Step Afrika! Celebrates the Little Rock Nine

On September 25, 1957, Pattillo Beals, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Carlotta Walls La Nier, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, Minnijean Brown Trickey and Thelma Mothershed Wair, known as the Little Rock Nine, "guarded by the National Guard soldiers and the Army's 101st Airborne, began regular class attendance at Central High." (Lonnie Bunch, Smithsonian National Museum of African History and Culture).

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: www.stepafrika.org.

Partial Credits: Special Appearance by Ernest Green of The Little Rock Nine. Choreography by Dustin Praylow and Jordan Spry. Costumes by Paris Francesca and Glenora Lewis. Performed by Step Afrika! artists: Emerald Holman, Conrad R. Kelly II, Misha Michel, Ronnique Murray, Dustin Praylow, Valencia Springer, Jordan Spry, Pelham Warner, Jr. and Robert Warnsley. Directed, filmed and edited by Ajah Smith in collaboration with Film Stop.