The Company Achieves a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ Title at the Step Afrika! Step Classic

Step Afrika! presented the first-ever Step Afrika! Step Classic from February 14–16, 2025 in Washington, DC—a three-day event honoring community, culture, and the powerful tradition of stepping. Step Afrika! Community Day at the National Building Museum made history as Step Afrika! became the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title holder for the “largest stepping dance”!

The dynamic weekend culminated with a step show at the Warner Theatre hosted by celebrity influencer LaLa Milan. With beats from Jeeda the DJ, this grand finale brought the Company and the nation’s top step teams together on stage for an electrifying showcase of community and culture.

PHOTOS BY PHELAN MARC

The Step Afrika! Step Classic proudly honored the legacy of stepping—from its roots in the Divine Nine to its evolution as an art form that bridges generations. Explore the Step Afrika! Step Show Program to learn more about our participants and partners.  Many thanks to our generous sponsor, Events DC, and our media sponsors Destination DC and Watch the Yard. Additional thanks to the National Building Museum for partnering with us for Step Afrika! Community Day.

Step Afrika! Sets Guinness World Record for Largest Stepping Dance

Micha Green for The Washington Informer, February 17, 2025

For more than 30 years, Step Afrika! has worked to uplift the legacy and tradition of the African American art of stepping, and on Feb. 15, with 268 steppers at the National Building Museum in Northwest, D.C., the celebrated company furthered this mission by setting a Guinness World Record.

“The event was historic,” said Janice Ferebee, one of the many people who joined Step Afrika! to participate in the groundbreaking moment. “The atmosphere was electrifying, fun, and powerful. It was wonderful to see the multicultural gathering— although predominantly African American— come together to make history.”

Janice Ferebee, a proud 45-year member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., is dedicated to staying active through various fitness activities. At 69, she said was likely one of the oldest participants in Step Afrika’s! Guinness World Record-breaking step at the National Building Museum on Feb. 15.

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The participants were divided into three groups to review the routine with Step Afrika! company members, who led the charge in practice. Then it was time to combine forces with all 268 people to break the record of more than 250 steppers at once. An official Guinness World Records adjudicator was present to count all the participants and ensure they were in sync.

With Black History Month in full swing, Step Afrika!’s Community Day was not only a moment to set a record, but to continue spreading the historic and cultural significance of stepping.

Williams told The Informer, he started Step Afrika! in 1994 with “a strong belief in African American history and culture and trying to bring that forward in new and exciting ways,” as the company celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024.

“The motivation was to really preserve and promote stepping as a uniquely American art form,” he explained. “And, now we’ve preserved and documented [stepping], which is important because we had to do it ourselves. And then the rest of the world kind of caught up.”

With the Guinness World Record set on Saturday for the “largest stepping dance,” Williams and Step Afrika! are continuing barrier-breaking work that not only offers joy and entertainment but brings people together in the name of art.

“Although Step Afrika! and this event are exceptional representations of Black brilliance, Black excellence and Black pride, this internationally renowned performance group transcends Blackness and embraces humanity. This event is one way of promoting cross-cultural connection and unity, which is needed in today’s political and social climate,” Ferebee said. “Stepping, much like music, becomes a universal language.”

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