Step Afrika!: The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence

Step Afrika! is a nonprofit dance company centered on the African American practice of stepping, shaped by touring, residencies, and workshop-based education. Their work blends the percussive vocabulary of stepping with elements drawn from South African gumboot dance, using the body as an instrument.

Jacob Lawrence is an American artist whose work has long been a reference point for stage makers exploring Black history and daily life in Harlem. He described his visual approach as a form of cubism shaped by African and Mesoamerican sources, built from flat planes, strong geometry, and compressed narrative scenes.