“Step Afrika!” reviewed by Amy Menzel

★★★★★ Presumably, you are a theatre-goer. You understand and appreciate the underlying pursuit of theatre. To entertain, sure, but also to move and inspire and reflect and encourage contemplation. It’s all inherently understood even though it’s not often expressly stated in the Playbill. Step Afrika! is a different kind of production. It’s more than a stage production, really, and they do have an expressed mission statement printed in the program. “Step Afrika! promotes stepping as an educational tool for young people, focusing on teamwork, academic achievement and cross-cultural understanding.” It just so happens that it also makes for a great stage production.

I’m trying to avoid using the cheesy infomercial tag “Wait! There’s more!” but it’s difficult to do in this case. Because, yes, Step Afrika! is a great show, but there is so much more to it. For example, the company encourages audience participation right from the start. And it’s not just clapping along, although that is encouraged; we were encouraged to react to anything we saw that we liked in any way we liked. There is no fourth wall in a Step Afrka! show, making it much more an experience, and an exciting one at that.

We audience members soon found ourselves acting as judges in a playful dance-off between the men and women of the company. Then 20 or so audience volunteers were brought up on stage to learn and perform a basic stepping combination. The volunteers-turned-dancers stayed up on the stage, creating a sort of theatre in the round for a performance that showcased traditional West and Southern African dances. This was one of the most awe-inspiring parts of the production, given the integration of drums, whistles, and a whole lot of talent and energy.

I’m certain I wasn’t the only one wondering how the company of nine would or could keep performing at such a high level with such a high level of intensity for the entire 90-minute (no intermission) show. It seems a couple strategically placed solo/duo performances allowed the rest of the company just enough time to change and breathe before their next full-company, full-energy number.

I was entertained, I was informed, and I was in awe the entire time.

Good news/bad news time…

Good news: Step Afrika! is a fantastic show, more than worth the price of admission (which started at $25 or $20 via “student rush” for the March 22 performance at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts).

Bad news: Last night’s performance was a one-night engagement, supported by the Arts Midwest Touring Fund.

Good news: Step Afrika! continues to tour and will be back in the midwest on April 3 at Western Illinois. (More good news is that tickets start at $10 for this performance!) The company will also be performing at Indiana State University April 9. (Tickets are only $22 for this performance.)

Even more good news: Step Afrika! regularly performs in Washington, DC, where the company is based and is celebrating their 25th Anniversary Season this year. You can check out their June performance dates here.

Learn more about Step Afrika! by visiting stepafrika.org. Watch some videos at their website while you anxiously wait for to see a live performance.