Reflection and Outlook on Contest Trailblazer Traditions

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Before I understood the relevance of the World’s Largest Steppers Competition (WLSC) to the Chicago Stepping Community, I was in my home city and close by states learning my 8 basic steps and doing my dance. Despite a growing social network, I did not understand how widespread Chicago Stepping was and the fever for competition in this community until I visited Chicago in 2012. At WLSC 2012, I met people from several other states and this piqued my curiosity. Where and how do I find other steppers, new like me, who are just learning about Chicago Stepping?

After competing for the first time in 2017, I learned about other stepping contests beyond Chicago. I had to hunt for this information and just hoped I had joined enough of the right Facebook groups to get the right information on time. Through more conversation and YouTube research, I realized the extent of the contest circuit and then some patterns emerged. Let’s talk about trailblazing and look at the contest season already planned for 2025.

Who is a Contest Trailblazer

I started to pinpoint contestants who I like to call contest trailblazers. They had so many videos available to the public. Contest trailblazers are couples who commit to each other as contest partners for a long time and compete together from contest to contest, back-to-back sweeping up wins, trophies, popularity, and bragging rights. People who follow contests know these contest couples. A vast catalog of WLSC and other contest footage and history on YouTube and Facebook across decades helped in my research. I could pick out steppers and dancers across different eras primarily from Chicago and the Midwest who competed often. Many times these trailblazers win and sometimes they do not. Some of the trailblazing couples and audience favorites I found were: 

Trailblazer Traditions Today

Always watching for new contest trailblazers, I struggle to see many new couples emerging. A long-term commitment between contest partners is not obvious today. Committed partnerships and back-to-back contest appearances for longer than a year or two do not seem to be a prevalent tradition anymore. Many times, couples switch up partners or after a win, take a break from contests before returning to the stage. If I recognize contest couples who have built a brand and become crowd favorites, something changes and the contest pairing is shortlived. Without saying any names, I am sure others in the stepping community witness the broken partnerships and cycles. Why do you think the tradition of contest trailblazing has dwindled? Who are some of the couples that you see as potential contest trailblazers today?

Looking at Independent Winning Streaks

Certainly, many individuals have competed for years but with different partners. I hear it’s even a thing where some contestants are competing against each other to hold the title for the person with the most wins BUT with different partners. Check out the WLSC Winners History. You can quickly see some of the individuals who win multiple times at the WLSC, for example, with different partners. 

Do you think changing contest partners often is a risk or an advantage? On one hand, it challenges competitors to prove their dexterity and versatility to dance and win with different people. This widens the door to creativity because every new couple combination can bring something entirely new to the stage. On the flipside the more and more you appear on stage with the same partner, the more difficult it is to show the audience something new. Eventually, the audience and judges want to see what you can do with someone else which can make judges score you more critically. Changing partners can be a strategy for longstanding contestants to be familiar but fresh even after decades in the same contest. What do you think? How much does loyalty matter when it comes to winning?

Chicago Stepping Contests in 2025

Anyone who wants to blaze a trail in Chicago Stepping contests should know the road ahead and the opportunities. More contests are on the contest circuit for next year. It’s a little easier for me to find contest information but still a task. Sometimes the livingthe8count contest list does not have all the contests. I blame it on the Facebook algorithms because a lot of flyers are posted but not promoted. Here are some highlights about the Chicago Stepping contests coming up for 2025:

 Visit the 2025 Contest Schedule page for details.  We will continue updating information as the flyers are posted. If you would like to add your Chicago Stepping contest to this list, please email li*************@gm***.com with details and a flyer. For all budding contestants and potential trailblazers, I hope you find your opportunity here. Happy trails!