Performance Captured as part of an ongoing documentary project “THE STEP”
THE STEP will focus on the journey of Tami & the GSTARZ, the impact it has on their lives, as well as their loved ones as it grants them visibility to a world outside of the prison system.
Tami Eldridge began the GSTARZ (Guys and Girls Stepping Towards a Rehabilitation Zone) as a means to bring focus to her cohort seeking higher education during their incarceration at Bedford Hills. Tami is receiving a seminary masters, a first of its kind for a woman incarcerated in the state of New York. Her goal is to turn the GSTARZ into her Seminary practice. A physical outlet to balance the mental fatigue of pursuing education, the oppression of life in prison, and as a means to bring connection to outside world into their life in the prison.
Tami has been incarcerated for 25 years and has taken on a role of mentor amongst the steppers. Tami and some of the steppers are serving effective life sentences. The strong possibility that they will never leave Bedford Hills shapes their investment in positively impacting the community on the inside and underscores the role of those outside the prison walls who can carry the story of her work to her community on the outside that she may never get to return to. Tami had begun to train Judith “Wezzie” Johnson to take over as the dance leader of the GSTARZ, but she tragically passed away in March of 2024