Understanding and Learning to Walk With No Standards

Whenever Pete Frazier announces the Walkers Category at any contest, he speaks directly to me. A hit dog does hollar. He says, “If you learn this dance called stepping, you must learn how to walk. That is a part of the original part of Chicago Stepping.” “Ouch!” I say every time. I am learning to walk.

Instructors, friends, and elders in the stepping community have always encouraged me to learn to walk. It was during the quarantine, when I had a chance to focus on my dance, that I decided it was time to fill that gap. It was time to smooth it out and slow it down, and learning to walk was to help me do just that. Like stepping, I have witnessed many variations of walking on the steppers set.

Before jumping in, I had to investigate what I was to learn and where I should go to learn it. Walking is the part of this stepping experience and culture that I have the least understanding and most curiosity about. In the seven years I have written for livingthe8count, this is my first time addressing the topic of walking. Additionally, this advent is now an imperative adventure because individuals that I see as great contest partners for me also know how to walk and compete in the Walkers category.   

Define or Describe Walking

First, I wanted to know what is walking. I reached out to the one person today who is always talking about walking – Professor Reggie Miles. Reggie admitted he had never known a technical definition of walking, but he did describe walking for me. Walking was popularized in Chicago during the doo-wop era of music. Stepping and walking are married to each other.

Walking is an offshoot of the waltz – the black version of the waltz.  Unlike other Swing dances executed in a circular pattern (waltz foot pattern shown in the diagram), walking is executed counterclockwise, moving primarily around the dance floor in the outside lane in a rectangular fashion. The beauty of walking is that it allows the male to create his own style to separate himself.

The Road to Research and Investigation

While researching and understanding walking, I covered certain bases for information – the music, the stepper set, videos, the World’s Largest Stepping Competition, and classes.

The Music

To attune myself to the music that I see steppers walking to, I started a walking playlist and listened to the songs often. Getting familiar with the music is a good start before I think about how to move to it. I have heard many of these songs several times, but now I am paying attention to the words. Every song is sensual. Just read the titles. Oh my! I realize why walkers look so dramatic and in their own world. These songs tell very emotional love stories. I curate my selections from songs I hear selected by Chicago DJs for contests and walking on the set. Here are the last ten songs I added to my Walkers list from the selections DJ Cross played for Milwaukee’s Largest Contest Walker’s category.

Observation and Conversation on the Stepper Set

On the stepper set, I observed the people walking and asked questions. I pay attention to the much older steppers or the couples I know are in the contest this year, like Rich and Hanae, who I see often. The Grand Ballroom is one of my favorite places to see the walkers because I don’t know the names of many people I see here, and they are older. When Bobby Taylor is walking, I watch him and his partner because he has won the Walkers category at the WLSC two years in a row – in 2021 with Tabitha Hicks and in 2022 with Sherry Gordon. I asked on social media who I should watch as great walkers, and two names stand out of women I should watch – Tina Renee Moore and Tina Wilson.

Sometimes people ask me to walk. My answer depends on who it is and where I am. I often admit I don’t know how to walk and will fake it until I make it and am offered a lesson on the spot. At the Grand Ballroom, I ain’t getting out there with those seasoned walkers until I know what I am doing. I observe the styles and look at similarities and differences at the Grand Ballroom. Fridays and Mondays at the Fifty Yard Line are special because I constantly observe and ask Hollywood Frank about the walkers I see. However, every answer I get from Hollywood Frank about walking leads to another question. I am taking all my mental notes and learning. Sometimes, I will walk at the Fifty because it’s the place I am most comfortable being uncomfortable while learning. 

I am still trying to define some loose walking standards for my education and understanding. What I now define and know as standards are what I hear the elders frown upon. There is no bouncing and no grinding on each other. Sometimes, what I see on the set does not follow what I have heard about walking. For example, I have heard more than once that there are no turns in walking, but what I see on the set does not follow that instruction. I am learning to pick apart what I hear and still ask questions.

Videos of Walkers and the WLSC Walking Contestants

Whether or not we agree with it, many steppers outside of Chicago look at what is happening in the World’s Largest Steppers Competition to understand and answer questions about stepping and walking. Of course, I watched videos of WLSC contestants to understand what the audience and judges look for in the Walkers category. I have more questions. Several people have warned me that the best walkers never end up on the WLSC stage so the WLSC may not be the rule of thumb for guidance. If I am to compete in the Walkers category, this has to be a part of my research, and here are some of my key observations:

• The Walkers Category is the only category for the WLSC where there are no written rules. I don’t know if this makes competing and winning in this category more difficult or easy. I see so many different styles show up on stage. To keep it simple, I look at what is consistent and similar about the winners chosen in this category year after year.
• I looked at the last Masters category and the last couple that won the Masters – Drewry Alexander and Keesha Anderson. In the Masters, Walking is required in the first minute of the performance. I have heard so much controversy about whether they were walking or if this was graystone. I still don’t know the answer, but they won.
• It is complicated to find a standard. When I watched LA Chase and Wakeba’s winning Walkers category performance in 2014 WLSC, I had more questions about the style and music. They performed on stage with two other couples, and how they walked was very different from the others on stage with them, and they won.

I watch walking videos sparingly because I am a hands-on learner. Walkers in other contests and on the stepper set are on my radar. I think the 2023 winners from Milwaukee’s Largest Walkers, Mike Bee and Shelly, enamored the entire audience with their walking performance. I don’t take these other contests for granted and learn from what I see there and who the winners are.

Finding A Walking Class

Finding a class was the most difficult part of learning to walk. Until 2023, I have not seen anyone publicly offering regular classes to learn to walk. I attended a walking workshop years ago in North Carolina with Charnice Simmons and Tall Rick, but I long for a class format over a workshop. When I think about the intimacy of walking, I am curious about the dynamics of a walking class. I also reached out to Buford Finley, but when I did, his classes were no longer in session. Then, I picked someone in Chicago to be my instructor because he has taught me so much about stepping on the set, and I asked him if he did walking classes. He said not anymore because he did not have enough students. I asked if I could do a private with him. He said, “I don’t teach walking in private because walking is very intimate.” 

I almost gave up, but I continued to do impromptu lessons on the set, and I am starting to see some new flyers for walking classes. All hope is not lost. I may have to stick to learning on the set. Charnice’s post about Draper kind of cemented that direction for me.

“Draper was a smooth dancing brother he actually taught me how to walk at the East of the Ryan right on the dance floor. So when folks be bitching and moaning about being taught on the floor … That’s really how we learned!!!!” 

Charnice Simmons

The Journey Continues

I still do not know how to walk, but I am learning some things and understand that, like stepping, there are many variations to walking. It’s just like learning to step. Already, I have done at least three variations in my impromptu on-the-spot lessons and each time I am still walking like they do in Chicago. I will continue this process gracefully, watch the contest and the walkers on the set, continue my conversations, and see if I can make it to one of these new walking classes. Pete Frazier announced that the Walkers category for the 2023 WLSC is dedicated to Chicago’s Very Own – Jerry Rooks (RIH), who was one of the finest and most respected walkers on the stepper set. I hope there is a special walking exhibition in Jerry’s honor at this year’s WLSC because I am sure there will be something I can learn from that moment.

WLSC 2023 Walkers Category Contestant Couples

There are 20 couples in the Walkers Category this year. I look forward to the show.

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Welcome! I am the writer Sonji Stewart. These are my travel stories about my Chicago Stepping experiences, traveling from city to city to dance. I hope my stories encourage you to join me in the adventure.

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