Steppin' dance spreads beyond Chicago roots

CHICAGO Jan 22 (Reuters Life!) - Couples touch hands or link arms, their hips and toes gyrating smoothly in unison, gliding through dance moves known as "Steppin'" and making it look easy.

"When you step with a woman, she feels your moves and everything. She knows your every expectation. It's like seduction in dance," steppin' instructor Mel McElroy said over a blaring loudspeaker near a makeshift dance floor set up inside Chicago's Daley Center courthouse.

Steppin' has been around under various monikers for decades as a decidedly smoother and less strenuous take on the 1940s-era jitterbug, and an evolution of 1950s-era "the Bop."

But the twirling dance has spread well beyond its origins in Chicago's largely African-American nightspots to mostly urban settings across the United States and around the world.

"It's all over the United States and actually in the UK too. It's everywhere," said dance teacher Kenneth Watkins, who was master of ceremonies at the monthly dance open to all at the Chicago courthouse.

"It's a form of dance that black culture has developed out of 'the Bop;' a mixture of salsa, a combination of a number of dances," Watkins said.

The spread of steppin' from city to city is evident in the scores of instructors who utilize dozens of Web sites that alert dancers to upcoming classes that teach the various styles, and to "steppin' sets" -- or dance parties.

The music is "old-school" R&B, Motown hits, and fresh singles like R. Kelly's "Step in the Name of Love," a 2003 song which steppin' advocates say has spread the dance as far as China.

Many steppers tend to be middle-aged or older, like 54-year-old Rhonda Collins, who has gained a lot of friends and lost a lot of weight dancing four nights a week.

"Two years ago I didn't know any of these people. Now I know, from steppin' and the community, all these people. It's a family, there's a camaraderie. Steppin' sets are held in clubs, bars, banquet halls, everywhere," Collins said.

But what accounts for its popularity, Collins is asked.

"Look at that, it's so smooth, so cool," she said, as a dozen couples who appear to be in their 40s and 50s go through their paces.

In the hands of younger practitioners, steppin' is evolving in ways that may phase out older styles, Watkins said.

"The difference now is there's more energy. Instead of using an eight-step count they're using a six-step count and it's a lot quicker, requiring a lot more energy," he explained.

Some say steppin' is to ballroom dancing as jazz is to classical music. It grew out of a desire for a mellower version of the frantic jitterbug, with gyrations on every other beat instead of every beat.

"It's like a marriage," McElroy, 47, said.

That may be, but it's a marriage in which the man leads, Collins said.

"The improvising is mostly by the guys. She's there to keep count," Collins said. "There are a million-and-two turns -- three basic ones," which keeps the dance interesting for both partners.

"Oh yeah, the lady gets swung, multiple turns, triple turns, double change positions, dipping, the whole nine yards," Watkins said.