The “Lineage” theme of the third annual Feet Keep the Beat festival invites dancers to explore traditions of percussive dance – in which the feet create a rhythm like a percussive instrument – and pay homage to its leaders. Arts at the Armory co-director and chief executive Stephanie Scherpf created the festival to bring various local artists together; this year’s performance includes tap, flamenco, West African dance, step and kathak. “The term percussive dance encompasses so many different styles and art forms, and this festival has facilitated an intercultural exchange.” Scherpf said. “It’s been interesting to see the similarities across the various dance forms when the main uniting factor is the percussive element.” The Aug. 1 festival performance showcases the different styles; Aug. 3 brings free classes for audience members to try what they saw on stage. “This festival is a celebration of local artists and it’s really exciting to also be able to highlight different gurus or teachers in the different styles,” Scherpf said.
Feet Keep the Beat festival showcase at 7 p.m. Aug. 1 at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Spring Hill, Somerville. $35.
The far right and left of the table in this image were added to in a digital retouching process. The dancer and center six-sevenths of the image were photographed and are real.
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