Step Through History: A World AIDS Day Celebration of Movement, Memory, and Community
On December 1, 2025, the Urban League of Hampton Roads partnered with CAN Community Health to launch Step Through History. This project chronicled the history of HIV through the lens of line dancing and aimed to connect art, movement, and education in a way that honors the communities who lived this history.
Created by Early Intervention Specialist, Dexter Davis, Step Through History used ten influential songs from the 1980s to today to walk participants through major moments in the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Each song represented a chapter in the timeline, allowing people to learn while engaging in familiar dances that hold cultural meaning.
The main event was held in Portsmouth at Amazing Times Event Studio. Line Dancing with Letrice from the House of Okai facilitated the session. This collaboration between the ULHR Health Team and CAN Community Clinic offered a holistic and non traditional approach to HIV awareness in recognition of World AIDS Day. More than 25 people attended. Many participants were engaging with HIV related information in this format for the first time and responded with enthusiasm. The tagline, “the moves that move us forward,” took on deeper meaning as participants saw how movement, culture, and community history intersect.
The second event took place in Hampton during Line Dancing with Harold at Stillwater Tavern. Harold Carter dedicated his regular Monday class to World AIDS Day and welcomed more than 35 attendees. The room was filled with people wearing red and ready to learn. The LGBT Life Center’s Prevention Team and Testing Van supported the event by providing outreach materials, information, fans, and water bottles. Their presence broadened access to important resources and strengthened the connection between community members and HIV education.
At both events, participants explored meaningful connections between line dances and the eras in which they became popular. For example, the well known 18 count version of the Electric Slide, released in the late 1980s by Marcia Griffiths, is the same version danced by many people who lived during the height of the epidemic.
Why This Event Matters
Step Through History combined movement and memory in a way that was interactive, meaningful, and accessible. Participants expressed excitement about learning, dancing, and connecting the history to their own lived experiences. It highlighted the relationship between cultural movement and social history by pairing the Electric Slide with the Cha Cha Slide, the Mississippi Cha Cha, and the Cupid Shuffle. Many Urban League clients today are over 55 and were diagnosed with HIV or AIDS during the same years those songs were released. This allowed participants to see how dance evolved over the years and how progress within HIV treatment and advocacy evolved alongside it.
Looking Ahead
We are excited to continue Step Through History and build more opportunities for cultural connection and community health engagement. This project showed that awareness can be joyful and grounded in shared experience and that movement can serve as a bridge between the past and present.
We invite anyone living with HIV/AIDS to connect with the Urban League of Hampton Roads for support services and resources.
