FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Audiences won’t want to miss the opportunity to see Step Afrika!, the world’s first professional dance company dedicated to the tradition of stepping and one of the top 10 African American dance companies in the U.S. Step Afrika! will to kick off Black History Month, performing in the Lillian S. Wells Hall at The Parker on January 29 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Broward Center’s Mosaic Series.
Step Afrika! is comprised of 17 full-time dancers—all college graduates—many who attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and are members of Historically Black Greek Fraternities and Sororities. Founded in 1994, as an exchange program with the Soweto Dance Theatre of Johannesburg, Step Afrika! is the first professional Dance Company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping and is the largest African American-led arts organization in Washington, DC, and Washington, DC’s only cultural ambassador. As part of the world’s first interactive stepping exhibit, thousands experience Step Afrika! at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture each day as part of the museum’s Explore More! interactive gallery. In addition, Step Afrika! engages 50,000 college students across the nation, teaches teamwork and discipline to 100 kids as part of the Summer Steps with Step Afrika! summer camp, and expands culture-based arts education for more than 20,000 Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia school students each year.
The company engages tens of thousands each year through a 50-city tour of American colleges and theaters and performs globally as an official U.S. Cultural Ambassador. In 2023, Step Afrika! was inducted into the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) Hall of Fame, the first dance company to earn this honor.
Step Afrika! Founder C. Brian Williams was named a 2022 National Heritage Fellow and is featured in Roots of American Culture: A Cross-Country Visit with Living Treasures of the Folk and Traditional Arts (2022). Step Afrika!’s most recent international tours have promoted cultural dialogue and exchange in Jordan (2018), Ghana (2018). Croatia (2019), Ukraine (2019), Zambia (2019), Angola (2019), South Africa (2019), Dubai (2020), Poland (2022), Slovenia (2022), Bolivia (2022), and Kuwait (2023).
There will be a free community workshop with members of the Step Afirka! company on Tuesday, January 28 at the L.A. Lee YMCA/Mizell Community Center, 1409 NW 6th St, in Fort Lauderdale. For information about this workshop and details on registration, please email Gustavo Padrino at gpadrino@browardcenter.org.
Ticketmaster is the only official ticketing service of The Broward Center and The Parker. Buy tickets online at ParkerPlayhouse.com and Ticketmaster.com; by phone at (954) 462-0222; and in person at the Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office.
The Parker is located in Holiday Park at 707 N.E. Eighth St. in Fort Lauderdale. The Parker is an affiliated venue of the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, which provides programming and management of the facility.
The Broward Center 2024/2025 season is supported by the Broward Performing Arts Foundation. AutoNation, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, Spirit and Nicklaus Children’s Health System.
