What is Steppin'?
Depending on what part of the country you're in, or what age group you represent, "steppin'" can take on various expressions through dance. Some call it Swing Out, 2-Step, Hand Dancing, Lindy Hop, Bopping, Ballroom, some Cha Cha...Us? Well, we call it CHICAGO STEPPIN'.
Chicago Steppin' is a culture with its own lifestyle, fashion, etiquette, style of music, and dance art form that is passed from generation to generation. It is a culture founded on the love for the music that speaks to the soul. The music is the heartbeat of the community with its easily identifiable beat that can be found in many classic R&B, neo soul, urban contemporary, jazz and some hip hop and pop songs.
The dance art of Chicago Steppin' is an intricate, rhythmic evolution of the Jitterbug, Lindy Hop, Bop, and other couple dances spanning throughout history from African folk dance to the Big Band era thru classic R&B and Motown eras. Couples glide mesmerizingly through push, pulls, and turns across and around the dance floor in unison--a jazzy, stylish, social dance with various styles of execution that include original, high steppin', freestyle, and new school.
With the introduction to pop culture through movies like Love Jones, magazines like Sister 2 Sister and VIBE, recording artists such as Will Downing, The Whispers, R. Kelly, Kem, Kindred & The Family Soul, and Gerald LeVert, mentions on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and the nationally syndicated radio shows of Michael Baisden, Tom Joyner, and Doug Banks, Chicago Steppin' has caught a tailwind out of the windy city and shows no sign of slowing. With over 40 years invested in nurturing and preserving the art of steppin', you can find a vast array of steppin' communities flourishing and budding across America with exponential growth seen within the last six years.
A great deejay with a trunk full of dusties fused with a medley of today's hottest steppin' tracks, a descent hardwood floor, libations, and air conditioning make for a night of nonstop steppin' 'til the wee hours of the morning. And being that there is something going on every week in the national steppin' community, the culture of steppin' displays its permanence in the fabric of American culture as it begins to make its mark internationally.
Steppers faithfully travel to and fro across the nation for one thing and one thing only...TO STEP...and they do it for love!
Who's Chicago Steppin'?
Chicago | Atlanta | Milwaukee | Detroit | Columbus | Cleveland | St. Louis | Birmingham
Los Angeles | Oakland | Sacramento | Phoenix | Miami | Ft. Lauderdale | Baltimore | North Carolina
Baton Rouge | Memphis | Seattle | New York | New Jersey | Richmond | Charlotte | Virginia | Minneapolis
...and many more
