PRESS RELEASE

June 06, 2007

U.S. Dance Troupe Step Afrika! Performs “Stepping” in Four Cities

The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City are pleased to host the Vietnam tour of Step Afrika!, a nine-member U.S.-based Stepping Dance company. This world-renowned group will give public performance at the HCMC Opera House, Lam Son Square, District 1 at 8:00 PM on June 12.  The company will also hold an arts education session with the students of the Vietnam-USA Society English Training Service Center at 10AM on June 12, as well as at  at the HCMC Opera House. They will continue on to Thua Thien Hue Province for a public performance at Thua Thien Hue Center of Culture and Information, 41A Hung Vuong, Hue City at 7:30 PM on June 13. 

Step Afrika! will also travel to Hai Phong, where they will perform  at 8:00 PM on June 15 at the Hai Phong Opera House, Hoang Van Thu Street, Hong Bang District, Hai Phong City.  They will then travel to Hanoi on June 16, and hold a workshop on Step Dancing at the Vietnam National Opera Ballet Theater.  On June 17, they will give their final Vietnamese tour performance at 8:00 PM at the Hong Ha Theater at 51 Duong Thanh Street, Hanoi. 

Founded in 1994, Step Afrika! is a critically-acclaimed company known worldwide for its performance of Stepping, a unique dance created by African-American college students.  Stepping is a dance that combines footsteps, claps, and spoken words to produce complicated rhythms.  Step Afrika! has been featured on CNN, BET, PBS & NPR as well as in numerous books, documentaries and articles that examine the tradition of stepping.  The company serves as a cultural ambassador for the United States, representing the nation at events around the world.  The company is a model for the use of dance in educational settings, espousing the themes of teamwork, academic achievement and cross-cultural understanding.  More information on Step Afrika! can be found at its website: http://www.stepafrika.org/031207/home.htm

For ticket information, in Ho Chi Minh City, please contact the U.S. Consulate General’s Public Affairs Section at 821-6400, ext. 120 (Mr. Triet) or 106 (Mr. Duc)

In Thua Thien Hue Province, please contact Ms. Chi of Thua Thien Hue Center of Culture and Information at 054-815-030 or 0914-478-896.  In Haiphong, please contact Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Linh of Hai Phong People’s Committee at 0313-810-231.  In Hanoi, please contact Ms. Nguyen Thanh Hien of the Public Afairs Section, U.S. Embassy in Hanoi at 04-831-4580 (ext. 5177).

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