"Step Show: The Musical" Part 2, Open Rehearsal and Dialogue

Join us for a multi-part engagement with Maxine Lyle ’00 as she, in collaboration with Soul Steps as they create a new musical, Step Show. Part 2 is a studio visit with Maxine and her collaborators.

Check back here for the Zoom link.

Step Show: The Musical follows Monie, a college freshman at the fictional Bailey College, as she fights to find a voice for herself through rhythm. Combining step, spoken word and other percussive elements, the show illuminates Monie’s coming of age as she navigates cultural appropriation, systemic oppression, and gender biases within the world of step and academia. Step’s arrival at Williams in 1996 and its continued popularity on campus over twenty years later speaks to a bold carving out of space for Williams’ Black students. STEP SHOW offers a launching point for conversation about the function of step at Williams: What drives African-American young people to step? How does step empower young people who navigate racial and systemic oppression? What does the existence of step at Williams say about the community’s racial discourse and how has that shifted over the years?

Artist’s Studio: While so much of the world has slowed down to a halt in response to COVID-19, artists have not ceased to create meaning out of these most unusual circumstances. The Williams community will meet and converse with artists and scholars, following their continued creativity in their studios. Over the course of the academic year, new performances will be created in conversation with guest speakers, faculty, and students.

Part III: STEP SHOW: Work-In-Process Performance
April 8, 2021