The Atlanta Community of Champions, Secrets, and Contest Contrariness

It’s been a year and a half since I moved to the Atlanta Metropolitan area. Let me tell you, it has opened my eyes to some amazing aspects of this Stepping community! It’s like seeing things from a whole new perspective compared to when I used to visit regularly. Can you believe the Atlanta Stepping community has existed for, give or take, 30 years? 

The community leaders I know here are Chicagoans who add an authentic Chicago vibe to the Stepping experience in Atlanta. I see Miss Mary, Chicken Wang, Cheryl Powe, Reice Turner, Tony PFunk, and Carolyn Granger, as mentors for the community who steer direction for a Chicago feel to things. These individuals lead active social groups that stay involved consistently. Chicago-born music producers and DJs such as Ronnie Burnett, Anthony Davis, Sherman King, DJ Raphael, Ice Mike, Lonnie Gayton, help to round out the music landscape. Several other DJs and social groups in the Atlanta area without Chicago roots are equally important to keep the parties going.

I feel a sense of balance in the capabilities for instruction, events, and entertainment. I see the coordination. Even local businesses are committed to supporting and nourishing the growth of Chicago Stepping. I have been going to places like Ellery’s on Thursdays for a long time. Beyond the general, there is something unique to say about this community of champions, the secrets they hold, and the social dynamics to contend with.

World’s Largest Steppers Competition Champions and Winners

As someone who loves to compete on stage, I think it’s fortunate for me to reside in the Atlanta Metropolitan area, where several World’s Largest Steppers Competition champions exist. It’s a huge difference and change in the dance dynamic I experienced in Hampton Roads, Virginia where I started Stepping. Taking a close look and pulling from the WLSC Winners History lends to the Old School character of this region and the powerhouse of steppers living here.

WLSC Winners History across the Decades for 2024 Atlanta Area Residents

• Lives in Atlanta in 2024 – last I heard.

• I can’t credit Atlanta for some of these WLSC wins because some winners did not live in Georgia when they won. Unique Maurice Turner and Ericka Jones are examples. However, I can credit many of these wins because steppers like Cheryl Powe, Shani Johnson, Danny Stone, Queen Taylor, and Stuart Clark lived in Atlanta at the time they competed and still do.
• Pick any category, and you can find someone living here who won in that category. However, most of the wins are in Old School or from the era of this dance 20+ years ago. Atlanta claimed the Beginners category wins in 2019 with Quin Porter and Kia George and Stuart Clark and Candace Hayden in 2022. The Beginners category is judged on the same WLSC rules for the Old School/Original. Needless to say, I feel an Old School pulse in Atlanta.
• At least 17 dancers with contest experience and WLSC wins live in the Atlanta Metropolitan area today.

OTHER CONTESTS AND OTHER WINNERS

There are other contests besides the World’s Largest Steppers Competition that expand this list. Check out one of the wins steppers have been talking about and sharing for years. This performance was the winning trio with Kirk Pacley, Cheryl Powe and Melanie Fields in Steppers Compete at the Holiday Inn Tinley Park in 2005 hosted by Angie Faine. I am certain there are other contests that expand this list of winners and those are some of the secrets of Atlanta.

The Secrets of the Atlanta Stepping Community

I see many new faces every month in Atlanta, and now and again, I see old, faces.  I love it – especially when the first Friday and Saturday land on the same weekend. Like clockwork, locals, and steppers from many cities nationwide flood Atlanta for Chicken Wang’s First Friday and Ms Mary’s TSWGA First Saturday Ultimate Day Party. In 2024, I set out to dance with different people in Atlanta. I had a sweet chance to sit at one of the Chicago tables at First Fridays for the last two months. I danced with every gentleman at the table for the first time in April. Oh my! It was that different Chicago feel and rhythm that made my heart sing. That Old School one hand lead is everything to me!

I have observed these Chicago tables for years but did not ask any of the men to dance. Most times, it seems the men just want to sit, enjoy socializing and listening to the music while they watch on the sidelines – not dancing. Many Chicagoan transplants are in Atlanta, but you won’t know who they are unless you move around and find these tables. This Stepping community may have a few WLSC champions, but many more great dancers from Chicago who have never competed live here too. These people are the secrets of this Stepping society. I’m not calling any names, though. Go out and find them. 

Contest and Community Contrariness

Atlanta’s Stepping community has a reputation to sustain because of its wins and the potential for it to be so Chicago outside of Chicago.  I see the opportunity to win many contests, stand out as a model for other communities, and keep the culture, etiquette and Old School alive in Atlanta in a special way. The people, the music, the relationships, the support, the order, and the talent are all here. And, these Atlanta contestants are serious about the contest. However, social barriers and attitudes will make or break people, and destroy a good thing. The knit of the social fabric is just as important as all the pieces that come together for any community. 

At some point, guests from at least 3 other cities walked into a stepper set and asked me, “Where is everybody?” Gentlemen from out of town were here and ready to dance. I said, “It’s contest season. The contestants are off somewhere getting ready.” This has happened more than twice. In my second contest season in Atlanta, I see that, like clockwork, moods change, dancing becomes siloed, and people disappear from the set and make appearances at times. Some critique on the sidelines. I am sure this happens for different reasons. Starting in April until the contest is an emotionally wound time. I know the superstitions and nuances of silence and stealth leading to the prelims and WLSC.

Ironing the Knit of the Social Fabric

How I see it, winners have the most tremendous responsibility to their local Stepping community. it means showing up and more: I think the best way is to sum up what I see as the responsibility of champions despite the contest forces, the reputation, and superstitions. It will make a huge difference to the social dynamic and keep everyone excited about being and staying involved.

The Tremendous Responsibility of Champions

There is a balance to maintain between practice and community connection no matter what time of year it is. 

Showcasing stepping in its best light and form is a winner’s responsibility. There is an aspect of sportsmanlike conduct in every WLSC win. Offstage, that translates to maintaining an inviting atmosphere to attract and retain the dancers we have and be welcoming to newcomers. Consciously, after a WLSC win, you are always on stage on the stepper set and all eyes are on you and how you interact or not interact socially. 

There is a community reputation. I don’t think many cities outside of Chicago, except maybe Detroit or Milwaukee, have the reputation and WLSC record of number of individual people winning and living in their city today like Atlanta. It is an unspoken title to hold on to and be proud of. For any contestant out of Atlanta, the WLSC is about the community win as much as it is about your individual win. 

Community social groups raise money to fund and support contestants from Atlanta who are going to Chicago for the WLSC. There is a favor economy that permeates the world now, and community support does not come without expectations.

Atlanta’s support and presence in Chicago at the WLSC are consistent and obvious. You can see the Atlanta tables of support every year. Atlanta stays directly involved with the contest!

Getting in on the Atlanta Vibes

People ask me all the time now, “How often can you go stepping in Atlanta?” I want to close with this because I know you want to see how you can participate and experience Chicago Stepping in Atlanta. Atlanta is where you can find a steppers set to go to at least three days each week – every Sunday at the VFW, Mondays at Sudos, Wednesdays with Class Act Steppers, and Thursdays at Ellery’s. Different social groups take turns on the weekends to keep stepper sets happening every weekend. This city coordinates. Visit Atlanta most weekends, and you can find somewhere to go stepping – even with choices some times. 

HELLO, I AM SONJI

I saw stepping for the first time in Virginia and fell in love with the dance. I started traveling in 2012 and fell in love with the people, culture, and experience. Chicago stepping has taken me across the nation chasing its truths. I enjoy the chase. It has stirred my soul and healed me. These are my travel stories about Stepping. 

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