Step Afrika, the first professional company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping, performed at Seton Hill on Thursday, February 8. Step Afrika is critically acclaimed for its efforts to promote an appreciation for stepping, an art form born in African American fraternities and based in African traditions. Step Afrika serves as a model for the use of stepping in educational settings, espousing themes such as teamwork, academic achievement and cross-cultural understanding. Step Afrika reaches tens of thousands of Americans each year and has performed on many stages in North & South America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.

Based in Washington, DC, Step Afrika has been featured on CNN, BET, PBS & NPR as well as in numerous books, documentaries and articles that seek to explore the tradition of stepping. Its signature event, the annual Step Afrika International Cultural Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa, is the fruit of a ten-year collaboration with the Soweto Dance Theatre that unites artists from around the world in dialogue and dance performance. Step Afrika frequently conducts residencies, master classes and in-school performances for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Washington Performing Arts Society, the Smithsonian Institution, and in schools and community-based organizations around the world.