After 3,500 performances, 2-1/2 years sold out in Europe and tours in Australia, China, Israel and India; South Africa's longest running show is coming to America! The hypnotic heartbeat of the African drum, the soulful saxophone and the haunting pennywhistle,meld Afro- and Euro-centric music and dance—Kwela-jive, traditional gumboot, tap, contemporary ballet, hip-hop pantsula—into an "explosive stampede of song and dance" that tells the vibrant and diverse history of South Africa. Join us for the Philadelphia premiere of African Footprint!

"African Footprint is to South Africa what Riverdance is to the Irish and Stomp to the Brits!" —Entertainment iafrica.com, South Africa

Links of interest:

> www.africanfootprint.com

> kimmelcenter.org/player Keyword: FOOTPRINT

> Watch a video on YouTube!

> Read "African 'Foot' work exhilarating" in The Times-Picayune
"We're going to walk this show across America!" Oscar-winning actor-producer Louis Gossett Jr. told the cheering audience Thursday night at the U.S. premiere of "African Footprint" at the Contemporary Arts Center. But "African Footprint" isn't walking anywhere. Why should it walk, when it can dance, leap, sing, soar and stir the senses? It is thrilling entertainment that you feel as it courses through you...

Background, History and Context

Nelson Mandela spent much of his 27-year imprisonment on Robben Island, a maximum security prison off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. It was from this cell that he was released in 1991, marking the beginning of a new era in South Africa. And, on December 31, 1999, African Footprint made its debut on Robben Island in front of the cell where Mandela served his sentence with the famous prisoner-turned-president in the audience. The show began one year earlier when television and theater producer Richard Loring created a school for young, aspiring performers from the streets of Soweto. Loring went on to create African Footprint, the first South African musical with a cast of both black and white and male and female performers. He maintains, however, that the show is less about reconciling black and white than it is about bringing together the many cultures of Africa. "I think the working and learning process is as strong and as potent through art, culture music, and dance as it is through politics," Loring says.

African Footprint has been seen by more than 250 million people around the world including President Bill Clinton and HRH Prince Charles, but this is the first time it will tour North America. The cast of thirty will bring their vibrant exploration of South African dance and music—the hypnotic heartbeat of the African drum, the soulful saxophone and the haunting pennywhistle, and a blend of Afro- and Eurocentric music and dance traditions, Kwela-jive, traditional gumboot, tap, contemporary ballet, hip-hop pantsula—to the Academy of Music.

Groups Save!
Treat your friends, family and colleagues to unforgettable entertainment! Call 215-790-5883 or 866-276-2947 for more information on African Footprint.

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