Calendar of Events
The greater Champaign County area is a hotbed for fun, local events you can't find anywhere else in the region. From music festivals, to exhibition openings, to cultural events, there's always something going on.
Please note, masks are required in all indoor spaces regardless of vaccination status and encouraged in outdoor spaces where social distancing isn't possible.
Step Afrika!: Drumfolk
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
500 S. Goodwin Ave.
Urbana, Illinois 61801
(217) 333-6280
Category
Hours
View Website
Step Afrika!, the first professional organization dedicated to the African-American tradition of stepping, has amazed Krannert Center audiences twice before with its lightning-fast footwork, percussive chants, and incredible synchronicity. Its newest creation, Drumfolk, celebrates the early development of African-American percussive traditions including patting juba, hambone, and ring shout—leading to art forms such as tap dance and, of course, stepping. While exploring this important heritage, Drumfolk reflects on the harsh conditions in the American South that coincided with the practice of these transcendent musical forms and how the fortitude of people who were enslaved enabled the birth of new, inspiring traditions such as spirituals, field hollers, and shouts.