Ballrooming vs Steppin: Oh Really?
By Tracey Bivens (Imasteppa)
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Well…I guess by now you’ve seen the Dancing Shoes trailer that Detroit R&B artist, K-Jon, has featured on You Tube. The trailer features various actor/dancers from both the Detroit and Chicago communities and the characters are seemingly ready to embark upon warfare to defend both dances in their respective cities. The trailer shows snippets of dancing/steppin, guns, people getting beaten up, singing, etc. I’m wondering if this movie is going to set the tone for the future climate of dancing in Detroit.I find myself having to constantly explain to people that I am extremely proud of the contributions that Detroit has made to the dance community. I learned how to ballroom dance first, then cam bop, the Latin Hustle, the Social aka (The Greystone), line hustles, etc. There is no question that our city is rich with history and talent in that regard. We are the paradigm of dance.
When steppin came about in the late 90’s, it was found that there was an avenue to manipulate that dance through a serious of intricate combinations. In ballroom dancing, there was NEVER an opportunity for two women to dance with a guy and not do the same 1, 2, 3, step back, move over and over again for three minutes. Steppin came along and offered VARIETY, trios and quads, state to state networking, and a “special blend” of music.
Slowly but surely, the handful of us that started steppin concentrated on that dance above the others because again…steppin offered more variety. If you witness a “quick trio” for the first time…it is very exciting and addictive. You didn’t quite see that in the ballroom dance. Soon, classes in steppin began, there were workshops sponsored by out of towners, steppin parties popped up more frequently, etc. Steppin hit Detroit full throttle.
Along the way, some ballroomers refused to have anything to do with the steppin sets. They looked at steppers as though we had declared mutiny on the ballrooming community. Some ballroomers chose to learn just enough to fake it and then there were some that simply continued to ballroom dance. I remember at least a dozen men and women from the old school era that ONLY step now but swore on a stack of Bibles that they would never learn how to step. Peer pressure is a motha ain’t it?
Currently, the temperament of the Detroit “dance community” seems mixed. There’s the group that primarily focuses on steppin 95% of the time and they will only attend steppers sets. There’s the group of versatile dancers that will go to all dance parties and be happy. Then there is a group of ballroomers that love to downgrade steppin every opportunity they get from calling it “country” to “Chicago s&^t” etc. and they will stick with the ballroom parties. Some would argue that this is because they can’t execute the dance well and are “hating”. Some people have suggested that it’s because these ballroomers used to get mad props for ballrooming and Latin Hustling back in the day but in steppin’ they don’t and can’t handle it. Who’s to say?
How do we fix this? Exclusivity. Options
Exclusivity gives me the right to go to a dance party that plays the kind of music I want to hear, dance with the people I want to dance with, and feed off of the atmosphere that surrounds me. Options give me the choice of going to Ballroom Party A and Steppers Set B without someone speaking negatively about me and calling me a “sell out.” If you don’t like steppin-don’t go to the sets and keep on doing your thing. If you don’t like ballrooming-don’t go to the parties and keep on doing YOUR thing. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. Don’t try and make each another conform.
Ultimately I think Dancing Shoes is going to show the dance communities coexisting amongst one another. At least I hope that’s how it’s going to end. Steppin in Detroit is not a fad and Ballroom dancing in Detroit is not going to disappear. The only thing that we should try to make disappear is our distaste for people having the right to make choices.
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Posted Comments
Name: H.Demetrius Jones Name: Ms. Cheesecake Name: Ms. Cheesecake Name: Tracey Name: Milli Name: H. Demetrus Jones Name: H. Demetrius Jones (Imadancer) Name: TeddyJam Name: Mentha Name: TeddyJam Comments powered by the Website Comments System ® v1.0
E-mail: Private
Date posted: August 04, 2010 - 03:11 pm
Message: Hey Ms Cheesecake, what is my job?
E-mail: Private
Date posted: August 03, 2010 - 06:32 pm
Message: Ballroom doesn't exist to the level that steppin does outside of Detroit, so I don't know how one can compare it to anything when there aren't many other cities that partake in the ballroom dance. At the end of the day...or night...if the DJ is doing his job, the crowd on the dance floor dictates whether the crowd is having a good time. NO dancer will stay on the dance floor if they're not feeling the music. If a ballroomer comes to an event that has been identified as a steppers set, they have no room to complain...and vice versa. But if we're all at the club gettin' our dance on, just find a way to be an adult, respect your neighbor on the dance floor, and enjoy the dance....whichever one it is your doing.
E-mail: Private
Date posted: August 03, 2010 - 06:32 pm
Message: It takes two (or more) people to argue.....It also takes two (or more) people to "make nice". I too started out ballrooming several years ago....I was one of the ballroomers that thought steppin would be a fad.....and now I'm a lover of the steppin dance, community, etc. There are only a select handful of men I like to ballroom with because they make it interesting enough to not be bored. I've fallen madly in love (lol) with everything steppin related. With that said, I don't bash any other dance....it is truly an individual choice. I've only heard a few folks that absolutely HATE steppers and the music that goes with it.....and to them I say....OK, your choice. Steppin has offered me the opportunity to travel, meet awesome people outside the Detroit area, and have a great time.
E-mail: Private
Date posted: August 03, 2010 - 01:53 pm
Message: Hey Demetrus-Thank you so much for responding to the article. It seems as if I have illustrated where the problems come from with the great divide in ballrooming and steppin. I didn't produce Dancing Shoes the movie but I'm sure we need to focus on where the concept of the movie came from and why its necessary to display that violence associated with it to the "world". People are not looking at it as though it's Chicago vs. Detroit they see steppin vs ballroom all day.
It terms of you, Bobby Williams, Butch, etc. You handful of guys are noted legends in the community. LEGENDS that always have lines of women waiting a turn to dance with you. If women can't get to you 5 guys Demetrus.......
You guys ARE and have been creative in your contributions so surely how could you think I was referencing you guys who keep the dance fresh? Everything I was initally taught in creative ballrooming came from you guys.
At the end of the day, I want the dance world to give me, you and anybody else-freedom of choice in any dance. We dancers tend to lump everyone in the same group just because one person had a bad experience with one person. I keep hearing, "Some person looked at me wrong in steppin so now I hate steppers" or vice versa in ballroom. What?
E-mail: mstanford-realestate@msn.com
Date posted: August 03, 2010 - 12:09 pm
Message: Thank youSAY THAT! OmG, I do whatever dance I'm feeling WHEEVER I'm feeling it. Salsa and Tango included. KEEP your negative vibes to yourselves people...they only make WRINKLES, check ur mirror. THANK YOU
E-mail: Private
Date posted: August 03, 2010 - 09:14 am
Message: p.s. I agree, If you don't like steppin' sets DON'T GO and vise versa, that's why you may not see me at very many "sets" bucz that's not All I wanna do. Regarding that "group" of ballroomers who downgrade steppin, I know of no such group. Maybe it's one or two individuals that I know of but not groups of ppl. and my response is usually, "it's just another 6 count street dance just like Bop, WCS & DC Hand Dance.
Ballroom vs Steppin? Hummm! Let's put it this way...Detroit's Heavy Hitters against Chicago's Heavy Hitter's @ a nuetral site, you KNOW what will happen.
PEACE!
E-mail: Private
Date posted: August 03, 2010 - 09:13 am
Message: Valid points Trae, however, Detroit Ballroom has never offered the variety of trios and quads because that's not part of the culture of our dance, has NEVER been. That's the culture of Steppin'not D-Blrm. Referring to Detroit Ballroom as "1-2-3 step back move over and over for 3 minutes" will taken by some as a low blow and an insult to great ballroomers such as Grant Kendrick, Al "Butch" McClinton, Bobby Williams and myself. Detroit Ballroom so many variations, more than I can think of. I teach multiple variations in my ballroom class every week because that's part of the make-up.
Every partner dance that I do has variatons and multiple combinations, including steppin'. Don't misunderstand my comments, I "like" steppin but I don't "love" it. Many people in the dance community don't know that I'm an original member of "Friends United", the first organized group in Detroit to start teaching Chicago Step classes, so that would be hypocritical of me to ever bash steppin' :) I like All urban style dances and I consider myself a dancer not just this or that. Therfore, I feel very fortunate to be able to go to any party and enjoy myself...can't say that about a Chicago Stepper.
E-mail: trmasseyiii@aol.com
Date posted: August 02, 2010 - 11:11 pm
Message: @ Mentha, LOL!!! Yes you did say dance turf!!! We're gonna have a dance off "West Side Story" style before too long. It is sad and the fact that some folks old enough to be my parents are involved in it is just sad. I'm not in the loop about what exactly happened and don't really want to be, I just know we have to do better individually and as a dance community.
E-mail: Private
Date posted: August 02, 2010 - 10:28 pm
Message: I have not seen this new video but am looking forward to it. As for this nonsense about who likes what dance I came to this party late, real late cuz I really did not know it was this serious until this past week. The issue came up on FB and the cap came off the toothpaste in a big way. To get mad and create camps because of what dance a person prefers is just as stupid as gangs fighting over colored bandannas. I seriously cannot believe that the folks engaged in this are over the age of 30 and in many cases over the age of fifty. In a city where we keep sending our elected officials to jail one would hope that folks would put half the energy into investigating candidates that they put into defending dance turf. (I cannot believe I actually wrote "dance turf" sad, sad, sad)
E-mail: trmasseyiii@aol.com
Date posted: August 02, 2010 - 10:18 pm
Message: As a newbie on the dance scene, I've noticed some of what you're speaking of in this article. I started dancing (ballrooming) a little over 3 years ago and loved it. When I was exposed to steppin' a year later, I was IMMEDIATELY turned off by it because of the, shallI say...WILDNESS I saw in the dance. To me steppin' looked like those who were engaged in it were fighting and were not at all dancing as one. It wasn't until I was introduced to one of the prominent steppin' instructors in the Detroit area/country that I realized that you could make the dane your own and as you said had so many options. Nearly a year and a half into my stepping life I ABSOLUTELY love it, but don't love ballroom any less. I think that as the dance community in Detroit continues to grow, so also should our appreciation for the dances we used to do as well as the ones we aspire to learn. My next dances will be salsa and argentine tango, but I will always love steppin'.