The Company honors the Little Rock Nine in Step Afrika!’s Virtual Juneteenth Celebration

Step Afrika! returned to the virtual theater on June 19, 2021, to commemorate Juneteenth (June 19, 1865) as the day that federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to ensure that all enslaved people were freed, two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Premiering three unique works, Trane, Little Rock Nine, and The Movement; Step Afrika!’s virtual celebration honors and embodies the determination, resilience, and reclamation of freedom with newly filmed choreographic masterpieces inspired by the African American experience.

In the work, Little Rock Nine, the tradition of stepping and contemporary movement inspired by the social dances in the 1950s unite to honor the resilience of nine boys and girls known as the Little Rock Nine.  Their enrollment at a segregated high school in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 remains today one of the most important and courageous acts of protest – ultimately paving the way for the integration of public schools in America. Learn more about the Little Rock Nine here.