November 07, 2024
Step Afrika! will present ‘masterpiece’ ‘The Migration’ on Nov. 13 in Eisenhower Auditorium
Company members to join free community events including dance workshop, Joyfull meal, artist talks
Three dancers use their suitcases to make music in “Off the Train,” the second movement from “Trane Suite.”
Credit: Jati LindsayStep Afrika! will present its multisensory dance-theatre event “The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence” in the stepping company’s return visit to Penn State. The program, called a masterpiece by DCTheaterArts.org, will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, in Eisenhower Auditorium.
Tickets are $48 for an adult; $15 for those 18 and younger; and $10 for a University Park student and are available for purchase online. The Arts Ticket Center is the only authorized outlet for individual tickets for events presented by the Center for the Performing Arts.
Avoid the $4-per-ticket online service fee by calling 814-863-0255; or buying in person from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays at Eisenhower Auditorium.
Visit Step Afrika! online for more information about the performance and free community engagement events.
The event will be followed by a conversation with members of the company.
“The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence” charts the early 1900s migration by African Americans from the rural South to the industrial North to escape Jim Crow, racial oppression and lynchings.
Inspired by American artist Jacob Lawrence’s iconic 60-panel “The Migration Series” (1940–41), the award-winning dance company’s signature work uses Lawrence’s images, color palette, and motifs in the painting series to tell this astonishing story through pulsating rhythms and visually stunning movement.
Step Afrika! previously appeared in Eisenhower Auditorium to present “Drumfolk” on Jan. 31, 2020. Read a 2020 Center for the Performing Arts interview with Step Afrika! founder C. Brian Williams on the history and significance of percussive dance.
Watch dancers of Step Afrika! perform an excerpt from “The Migration.”
FREE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EVENTS
The Joyfull
Step Afrika! Edition
6:00 pm Sunday, November 10, 2024
Alumni Hall, HUB-Robeson Center
When our bodies are hungry, we need to eat. But when our souls are hungry, we crave a different kind of nourishment. Just like food, art comes from many forms, cultural backgrounds, and histories. At each Joyfull, we welcome all to come and enjoy a meal, live performance and conversation.
Join the Center for the Performing Arts at 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, in Alumni Hall of the HUB-Robeson Center for an event where we make connections and leave with full bellies and full hearts. Free sustainable utensil sets will be given to first-time attendees while supplies last. Help us reduce waste by bringing them with you to use at each Joyfull.
The event is free, but registration is required. Visit The Joyfull online for more info and to register.
Entertainment provided by DJ Temi
The Joyfull will feature performances by Penn State ensembles Afrique Fusion and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., as well as artists from Step Afrika!
A Step Afrika! performance integrates songs, story-telling, humor, and audience participation.
Credit: Jati LindsayStepping Workshop
6:00 pm Monday, November 11, 2024
Heritage Hall, HUB-Robeson Center
Artists from the Step Afrika! company will lead a public workshop at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, in Heritage Hall of the HUB-Robeson Center. No experience is necessary for the all-ages event and will focus on the stepping style of dance.
The workshop is free, but registration is required. Visit Workshop online for more info and to register.
Step Afrika! @ The Palmer
6:00 pm Thursday, November 14, 2024
Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Lobby and Event Space, Palmer Museum of Art
The Center for the Performing Arts, in partnership with the Palmer Museum of Art, will host dancers from Step Afrika! for a discussion and demo at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, in the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Lobby and Event Space. A reception hosted by the Center for the Performing Arts’ Student Advisory Council and the Palmer Museum of Art’s Student Ambassadors will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Members of Step Afrika! will connect the artform of stepping to the work of renowned visual artist Jacob Lawrence. After the talk, they will present a brief stepping demonstration.
The event is free, but registration is required. Visit museum visit online for more info and to register.
RELATED OPPORTUNITIES
Step Afrika! School-Time Matinee
The Step Afrika! production of “The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence” uses percussive-dance theatre to tell the history of The Great Migration in a School-Time Matinee performance of their landmark work. The matinee will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov 14, in Eisenhower.
Reservations are due by Friday, Oct. 25. Visit Step Afrika School-Time Matinee online for state standards and accreditations, and to make a reservation.
Extend the learning experience with a visit to Palmer Museum of Art to see artist Lawrence‘s “Confrontation on the Bridge.” Email Brandi Breslin at bgb56@psu.edu for information about a docent-led or self-guided tour.
Watch Artis Olds, Step Afrika! director of arts, education and community programs, discuss the educational components to Step Afrika’s programs and the stepping dance style.
‘Leaving the Summerland’ dramatic reading
The Black Women Playwrights’ Group is pleased to support Step Afrika’s performance of “The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence.” To expand and give resonance to the performance, the playwrights’ group will broadcast 12-line dramatic scenes from the play “Leaving the Summerland,” also inspired by Jacob Lawrence’s “The Migration Series,” on the theatre app 12@12NOON. 12@12NOON is a text-based private SMS that delivers 12-line dramatic scenes written by award-winning playwrights to your mobile phone weekdays at noon.
Embrace the events that lead an intelligent family to flee their home in Duckhill, Mississippi, in 1919. Five scenes will be broadcast Monday–Friday, starting November 11–15 and repeated the week of Nov. 18–22.
The app is available for free download on the App Store and Google Play. Visit Black Women Playwrights’ Group online for more info.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Support provided by
Debra Lee Latta and Dr. Stanley E. Latta Endowment
Mary Ann O’Brien Malkin Program Endowment
Penn State International Dance Ensemble Endowment
Accessibility services supported by
William E. McTurk Endowment for Program Support
Support for The Joyfull events provided by
Dick Brown and Sandy Zaremba
Penn State Equal Opportunity Planning Committee in The Office for the Vice Provost for Educational Equity
A grant from the University Park Fee Board makes student prices possible.
FIND US
For more information about the season, visit the Center for the Performing Arts online, Facebook and Instagram.
Step Afrika!’s production of “The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence” tells the story of the 1900s-era migration of African-Americans from the rural South to the industrialized North in order to escape racial oppression and to find prosperity.
Credit: Photo by Jati Lindsay