How People Who Do Not Step May See Chicago Stepping

INSPIRED BY ALL THE NATIONAL COVERAGE FOR CHICAGO STEPPING

Every day I talk to people about Chicago Stepping. Probably five days a week, I discuss Chicago Stepping with someone who does not step. Co-workers, family, friends I grew up with, and professional colleagues make up this audience. At times, it is my Uber or Lyft driver. The conversations keep me grounded and aware of the perceptions and questions about Chicago Stepping coming from people who do not step. I hear and answer some common questions and remarks in most conversations.

Surprisingly, our stepping community has not been more fully exposed on a national level sooner. There are treasures of conversation in Chicago Stepping. We are dance, art, history, culture, fashion, etiquette, social studies, mental therapy, politics, competition, exercise, creativity, and music. After some research and conversation, I believe I could write at least a 500-word essay on any of these topics centered on Chicago Stepping. I imagine that there are more topics to add to this list.

What Chicago Stepping is Not

Many conversations with people who don’t step become my explanations of what Chicago Stepping is not. Chicago Stepping is not the same as stepping in the Greek life experience with fraternities and sororities. No, it is not a line dance, but there is a similar rhythm or cadence that you can identify and use to relate Chicago Stepping to line dancing. Many steppers I have met over the years were line dancers first, so that means something. And yes, R. Kelly’s song Step in the Name of Love has much to do with Chicago Stepping, but there is more to the story.

Stepping Is A Social Dance with Different Partners

In my stepping journey, I intentionally never had a consistent dance partner. Objectives when I was taught to step included fueling creativity, self-expression, and the ability to dance with different people. In this aspect, Chicago Stepping as a social dance explicitly puts more meaning on the “social” than the “dance.” It’s an improvisational expression with another stepper, not a choreographed partner’s routine. Your instruction is lacking and limited if you can only dance with your instructor or select dance partners.

Stepping Traditions Include Man-On-Man

In the Chicago Stepping culture, one of the styles you may see on YouTube is man-on-man, when two men dance with each other. Without context and understanding of cultures and traditions in Stepping, people can misunderstand and make controversial assumptions. ChiStepper addressed some controversial comments about man-on-man on social media in this post.

See the full post in the ChiStepper Facebook group

Chicago Stepping in National News and Media

Over the past decade, Chicago Stepping has commanded national attention and mention in different ways and avenues. Museums, magazines, and other media talk about Chicago Stepping in high-society fashion journals, Smithsonian exhibits, and several times on TV and in the newspaper. The internet and social media created opportunities for steppers to build a national community and promote the dance online through videos and photos of contests and social dancing. As Chicago Stepping reaches new people and we are exposed, the dance’s presentation honors its journey and people in several ways. Whatever message steppers share, express, and promote across media at all levels and in all shades defines parts of who we are and what we do.

Historical Exhibits on Black Social Dance

In 2015, the Smithsonian solicited permission from Victor James of Artistic Motions to use his original video footage in an exhibit of short films on black social dance at the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum opened in 2016 in Washington DC, and Chicago Stepping is a part of the exhibit with clips from the YouTube video with Victor James and Nicola Thomas in Somebody Else’s Arms. This exhibit is a testament to the rich history and art of Chicago Stepping, rooted in black culture.

TV and News Recognize the Dance, the Legends, and the Culture

DJ Sam Chatman, “the Godfather of Steppin’ Music” has appeared on Windy City Live a few times on ABC 7 Chicago. Samantha Chatman, his daughter, an investigative reporter, and journalist has interviewed him on ABC 7. In these TV interviews, DJ Sam Chatman shared the origins of Stepping and some of its history. His appearances also feature familiar faces and couples from the Stepping community showcasing the dance on TV.  

Some renowned steppers who have passed were featured and honored as Stepping legends on the news. An ABC7.com article in December 2019 recognized Jannice Robertson (RIP) as a Stepping legend in the article headline when she passed. Tyrone “Ty Skippy” Winfield (RIP) was featured in a beautiful obituary in the Chicago Sun-Times in January 2022 after the newspaper picked up livingthe8count’s feature story on Ty Skippy when it went viral. It is an honor and respect for the people and our community when someone’s legacy as a stepper is acknowledged beyond the stepping community and nationally.

Movies on the Art and Culture

Steppers love to see when Chicago Stepping is represented as what it is. The movie Love Jones, released in 1997, shows a scene at a stepper set, and they got it right. It was a short clip, but every time I watch that movie scene, I holler, “Hey, they are stepping!” On the other end are movies like Save the Last Dance and Stepping Back to Love.

Save the Last Dance was based in Chicago and mentioned going to “steps,” which was confusing. Save the Last Dance is not about Chicago Stepping. The movie Stepping Back to Love was released during the pandemic. Several friends and family sent me this movie because they thought I would be interested in this movie about Stepping. After watching the movie, another series of conversations started about what is not Chicago Stepping. Another movie, Stepping into Love, produced out of Oklahoma City about Chicago Stepping, was scheduled to release in 2021. I have not seen it. I anxiously await a movie on Chicago Stepping from Chicago by Chicago.

The Beauty of Stepping in Competition and Fashion Captured on the Internet

Nothing is more national than the internet. Internet radio like Oh So Smooth Radio, blogs like livingthe8count, several social platforms like ChiStepper on Facebook and Instagram, and dedicated YouTube channels for shows like Conversations with Reggie Miles are possible because of the power and popularity of the internet. In the middle of a quarantine, going live from our homes, the world was our stage.

The Majestic Gents brought us together in April 2021 on Facebook for the Majestic Gents Footwork competition and created a Facebook group with 6,000 members joining within the first week. For the contest, steppers showcased personal styling with footwork to the song of their choice. The group has more than 11,000 members today. Several DJs went live to share our music and comfort the world when we needed the music. Social media has been the most successful in bringing real stepping to the masses, raw and uncut. Start searching on social media if you know nothing about stepping and want to see it in its true form.

The recent fashion feature of the 2022 World’s Largest Steppers Contest on Vogue.com was a big deal and a proud moment for steppers. The photos captured by Christian K. Lee told an appealing, attention-grabbing fashion story worth a thousand words.

Photo Credit: Christian K. Lee

The description of the origin and styles of Chicago Stepping did not altogether reflect our community’s general popular opinion and ideas. Still, the article heralded DJ Sam Chatman’s efforts to spread stepping cooperatively in Chicago and mentioned and photographed the Fifty Yard Line. Quoting from the Vogue.com article:

“This dance is the great equalizer. Your class or your money does not matter.”

Terrance Pratt, Chistepper

Those words say a lot about what Chicago Stepping is and what our fashion represents. Noting that the outfits of the winners of the Man on Man category were inspired by Chicago stepper Ramon Darnell was key. In his book Human Earthquake, Darnell shared his story of being one of Chicago’s most notorious pimps. The Vogue.com article dropped many smart hints and teasers, and I hope the mystery earns Stepping a part two feature on Vogue.com.

Great Contribution and Contradiction in the Same Song

One very important song in Chicago Stepping is funnily also a contradiction. In 2003, when R Kelly released the song Step in the Name of Love, it brought major national attention to Chicago Stepping. The song was popular, made the Billboard Top 100 in 2003 for 27 weeks, and peaked at number 9. The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry’s standard record chart in the United States based on sales, radio play, and online streaming in the United States.

Steppers acknowledge that this song played a major part and was instrumental in elevating Stepping from just Chicago to new national attention. Because Step in the Name of Love was so popular, many steppers key back to it as a way to provide relatable context for non-steppers and explain or differentiate Chicago Stepping from Greek life or other dances. Yet, this R Kelly song is not a song you will hear on most steppers set in Chicago; generally, it is not a song that steppers dance to.

Do certain parts of the music video for Step in the Name of Love look like they are line dancing? Yes, but Chicago Stepping is not a line dance. Are many of the best steppers from Chicago stepping in the music video for Step in the Name of Love? Yes. The song gets much credit for bringing awareness to Chicago Stepping nationwide. However, it is not a song most steppers step to or that DJs in Chicago will play on the set.

Great Things About Conversation and Misunderstanding

Most days, I don’t mind the disconnects in the conversation or lack of context. These questions and the answers are conversation starters that keep discussions lively all week long. I love that my friends and family are as excited about Chicago Stepping. They send me movies and news about Chicago Stepping even though they have no interest in learning to step. I feel like I pull them into my universe and admire their mutual love and tangential excitement for the dance. My co-worker hopes to plan a company-wide watch party for my Eric Gordon TV debut for the World’s Largest Steppers Contest. People I know that don’t step want to get involved and learn more about Chicago Stepping. I believe I have them only steps away from the dance floor.

As Chicago Stepping’s reach and presence grow, much of what we say and do will be out of control. However, I hope that our expression leaves a true, beautiful impression on “any” reader of who steppers are and what Chicago Stepping is. If anything, it should lead to more questions and curiosity from people who don’t step. Undoubtedly, we are constantly and indubitably working on our impression in all efforts here at livingthe8count. There is more to come. Are there other common questions in your conversations about Stepping with people who don’t step? Do tell and post in the comments.

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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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