy created by dance and using it to provide power for the sound and lighting for the show. The show will use a variety of piezoelectric (meaning literally energy created by pressure) technologies to collect the energy created by the dancers and distribute it to the sound and light systems. Green is the New Black will include new choreography as well as classics from Step Afrika!’s current repertoire.
*The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence
The Migration is Step Afrika!’s signature work. The piece, based on Jacob Lawrence’s iconic paintings charts the story of the African American migration from south to north in the early 1900s.
Step Afrika! partnered with the Phillips Collection (which jointly owns Lawrence’s “Migration Series” panels with New York’s MOMA) to use the paintings as inspiration and project them as the set for the production. Each piece uses the images, color palette and motifs of one or more of the panels to tell the migration story through body percussion and dance.
*Nxt/Step: Rmx
Nxt/Step: Rmx is a celebration of youth culture. It takes its inspiration from the playground, hip hop, Go-Go and the Party Walk (a step show tradition where fraternities and sororities step together in their individual styles). The show is structured as an album featuring musical and dance tracks.
*Step Afrika!’s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show
Step Afrika!’s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show (the Holiday Show) invites the audience to come and dance and make music with Step Afrika! and their friends from the arctic kingdom and DJ Frosty the Snowman. The Holiday Show features pieces from Step Afrika!’s repertoire with a seasonal twist and lots of festive fun for the whole family.
*Symphony in Step
Symphony in Step includes Ke Nako, Ndlamo, the Wade Suite and nxt/step set to a soaring classical score composed exclusively for Step Afrika! by Maestro Randall Fleischer of the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra.
==Arts education==
| |||