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African Footprint
African Footprint is a team of young people trained in traditional song and dance, selected from the dusty streets of Soweto. The African Footprint, with their hypnotic performances has gained recognition all over the world. The combination of soulful saxophone and the haunting pennywhistle, the Afro-and Euro-centric music and dance tell the vibrant and diverse history of South Africa.
Selection
In 1999, Richard Loring, Television and theatre Star and Show Producer, recruited a group of young people from the town of Soweto. From hundreds of hopefuls, only 30 young aspiring performers were chosen.
This young lot was trained for vocal classes and intensive dance steps. For most of the youngsters, it was their first opportunity to enter the world of professional theatre. Infact, African Footprint opened a whole new world to them.
Style
The African Footprint perform on the African drum beat, and dance includes gumboot,tap,contemporary ballet, hip-hop pantsula. The music and dance is complimented with touching saxophone and pennywhistle. A lot of people term it as an explosive stampede of song and dance, potraying the South African history.
Popular Performances
The group together put in a lot of hard work and they were rewarded once they were invited to perform before Nelson Mandela on December 31st 1999. The performance took place on Robben Island, the very site, where South Africas leader had been a prisoner for 18 years.
This performance turned out to be explosive and was televised around the world. The African Footprint took the world by storm because they were seen by over 250 million viewers.
Upcoming Tours
The African Footprint created huge excitement at the IX International Tamaulipas Festival. After gaining so much popularity, the group is expected to return to Mexico on a six weeks tour.
During this tour, the African Footprint will also perform in the Southwestern United States. This tour is followed by the five week tour of France. Since this is going to be their first ever performance in France, anticipation is already seen building among French fans.
Future Endeavours
African Footprint is expected to team up with Detroit PBS affiliate DPTV and distributor American Public Television to create three separate TV shows that will be broadcasted all over America.
On August 11th 2007, African Footprint creator Richard Loring flew 26 hours to Detroit to participate in a live broadcast special. This special will be repackaged and made available to public broadcasters.
In addition, DPTV will create two other shows - African Footprint Live, a 60 minute show consisting of footage of the live show, and African Footprint Step By Step.
The latter is a documentary showing the lives of the performers of African Footprint as they leave the townships of South Africa to audition for the show, perform before Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, and make their way to London where they perform in the Royal Variety for Prince Charles.