Finally, spring is almost here and the world is ready to dance. We are jumping with excitement because we’re getting back on the wood! It looks like slowly but surely we may see glimpses of…
INSPIRED BY: A young lady new to Stepping replied after I sent her information for a Stepping instructor in her city. “I appreciate the flyer. Wondering if you can recommend some YouTube videos so I…
Often new steppers ask me “Sonji, when should I start going to workshops?” or “Is it too early for me to start taking privates?” From my experience, there is no “right” answer to either question. From my eyes, every new stepper should have enough information and context to make a good decision on when it is time to try something new.
Sometimes the struggle to teach and learn to step Chicago Style rests with the paradigms and cultural differences that shape how we look at what is right in front of us. Two people can look at the same video of two steppers dancing and see it differently – walking away with different perceptions. Isn’t that the way it is with looking at any art? And, steppin’ Chicago style is an art.
Choc James piqued my interest because his name is popular on Facebook whether in videos, at an event, on a flyer, or his name is a controversial part of a group conversation. And, he is everywhere. I tried to find out more about the mystique of this man and his love for steppin’ Chicago style.
Walter Lane is from Apopka, Florida. He served 28 years in the military retiring as Command Sergeant Major. While in Detroit working for the Detroit News, he saw Chicago Style Steppin’. He returned to Florida in 1995 but got his chance to really focus on steppin’ in 2008 and has been steppin’ for 9 years. He has been instructing since 2010. As a club manager in the military and growing up in a club because his father was a club owner, Walter knew about entrepreneurship, running a club, and how to create an atmosphere for successful social events. He offers classes for free and as a community activity to provide a social outlet for adults where grown folks can go out and have a good time. His organization, Florida Steppers International, has outgrown any organization in the state of Florida and caters to a grown folks audience with a classy event atmosphere. Walter aspires to open a studio where he can teach children to step because he believes teaching our youth to step can prevent them from getting in gangs and other trouble.
My first guest blogger, Tyrone “Too Tall T” Blackwell, in Atlanta, Georgia shares his story about his first steps.
In one of the first workshops I attended, while watching me do the basic eight count my instructor asked me “what is with all the hip movement?” I said I used to do salsa so that is probably why I do that. She said, “Kill that! This is steppin’ not salsa.” Early on I struggled with doing too much too early and being over eager to make a different statement than what people wanted to see. Even now, six years later, I still feel I struggle with treading a thin line to make the dance my own. If you can relate, this article may be for you as well. It was refreshing to hear the point of view of someone who changed the game in Chicago Style Steppin’ regardless of what anyone else said or told him to do – Andre Blackwell.
In one of the first workshops I attended, while watching me do the basic eight count my instructor asked me “what is with all the hip movement?” I said I used to do salsa so that is probably why I do that. She said, “Kill that! This is steppin’ not salsa.” Early on I struggled with doing too much too early and being over eager to make a different statement than what people wanted to see. Even now, six years later, I still feel I struggle with treading a thin line to make the dance my own. If you can relate, this article may be for you as well. It was refreshing to hear the point of view of someone who changed the game in Chicago Style Steppin’ regardless of what anyone else said or told him to do – Andre Blackwell.
This week the nation seemed perplexed and silent even at the outlook of the next 4 years ahead of the United States, but when I remove myself from the grand scheme of things and take it back to my neck of the woods, I am exhilarated at the promise and potential for positive changes and progress in the year ahead in my local stepping community.
Chaundra “Shooz” Satchell is from Chicago and now lives in Hampton, Virginia. Although she grew up between Gary and Chicago surrounded by Chicago Style Steppin’, she learned to step right here in Virginia at Langley Air Force Base with Timothy Wilson. But, her steppin’ granddad is LC Henderson. Chaundra has been steppin’ for almost ten years, instructing for about six years and she is the President of Virginia Steppers Education Fund. She is known as a very direct instructor but I can feel her passion for the dance so charge her Debbie Allen persona in class to her heart not her head. You can tell by her actions and history in the community that she wants this dance to flourish for years to come, but earnestly believes this dance won’t flourish without the young people – especially the men. Chaundra admits she would compete at the World’s Largest Stepper Contest one day but she cannot find a partner locally. So, her question is, “Men, what is the magic to keep you in this dance? Help a sister out!”
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.
Reggie Handy is from Waukegan, Illinois and now lives in Edgewood, Maryland. He grew up skating and watching his aunts and uncles bop. He was caught up in the street life and hip-hop scene, and when his nieces and nephews were old enough to show up at the same clubs he thought he’d better find something else to do and somewhere else to go. Reggie made it to his first class in steppin’ in 2006 to officially learn about an eight count, and here he is ten almost eleven years later.
When someone that really owns his OCD tendencies proudly, LC Henderson, and an analyst, me, get together to talk about Chicago Style Steppin’, there can be magic and revelation in the numbers. Well, it was for me when I had a chance to sit with LC in Atlanta, pick at his brain and open my mind to a new way to look at the building blocks of this dance. If you are inquisitive about the logic behind the 8 count, LC is the one with the answers. I had to share this experience because it has helped me immensely to understand what it will take for me to graduate myself from a beginner to an intermediate stepper.
Tonya Foreman is an instructor in Eastern North Carolina. She has been in the health and fitness industry for 26 years and enjoys different genres of music and dance. She is the owner of the Mochas Dance Studio in Greenville, NC. Tonya considers stepping as her passion and believes that music brings people together and promotes understanding.