‘Footprint’ had great steps

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today’s column includes a review of African Footprint, which was at the Academy of Music from Feb. 29 through March 2. I also have a special notice and a cryptogram.
I read that African Footprint kicked off its North American tour in New Orleans in November. It came to our city just in time to honor the last day of Black History Month, which is celebrated throughout February.
African Footprint teaches its audience about the diverse history of South Africa through Afrocentric and Eurocentric music and dance. I hope all ninth-grade world history students are remembering these terms right now.
The production shows the audience the influence that African American music, and its specific dance movement have had on various cultures throughout the world. The production has been enjoyed by more than 250 million viewers around the world, and South Africa’s longest-running show is finally touring North America.
Here is some info I read on its press release. In 1998, South African performer/producer Richard Loring started a school for disadvantaged South African youths interested in performance. CNN decided to broadcast Millennial Festivities on New Year’s Eve 1999, from the prison cell where Nelson Mandela had been held at Robben Island, and Loring’s troupe was invited to perform.
The performance was broadcast around the world. This production has played seven years in South Africa, two and a half years touring Europe, as well as Australia, China, Israel and India. I thought this was interesting that the production was seen by Bill Clinton, Prince Charles and Nelson Mandela himself.
I can almost guarantee that you will be seeing and hearing more from this production company. The show was probably one of my favorite productions that I have seen.
The audience had 90 minutes of viewing intense, very physical intricate dancing. You could say their feet were made for dancing, and that is exactly what they are going to do, and they are going to dance especially for you.
The show was unique because before the production began, they had an authentic re-creation of five-piece African tribe members performing various genre of rhythms. The stage itself opened with about an 8-foot sculpture of an African footprint that looked liked it was made out of clay mud.
The first performance started out with five drummers on African percussion instruments, while another performer gave a declaration:
The land, South Africa
The whole land
Each grain of sand,
North to south,
East to west
The given earth, the best land
The prostate valleys,
The angry mountains . . . . must be healed.
As this ended, fog began engulfing the stage, as well as loud sounds of thunder and bolts of lightning, followed by rays of sun, which I took to symbolize the ray of new hope. This was followed by the next dance, About the hunt, which had a host say, "I am the quest, I am Africa."
Of course, like other productions, they included a love story, which was quickly followed by the next performance, the Zulu stick dance. This included 10 stick performers — three women and seven men. The dancers drummed the sticks feverishly on the floor while doing a traditional dance
Next performance, they simulated a fireside prayer of thanks, with 10 dancers to symbolize more hope.
Then one of my favorites was said to be about a town called Sophiatown in Africa. It mimicked, through tap dancing, the ’50s and maybe ’60s with an underlying theme of change. Here, they not only danced, they also used metal cans as their percussion instruments, which eventually led to a faster- paced scene of dancing to the Kwela-jive.
One powerful scene full of detailed moves that required major body strength was a fight between two men ending in "my hand, take it, and together we are" friends.
What originally starts as a contest of endurance was soon taken by the place of respect for each other, which in turn allowed them to overcome their differences. It reminded me of the physical strength of some members of the Cirque du Soleil team. Nearing the end, gumboot dancing took front and center stage. Gumboot dancing began as a way for gold miners to communicate by stomping to each other, and are also the basis for "stepping" in this country. The boots used in the show came around 6 inches below the knee. They had a mini-comparison competition of the intricate moves; boot dancing, wearing red vs. modern-day tap, wearing yellow. Both kind of mimicked each other and both came out big winners.
The show nears its ending with the performers coming out on stage in their traditional African motifs and giving the impression that everything works out for the best, in the end, because they had other dancers coming out dressed as a nurse, one as an engineer and one as a college graduate.
Next to the last was a soccer scene, the sport of pantsula, meaning football. They bounced soccer balls and imitated playing soccer on the field. This means South Africans can’t wait until they host the World Cup in 2010.
If you did not have the opportunity to see this tour, be sure not to miss next time. You will not be sorry.

FUN FOR A GOOD CAUSE
A night of family fun at the Old York Road skating rink in Elkins Park will be held this Sunday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. to benefit the Susanna Delaurentis Foundation.
The cost is $5 per person. This event is being held by a seventh-grader, Michael Klein, who attends Cedarbrook Middle School in the Cheltenham School District. Mike chose this as his mitzvah project for his May bar mitzvah. All proceeds go to the foundation to contribute to the research in childhood cancer and cystic fibrosis. For more information, call 215-635-0331.

CRYPTOGRAM
CZJDAVEK HBFX ZLC A SZLK KB VB EBFX, TBMKE ZNOAHZ

Hints: C is D; K is T; Z is A; F is M; B is O; M is U

Answer to last week’s cryptogram: THE BLUE MAN GROUP DOES NOT WEAR BLUE SUEDE SHOES
Columnist William Feldman can be contacted by e-mail at wmkidscolumn@aol.com