Percussion dancers from Montreal step in to tell stories of black art and history

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Kayin Queeley expresses herself with her whole body. One can feel her enthusiasm in every movement of her hand, in the movement of her shoulders and in the opening of her eyes.

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He uses language that echoes his passion in phrases like “leverage” and “take the plunge” and “resonance.”

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Queeley is the director of the Montreal Steppers, a team that uses their bodies to create beats and rhythms. The non-profit percussion dance group performs for themselves, for the community, and visits schools for workshops and discussions that Queeley says quickly become “the next level.”

Percussion dance has its origins in West Africa. It was a form of celebration and communication among slaves in North America and became popular among black fraternities in the 1940s and 1950s, reaching Canada in the 1990s.

Queeley, who is now a student crisis case manager at McGill University, joined and went on to lead a support team while studying in upstate New York in 2007.

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“What I didn’t realize then,” says Queeley, “was that taking a step was going to introduce me to part of my story, a rich art form rooted in blackness, rooted in black expression, black healing. These are ways we communicate with each other. For me, it was very shallow at first. It was great, it looked good. However, it has meant much more to us.”

Although he had stepped away from the steps when he moved to Montreal with his wife in 2014, the need to “keep the art form alive and maintain the passion of using my body to make music” was never far from his thoughts. Montreal Steppers was formed in 2019 and has 18 members, 13 of whom are active steppers, while the others handle things like stage management, music direction, media, photography, and spoken word.

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When Queeley goes to a school for a workshop, the children will learn how to take steps. However, the first thing she tells the teachers is that she will allow the students to ask whatever they want. A statement like that makes teachers nervous, she says, but she’s always surprised by the depth of conversation the kids get going.

It introduces itself and, with elementary school children and older, it will begin: “About a hundred years ago (I’m just being generous), I wouldn’t be allowed in your classroom. The kids stop and say, ‘Mr. K, why? I mean, because of my skin color. At that time, although slavery had ended, there was segregation. Some ask, ‘What do you mean, what is that?’ He starts the questions right away. As a black male, I would not have been allowed into a white school. I would only have been allowed to teach in a black school.”

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In this way, the Steppers are bold in centering black history and acknowledging what some kids might not have had to think about. Children, with their finely honed sense of justice, “speak up about what’s wrong,” he says. The workshops close talking about the differences of people and the importance of appreciating them.

Children stomp and clap, walk and clap, almost always on the move. However, when they experience it in rhythm, they bond with their peers in an intangible way, says Queeley.

“We use our bodies to tell the story of the steps and the story. We use the art form as a starting point to have dialogues and conversations about blackness, black art, black history, black importance, about creating a safe space and occupying a space for ourselves.”

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He has been a healer for the Montreal Steppers, says Queeley.

“As we go deeper into the steps, we connect the story. We recognize that this is not new. This has always been part of the expression of our ancestors. Going back to the 14th century, to West Africa before these people were displaced against their will and brought into this North American context, these were elements of expression that they were tapping into.”

The only time Queeley gets the words is when he tries to define the connection his team experiences by taking a step.

“Some people say: ‘When you step on the ground, when you hit your body, you are activating your earth and you are awakening your ancestors. It’s something we really can’t describe. … We are taking advantage of something that our ancestors established.”

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The team has run more than 300 workshops and met with nearly 10,000 students, says Queeley. It is a way they want to plant in the communities of Montreal.

“We want people to see us and know who we are: ‘This is in response to everything you’ve said about black people and believe about us.’ We are awesome. We are gifted. We are smart. We are awesome.”

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TAKE A LOOK

The Montreal Steppers are part of the educational program of the English Language Arts Network, in which schools receive an amount to invite artists to conduct workshops.

The Steppers have made the intentional decision not to hold any workshops during Black History Month, to avoid being tokenized or put on a checklist. They use that time to focus on their own healing.

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The group has set a fundraising goal of $4,000 for the month of September. The money will go directly to four community groups that have identified specific needs. The Steppers want their performances to be accessible and therefore not tied to fundraising, so donations are only accepted online. Groups benefiting include: West Island Black Community Association robotics program; the program for adolescents of the Black Association of Côte-des-Neiges; the South Shore Youth Organization mentoring program; and the Tinsdale Community Association High School Perseverance Program.

“We want to continue to find ways to serve, teach and heal ourselves,” says Queeley. “Wherever this is going, if you feel the need to connect with us, we’d be happy to do so. We have seen the impact. We are very optimistic about what is to come.”

To donate, visit gofundme.com/f/q3pusj-back-to-school-fundraiser. More information can be found at www.montrealsteppers.com.

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