Step by Step
Graham Tainton, 92, arrived in Stockholm from South Africa in 1959 with Miriam Makeba and the group Golden City Dixies. In protest against the apartheid regime, several members defected and stayed in Sweden. That marked the beginning of Graham's long career in dance—as a performer on major stages and television, as choreographer for shows and groups like ABBA, and as a dance teacher at the Ballet Academy and The Royal Dramatic Theatre's Stage School for several decades.
Step by Step follows Graham's first encounter with tap dance in 1930s South Africa—then called "zonk"—his experiences of racial injustice, and the time when Nelson Mandela, a friend from the boxing club and his legal defender, helped him out of prison.
We meet Graham's cousin, Miriam Makeba, who became a global icon in the fight against apartheid, and hear the remarkable story of how Graham, Miriam, and Nelson Mandela were reunited in Stockholm after 34 years—when Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize.
For six months, Carl Eneroth and Joachim Hövel explored the phenomenon of Graham Tainton—how he uses dance to connect us beyond words, and helps reveal the human being behind skin color, politics, religion, or gender. Step by step.
Produced for Streetstar by Carl Eneroth, Stockholm Social Innovation Lab. In Swedish.