A touring dance team will turn Beasley Coliseum into its own giant drum.

Born from college Greeks and seen across the world, Step Afrika! will come to Pullman with high-energy dance form combining traditional African styles with the contemporary.

Step Afrika! is a dance group whose stated mission is to bring the tradition of stepping to professional stages and communities across the country. Through these performances, the group strives to preserve and share the stepping culture.

C. Brian Williams, founder and executive director for the group, said stepping first began around 1900 in African-American fraternities and sororities here in America. Step Afrika! has worked with organizations around the world to combine stepping with different cultures.

“Step Afrika! is a family,” said artistic director Mfon Akpan. “We are artists who have a passion for stepping and education and culture exchange.”

Step Afrika! has danced their way across South America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia. Through their world travels, the organization has combined stepping with Brazilian drum corps, Irish step, live jazz, and symphonies.

The style of stepping requires the dancers to make their own music. Through percussive elements, the dancers use their bodies and the stage as instruments. There’s no recorded track, so the performers make the music they dance to.

“Everyone has their own inspiration,” said performer Joe Murchison. “How each person comes up with their own individual pieces is unique to that person.”

One of the inspirations came from the sounds of Chicago, such as hearing people walk on the sidewalk and the sounds in the train station.

Murchison said it is a bit painful in the beginning to use one’s body as an instrument. Hands get red and calloused, but after a while the performers become accustomed to it. Members remain aware of their health to stay fit for each performance.

“You get sore and tired but you keep pressing forward because at the end of the day we love what we do,” Akpan said.

Step Afrika! members all have college degrees in various fields such as chemistry, fine arts, and journalism. The one thing they have in common is the passion for stepping. Along with their performances, they also have multiple opportunities to work with children and teach them about stepping.

“(They’re) so enthusiastic and earnest when it comes to learning stepping,” Akpan said.

Williams said the more energy they get, the more they give back to the audience. The show is not something to just sit down and watch. They encourage the audience to make noise and get into it. He described the performance as an exchange between the artists and the audience, like a conversation.

“No matter where we are, Washington or Mississippi or in Alaska or Amsterdam, at the end of the day it’s about bringing people together to enjoy art and culture,” Williams said.

Step Afrika! will appear at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in Beasley Coliseum. Admission is free.