[11/25/2009 SteppersUSA Daily News]
Large and In Charge
By Markie Bee
Send The Best Stepping Photos: BestPhotos@steppersusa.com
To send a plugger or Flyer Click Here
Contact Markie Bee: webmaster@steppersusa.com
Today's Steppers Beat Column is sponsored by: Majestic Gents 12th Anniversary Black Carpet Black Affair 2009 at Adriana's Banquet Hall 16300 S. Dixie Hwy. Markham, IL This Saturday! Click here to order your tickets on SteppersUSA Now!.
I'm taking Thanksgiving holiday off from the column so if you've seen the content before, it's for good reason. Part of today's column is a blast from the past; those who follow the column will recognize it from the first quarter of the year.
There's a new steppers play in Chicago and it's billed as the play written for and about the steppers by Van Gray. It's called Steppin' into Love and they've got a slick commercial which you can hear on their website (www.steppinintolove.com).
The play runs Friday through Sunday December 11th through 13th at the Westin O'Hare in Rosemont, IL. The Tickets are $35 and include a steppers set after each show.
Supporting a steppers affair in the O'Hare/Rosemont area will (in my opinion) make quite a statement since many in that area have no idea what stepping is all about… It's a teaching opportunity while having a good time.
There are so many Chicago style steppers organizations in Chicago, it's almost mind boggling. Some are "on the radar" while others aren’t so visible. We all know which organizations carry the most clout in the community.
It takes years to develop a reputation in the stepping game; it's just something that doesn’t happen overnight. Hey, no one said it would be easy. You have to be in it for the long haul. One "complaint" I often hear when I'm out and about from 
 
 

Story Continues Below

Continued

 

some of the promoters is that they aren’t able to get cooperation from many of the other organizations if one of the larger, more visible organizations isn’t onboard (Can you see I'm trying not to use names here as I feel it wouldn’t be appropriate).
To me it lends to a few potentially really big questions; How influential is "too influential" in our genre? Can any one organization exert too much influence and wield too much power in the steppers community? It's not like sports where the dominant team keeps winning the title. If one steppers organization can't work with other steppers organizations without the participation or "blessing" of the "Top Dog", it may indicate a problem, a big problem.
In the realm of governments, the term Oligarchy comes to mind. If you've ever taken a political science course you know an Oligarchy is roughly defined as a ruling class. According to Wikipedia, an Oligarchy definition is; "(Greek Ὀλιγαρχία, Oligarkhía) is a form of government where power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family, military influence or occult spiritual hegemony. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" (ὀλίγος olígos) and "rule" (ἀρχή arkhē). Such states are often controlled by politically powerful families whose children are heavily conditioned and mentored to be heirs of the power of the oligarchy. This type of power by its very nature may not be exercised openly; the oligarchs preferring to remain "the power behind the throne", exerting control through economic means. Oligarchies have been tyrannical throughout history, being completely reliant on public servitude to exist. Although Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the rich, for which the exact term is plutocracy, oligarchy is not always a rule by wealth, as oligarchs can simply be a privileged group. Some city-states from Ancient Greece were oligarchies."
Of course Chicago style stepping isn’t a government, but the parallel is uncanny. Can this hurt stepping? You betcha it can! Just like too many constraints on the dance can stifle the natural progression of the dance, so can the Oligarchies rule of a single powerful group.
If one group can't progress without permission in any way or form of the top groups, there's a problem and we all need to look at our situation. It's no secret as an "evangelist" for Chicago style stepping; I feel great satisfaction when I see the genre grow to a new level. I also try to step into others shoes when they feel the pain when something isn't working the way it's supposed to.
Its one thing when a senior organization helps by mentoring and sharing experiences, but it's a different story when you get the "It's my way or the highway" mentality comes into play. If one group puts together a large scale event and it's successful, other groups have and will continue to do the same thing and if they are original thinkers, they will add their own twist to the scenario to make the event better than the last and to make their event their own. When these plans hinge on the cooperation of other organizations and these organizations are cooperative until they find the "ruling" organization isn’t involved, you have to wonder about the situation as a whole.

 

It doesn't cost a cent to join or use invite5. That's NO investment that can bring you substantial cash rewards for your participation. You can't Loose! To join, Click here. Do you have a group like a church, charitable organization, school, or a company that would like to earn money? Click Here
There has been a lot of talk about iNVITE5 and Multi-Level Marketing... it's not and there are no fees or cost to you. I have a copy of the conference call below for you to listen to. If you haven't signed up you need to get some of this money just click here to get started.

Please use this link to get started and learn more: www.joini5.com/steppersusa

The sign-up appears after a short series of slides right on the first page.

After you have signed up:

Go to “Downloads” on the main navigation menu, and download your customized toolbar. Now, if you have Internet Explorer, you might not see any Ads yet. However, if you have Mozilla Firefox, you should be able to start rating 3rd party Ads immediately, which will pay you 3/10 cents immediately. Yes, it’s a small amount (and right now it's training), but you get that amount for all of your friends up to 7 levels. Once the 10 cent Ads hit next week sometime (I'll be sure to update as we're working with the developers), your organization will already be off and running!

Trust me; time is money, so get on it right away!

Markie Bee
Editor-In-Chief
MarkieBee@SteppersUSA.Com
WWW.SteppersUSA.Com
Steppers 4 Ever!

 
Have something on your mind? Need to talk to Markie Bee? With Google voice (A REAL phone number) you can call me directly (from the United States only please) For FREE. If I'm available, I'll call you right back.

If you would like to join SteppersUSA in Twitter or just to check it out, you'll see the twitter bird just below our logo. Just click on the twitter bird and it will bring you right to the SteppersUSA page on Twitter.  Watch the bar or follow SteppersUSA by clicking here.

How To Add a Comment on the Bar Tutorial
 

 Tags

Large and In Charge 
 

 
DJ Reece one of the Winners of 2009 WLSC Out of Town

 

Earl & Robin at the 219 Contest Finals

Take a look at our You Tube Steppers Video page and rate some videos (Seven pages now)

SteppersUSA.Com sells Steppin' DVDs from across the Steppers Community. Click Here to view the listing or send us an email if you would like to include your DVDs on SteppersUSA.Com
 

Steppers History

A Message To All Steppers