Chicago Stepping. Who Goin’ Check Me Boo?

I may roll up like a boss on the dance floor but that’s because if I dance with a gentleman I want him to know, “I am ready for whatever you want to try.” Who goin’ check me and give me something I don’t know?  This year when I danced with Maurice “Reese” Thomas for the first time at Stepaganza in St. Louis … it was check, check and check.

At the Stepaganza 2016 Sunday Day Party, the room was crowded but the dance floor light with couples. I saw Reese finally not dancing with anyone. I said here goes… this is what I came here for, to dance with someone I never danced with before. Reese can be loud but he is a phenomenon on the dance floor, so I thought, I better kill this hesitation and get this dance before someone else does.

30 seconds into the song I struggled with his double turns, my balance, and damn I think I even lost my 8 count, but I will not stop dancing even if I am struggling until my partner tells me to, or the song is over. At about the 45th second Reese stopped moving and stomps the dance floor with his boots to punctuate every word he said to me, “Wait-a-minute! Just-stop! I-know-what-your-problem-is!” Was he loud enough for everyone in the room to hear? Yes, of course…. Check!!!

As Jamaicans say “Glad bag bus’!” I felt singled out. I was starting to sweat because all of a sudden it was really hot.  However, I was inclined to make this a moment of new understanding and not embarrassment while everyone stared and listened. For the next twenty minutes Reese loudly schooled me on my turns explaining to me when to pivot versus step. Five minutes in, an Atlanta entourage, joined us on the floor and about 12 of us walked through several practice drills with Reese. It turned out to be a great lesson. Reese spoke to me after the drills. It was a good talk and yes, I have dared to dance with him since.

I often hear that on the east coast, steppers are offended and think that when people from Chicago or the Midwest try to correct or help a stepper on the floor in a social setting it is rude and abrasive. Well, steppers, I try to take it as an opportunity to learn from someone that is passionate about Chicago Style Steppin’ and wants to see it done right by anyone – no matter where you live. Most times you’ll get it very direct so there is no misunderstanding.  Sometimes (not all the time) you have to be broken down to be built up again. I will say, for the most part, steppin’ is not for the meek of heart and if you are meek, the more you grow in this dance, the more your gumption grows.

I have had quite a few “moments of new understanding.” Royce Banks has put me in timeouts and Andre Blackwell had me doing laps – “several of them.” I know I am not anywhere near where I can be in my dance, but I know I don’t step the way I did even a year ago and I am happy with my progress and I haven’t cried yet.