Step Afrika! presents performances and public workshop at the Parker Playhouse

Step Afrika! presents performances and public workshop at the Parker Playhouse

Events with the first professional company dedicated tostepping leading up to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration

 FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Presented by the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs,Step Afrika!, offers a public workshop and two performances on Jan. 17 and 18 at the Parker Playhouse.

Step Afrika! is the first professional company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping. The dance form first emerged at African American fraternities and sororities. In stepping, the body is used as an instrument to create intricate rhythms and sounds through a combination of footsteps, claps and the spoken word. Stepping is celebrated in such films as Stomp The Yard, School Daze, Mac and Me, Drumline and How She Move.

Over the past 19 years, Step Afrika!,  has grown to become one of the top-10 African American dance companies in the U.S. according to a survey by Dance USA of African American dance companies by budget size. The troupe began as an exchange program with the Soweto Dance Theatre of Johannesburg, South Africa, and it has expanded to become a touring company presenting performance, residencies and work-shops worldwide. Step Afrika!, will perform an exciting celebration of African culture and traditions on Friday, Jan. 17 at 10:30 a.m. as part of the Smart Stage Matinee Series and on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. As Washington, D.C.’s official cultural ambassador, Step Afrika!, represents the city at events all around the world and strives to entertain while building connections between people and highlighting the similarities in dance forms, lives and communities.

Step Afrika! performers will also teach the basics of stepping and incorporate lively South African gumboot dance and con-temporary step techniques that will get participants on their feet and stepping in a Stepping Workshop on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 11:30 a.m. Using the body as an instrument to create intricate rhythms and sounds through a combination of foot-steps, claps and spoken word, the stepping workshop is ideal for ages 12 and up. Professional dance experience is not required.

The workshop is an example of the educational programming that will be offered in the Rose Miniaci Arts Education Center that is scheduled to open at the Broward Center in the summer of 2014. This new state-of-the-art facility will allow the Broward Center to further develop its education programing to serve thousands of additional students and*9  offer a new range of enriching educational experiences.

Tickets for Friday’s Smart Stage Matinee performance are $7 and $6 for groups of 10 or more with $3 lap seat tickets available for infants 12 months and younger. Tickets for Saturday’s performance are $16.50 to $36.50 and $15 to $33 for groups of 10 or more, with student tickets available for $15 and $20. Tickets for the public workshop are $15.

Tickets are available at (954) 462-0222 or select a seat online at ParkerPlayhouse.com. Tickets are also available for purchase at the Parker Play-house box office Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. The Parker Playhouse is located in Holiday Park at 707 N.E. Eighth Street in Fort Lauderdale.

All dates, acts and ticket prices are subject to change without notice. All tickets are subject to applicable taxes, ser-vice and handling charges.