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Step Afrika’s ‘Drumfolk’ brings the 1739 Stono Rebellion to life through the power of stepping
When the drums vanished from enslaved Africans’ hands, the beat leaped into the body — and into American culture.
March 4, 2022
The subject of Step Afrika's “Drumfolk” is the Stono Rebellion of 1739. (Jacob Andrews/Strathmore)
A new production by the stepping troupe Step Afrika! focuses on the power of the drum as a bond, a morale booster, a call to arms — and, for colonial enslavers, a terrifying force.
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The evening-length “Drumfolk,” which had its local premiere at Strathmore on Thursday and will be presented at Arena Stage from May 31 to June 26, is a show of defiance in every sense of the term. Its subject is the Stono Rebellion of 1739, when enslaved Africans in South Carolina launched an ill-fated attempt at freedom with drums and weapons in hand. After their brutal, bloody defeat came a spiritual one. One year later, South Carolina passed the Negro Act of 1740, prohibiting enslaved people from playing musical instruments. Other rights also vanished: learning to write, growing food and assembling in groups.
It’s the silencing of drums that captures the imagination and is brought powerfully to life in “Drumfolk.” When the colonists equated drums with warfare, enslaved Africans found another, irrevocable musical outlet: the body, transformed into instruments through dance, song, hand claps and all manner of rhythmic expressions. In the longer term, as “Drumfolk” makes clear, these bodies shaped American culture. As drums vanished, the beat leaped into the body and became tap dance, hip-hop, beatboxing. And stepping, the fiery, competitive dance practiced on college campuses among African American fraternities and sororities.
This is Step Afrika’s specialty. The group was founded in 1994 by C. Brian Williams, a Howard University graduate and Alpha Phi Alpha stepper who was struck by the similarities between stepping and the dancing he saw on his travels through Africa. His group has traveled the world with an infectious blend of stepping and traditional African dance, a mix that gives “Drumfolk” lyrical as well as thematic power.
Williams writes in a program note about the Stono Rebellion and its organizers, “Why haven’t we learned more about their fight against injustice years before American colonists revolted against Imperialist England at the Boston Tea Party?” “Drumfolk” invites such contemplation as it reclaims vital strands of American culture and anchors them in African bodies.
“Drumfolk” will also be presented at Arena Stage starting May 31. (Jacob Andrews/Strathmore
The most poetic, choreographically rich moments come when we see how one person’s movement gradually organizes the others’, as when one man’s crouching, protective stance, forearms squared in front of his face, is adopted dancer by dancer until the stage erupts and what was once defensive becomes a jubilant expression of communal strength.
Narrative clarity, however, is not this work’s forte. Rather, in sections titled “In the Wilderness,” “Stono,” “Un/Afraid” and “Free,” choreographed by various members of the group, “Drumfolk” relies on the persuasive punch and impeccable athleticism of its dancers to put across its themes of resistance, resilience and rebirth. Occasionally one of the performers acts briefly as a narrator, and songs help move the story along.
Yet “Drumfolk” has more on its mind than telling a story. It’s above all an expressionist experience, with the enthusiasm and energy to send you soaring into next week
