Review: STEP AFRIKA! MAGICAL MUSICAL HOLIDAY STEP SHOW at Arena Stage

DC’s own Step Afrika! returned to Arena Stage on Friday for its annual Magical Musical Holiday Step Show. This ninety-minute performance features step in all its glory - drumming, whistles, flags, and synchronized, syncopated moves - plus more sequins than you can imagine and three winter animal mascots. 

Set to classic holiday songs, it’s a family show designed to make you smile and shout. At Friday’s opening the crowd featured many Step Afrika! repeat fans who were not afraid to use their maracas to celebrate and give praise to the performers. This is not Lessons and Carols or even the Hallelujah Chorus; it’s jubilant from beginning to end, infused with humor, amazing costumes, and lots of noise. 

The show is great fun as a holiday show but this grinch wasn't fully convinced. Sure, you can step out for a drink refill without worrying you’ve missed some critical number or plot twist, which has some plusses. It’s as much about the camaraderie in the house as what’s onstage. Noise and audience participation are encouraged. The fifth section, DJ Nutcracker’s Yuletide Step Workshop, was an invitation for audience members to come onstage and learn a snippet of a step routine. Veteran company member, Ericka Still, was magnetic, oozing generosity and fierceness as she demonstrated the movements for her audience pupils. Other standout artists included Terrence Johnson, Conrad R. Kelly II and Pelham Warner Jr. who each brought intensity and clarity to their stepping. 

Still, I wanted more stepping. Unison percussive movement fills my heart with joy, and I just wanted more of it and less of the broad humor and audience dance party. The opening number was an ingenious display of drumming, dancing and choreography, as the performers rotated across the stage in different formations while seamlessly keeping the beat. It was one of the few sections in the show to fully showcase their artistry and, with tinsel-bedecked drums and candy cane-striped drumsticks, still bring holiday cheer. It made me wonder if the show, rather than try to be all things for all people, would be stronger broken into a 45-minute family version and hour-long adults only version. 

Performances run through December 23, so if you have family visiting or need a little holiday cheer, be sure to check this out. Just come back for another performance (and if you can see The Migration on tour this spring before it wraps up, do!) to experience the full breadth of what this company can do. 

Runtime: 90 minutes with no intermission.

Photos by Jati Lindsay.