Step Afrika! illustrates African-American history with 'Great Migration' dance show

October 27, 2016 at 4:33AM
Step Afrika! (Photo by Meredith Hanafi
Step Afrika! (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Remembering the 'Great Migration'

In the 1940s, painter Jacob Lawrence set out to tell the story of the "Great Migration," with African-Americans from the South heading north in search of better opportunities. Lawrence employed vivid colors and a flat, cubist aesthetic to depict the hopes, toils, joys and hardships of those making the journey. And now dance company Step Afrika! is drawing from Lawrence's paintings for "The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence." This show uses stepping, South African gumboot dancing and West African dance styles to illustrate this chapter in American history. (7:30 p.m. Sat., the Ordway, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, $19-$39, 651-282-3000, ordway.org) SHEILA REGAN

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