[8/2/2010 SteppersUSA Daily News]
Stepping Story Tellers
By Markie Bee
National Chicago Style Steppers Day
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Contact Markie Bee: webmaster@steppersusa.com
Chicago style stepping is an art form and it's as much about personal expression as it is about recreation. Every dance from ballet to modern tells a story. The best professional competitive dancers choreograph a storyline into their performances for competition.
In our dance... every once in a while you can see a storyline emerge when a particular couple hits the floor in a club. You know it when you see it; the push and pull of a relationship including acceptance, and rejection, pain and joy being expressed with body language, footwork, a smile or a frown.
The ability to create images with our dance is akin to comparing stepping to jukin'. A truly championship quality stepper not only has their mechanics right but through their dance they are able to inspire those who watch through the expression of the emotions between a couple on the floor. A juker can only writhe and shake... there's no real choreography there.
It really doesn't matter if you step to the Old Skool or the New Skool. Self expression is still the key to making the dance look good and if you can't get yourself past the "number counter" stage of development your dance will look robotic and the only expression you may see is that of frustration

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when you see those who have developed their dance to a higher level.
Everyone is capable of bringing their dance to a level of self-awareness because it's inside all of us (at some point when you were riding a bicycle as a learner, you learned if you kept peddling you could refine your balance and you didn't fall off the bike, you didn't have to look behind you after the training wheels came off because you were riding on your own. We watch and mimic steppers more advanced than ourselves, but our dance isn't genuine until we are able to "dance our own story" in our own way within the constraints of the basic pattern of the dance.
To be able to tell a story by ourselves is a worthy feat, but to be able to relate a storyline between two steppers can be a thing of beauty to watch. When there is a real connection between two partners everyone in the room will feel it (and in a competition that includes the judges and can only bring your overall score up because you will be spanning multiple categories). When I talk about bringing it to the floor in a competition, this is what I've been talking about all of these years... sure your competitive juices will flow but you'll end up supremely satisfied after your three minutes on the floor is over. In my book that makes you a winner and it doesn't matter what anyone else says because you told your story.
The list of cities reporting in with their National Chicago Style Steppers Day parties on August 14th. To see the list of events visit our perpetual calendar page or visit Steppers4Ever.Com. 12 Days To Go! I hope everyone will see the vision and help celebrate the dance on that day in what ever city they are in on the 14th of August.
I just finished the two DVD set from the J.E.P. Productions Hotter than July steppers contest and the total editing time was less than eight hours. I'm also working on an instructional DVD for a client and I've already invested more than three times the amount of time in editing and creating the DVD and it's not done yet (but is still on schedule).
The J.E.P. Productions Hotter than July steppers contest is now on sale and can be ordered online here. Or Right Here!

What are you doing on August 14th? Please let me know!

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