Odette Bell has been someone I grew with in my Chicago Stepping journey. We started in the same state, in the same community just 2 years a part in our exposure to this dance. Since knowing her, Odette has lived in Hampton Roads, Virginia, California, and now the Chicagoland area. I thought this would be an interesting perspective to share and she was someone I could ask questions. Let’s meet Odette, and find out how our conversation went.
Meet Odette Bell
Odette discovered Chicago Stepping by accident in 2013 when she signed up for a social gathering on meetup. She was looking for something fun to do and to meet new people. When she arrived, it turned out to be a Stepping class with one of the Virginia instructors Tango Ernest. She had taken other dance classes before, and decided to give it a try. Odette liked it and kept going to the classes. She has dabbled in Ballroom, DC Hand Dancing, Graystone, Kizomba, Foxtrot, and Tango. She also knows basic Salsa from growing up in a Spanish speaking country, Panama. However, she is most skilled in Stepping and Ballroom dancing.
“I fell in love with Stepping because it came naturally to me and I enjoyed the social aspect. In 2013, I was a single mom with three boys and didn’t have much of a social life. But after joining these dance classes, my social life exploded. I started attending events, dressing up to go to parties, and meeting new people. It felt great!”
Odette
What contributed to the heightened appeal was traveling to dance with different people and meet new friends from different places. A small social group came out of this called Dem Virginia GURLZ. We formed this group because we all wanted to travel together and make it affordable for everyone. Through our travels, we have become closer as friends.
[Photo Left to Right:] Porta Aviles, Odette Bell, Ivy Williams, Cynthia Catoe-Warren, and Faith Mitchell
Like many steppers, Odette took advantage of the chance to visit new cities in the United States which she had never been to before. She met many Facebook friends through Stepping. Traveling to different cities allowed her to finally meet some of these people face-to-face.
Overall, this whole experience of meeting new people and dancing has been very positive for me.
Odette
Learning to Step in Virginia
Odette spent her first 9 years as a stepper in the Virginia community. She was in the Hampton Roads area which includes the seven cities – Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Hampton, Suffolk, Newport News, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake.
Tell us about some of the annual events you attended in Virginia
I attended two events in Virginia – StyleMasters that Damon Rose has in January and the Emerald Set that VASEF has in March. Since being out of Virginia, this is my first year missing StyleMasters since I have been going. I think these are both great events and unique in of themselves and in their own right. There is a different feel to each of them. The Emerald Set has more of a homie, family, cuddly feel to it. And StyleMasters feels more high energy. I love both of them.
What is something that you would say is unique to Virginia?
One thing that I always say about Virginia is that I am glad that I learned how to step in Virginia. I think that I got a very good start and a very good introduction to the dance. With a very good instructor and also very good male steppers, I had access to great mentoring as I was coming up. I think that may not have been the case in other communities, and it may not be the case even now.
Shawn Westbrook always had a gentle way of correcting mistakes. We talk about teaching on the set, and they were very gentle about it. He’d whisper, “Let’s try that again.” Nobody else had to know what was happening. I had a good instructor in Ernest. By the time I was introduced to the Virginia Stepping community I had a good handle on the dance that allowed me to continue to grow in it. I think the community as a whole was nurturing for me as I came up in the dance.
Continuing to Step in California
Odette was only in California for about a year and a half – mostly engaged in the Oakland community but she lived in Monterrey where there is no Stepping community. She started out in Sacramento because she lived there for a couple of months first before moving to Monterrey.
Tell us about the events you attended in California
I went to Sacramento events first and a couple events in Oakland. When Porta was visiting, I traveled to Los Angeles a couple of times. I drove down to join her and go Stepping. One that I really enjoyed was Down N Da District in Oakland. It is a very very nice event in June. The location has a marina, shopping, hotel, all kinds of amenities, and everything is very nice. The Saturday event is stepper sharp. I have been twice and I would be there this year, but I am not in California anymore.
What are some unique and memorable things about the California Stepping community?
There are some good instructors in California but they are fewer. Some instructors there, to me, don’t execute the dance well themselves. In my summation, that does not help the community. How can you teach something that you don’t know well? And, if you do teach, you’re damaging the community. Usually the victims of that are the ladies because they don’t get to dance with someone who can challenge them and make them better. I noticed a reluctance to want to do better. They were satisfied because they were getting dances so they were not thinking they needed to go to a class or workshops or do anything more. I am not saying this is the attitude of the entire community, but I think things like this keep the community from growing at the pace they could be growing. I think there are good instructors there.
As in other places, I think when people have events and are not communicating or coordinating, they have issues but that’s not entirely unique to California. I am sure that is not just my opinion. I have heard that from other people. It was my impression as soon as I got there.
The people in the California community are good people, fun people. They want to dance. I think they need more mentoring and more direction. I don’t think it’s enough for a particular heavy hitter from Chicago to go in and do a workshop. That’s not going to help. They need some strong steppers in it to help the community grow. Who can control that? They have those who live there. They would have to have the personal desire to go out and get that better experience. The people in the community have been beautiful and welcoming, like Sabrina, and totally embraced me and I am grateful for that.
First Impressions Living In Illinois
Odette has lived in Calumet City, a suburb south of Chicago, just months now since moving there in November 2023. I wanted to get her first impressions and to understand if anything has changed or surprised her.
“I have not been out there Stepping a whole lot since I got here. The only reason for that is my comfort at home. I think what drives that sometimes is that Stepping is readily available. I can go Stepping every day of the week. If I don’t today, I can go tomorrow, or the next day. I don’t feel like I am missing out on anything – as far as Stepping. In California I drove at least 2 hours to Oakland or 3 hours to Sacramento. I really had to plan that and be in the mood to drive that far and it had to be worth it for me to go.”
Odette
What are some of your favorite Sets and events in Chicago?
I really prefer to go to sets that are less populated and where there aren’t so many known people. The place I go most often is that place where I saw you, the weekly MVK set on Thursday that started in the new location in March. I go there mainly because it is close to my house. They have a nice big floor. I like the music. I like the fact that it is not crowded. It’s a different crowd than I would find at the Blue Note or the Fifty Yard Line or Hero’s.
I can blend in and get a few dances and then leave and I am good. Since I moved here, I have not been to the Fifty because of the notion that it is going to be packed and I don’t want to be in the middle of a packed place. I have been to Hero’s a couple of times. I like it but have not been lately. The Blue Note is nice and I have been a few times. There are two groups that had Stepping events at a mall. I can’t recall the groups but that was nice and something different and fun in the middle of the day. There are formal events I attended like parties on the WLSC weekend, Pete Frazier’s White Party in July, and Pete’s Birthday Party in March. I went to Charnice’s Silhouettes of Stilletos. That was a nice event.
What is something about Chicago that makes the community memorable?
I can’t say anything is memorable yet, as I have only been living here since November. I don’t think I have been out there much as I could be doing a lot of Stepping. What I want to do is go to sets that are held in places other than the 50 Yard Line, The Blue Note, or Heros.
I think I know there are other communities out there that we probably don’t see very often or the people that I would know are not at those places. I want to explore those places and …. not that I don’t enjoy socializing with the people I normally see at Stepping events … but I want to explore the other side of Chicago Stepping where those people don’t normally go or don’t go to much.
People who do not step attend Stepping events
One thing I observed in Chicago (before I moved here) was when I came to the Naval base in Great Lakes. I came down to Chicago to be introduced to the Chicago Stepping scene by a friend. I realize there are guys who fake it till they make it with Stepping. That kind of threw me for a loop. Until that time, I thought everybody who says they can step, can step. Now that I am here, and know more about Stepping, I still see it. It’s not pervasive but it exists. Guys who are not Stepping ask me to dance and when we start to dance, I am thinking, “What the …” That observation has baffled me. Just because you are from Chicago that doesn’t mean you can step, but if you go to Stepping events I think you should know how to step.
Has your impression of Chicago changed since you moved here?
No, my impression has not changed. What I experienced before, is pretty much in line with what I experienced now. The community is unique. They have their ways on how they dress. The guys in their furs. The ladies – sometimes what they wear leaves my jaw on the ground, but that’s the Chicago way. Chicago has their own way of doing things. There is nothing that I thought about Chicago before, that has changed now that I live here.
I am slowly but surely trying to immerse myself in the community. Even though I want to to do that, I am not really doing that. I don’t want to be known like that in the community. I go dancing by myself. There is no girlfriend or group that I go dance with. I wait for the guys to ask me to dance or I go and ask them to dance if I really want to dance. I have no desire to be in the in crowd. A lot of folks already know me and so when they see me they say hi and ask me to dance. I am no stranger. I like to come and go as I want and not have any social obligations.
Is there any idea that you see in any of these communities that others should apply or try?
I mostly see the same issues in all the communities I have lived in. It’s the same issues that I see in other communities where I have not lived. I don’t think I have seen enough of the California or Illinois community to say that they should be a model for other communities to follow. Chicago community is a large enough community to have 2 or 3 events in a day and have good attendance. Other communities that try to do that end up hurting themselves. If you have only a few people in your community and you’re having two events on the same weekend, either one is going to suffer or both of them are going to suffer.
The one thing about the Virginia community in recent years is that now there seems to be more of a coordination with the promoters for events. I don’t see a problem with two weekend events happening in different states, but having two events or sets on the same weekend in a small community is a problem.
