Among one of the most popular Chicago dances in urban communities is "Chicago Steppin'". It is usually done at events called "steppers sets" and caters to an older crowd. I think it spurred out of some strange combination of Polish polka and Mexican polka mixed with African American soul and funk dances of the 1970's. This is one of the cultural dances I'd say is closest to me, its the sort of thing you do at family gatherings, picnics ect... Not many young people step unless its with an older person (I usually step with my dad :-) ), it's something my parents do often on weekends. I'd say the age range is around 40+. The most popular example of this dance is R. Kelly's step in the name of love video, I think its a very accurate representation of what stepping is, who does it, and at what kinds of events. What's funny about it, which you can see in the video is most of the younger people are sitting down, but if you look at the dancers it looks similar to people who would dance polka.
R. Kelly Step In the Name of Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj71KbE6ekg
I agree that this looks similar to the dancers that we see in polka. Is this a generational thing? That our generation is so used to solo dancing and our parents generation are used to partner dancing? I've noticed this with a lot of the dances that we've looked at in class, especially those that are created as partner dances. Most of our classmates recognize and relate to dances that are solo dances, like krumping, and relate partner dances with our parents, like ballroom. When do you think this change occurred? Are there any other instances in our culture that are so generationally different?
ReplyDeleteI think you made a really good point. It's very possible that it's a generational thing. Younger generations have been raised differently, less focused on "meeting someone" more about being independent and taking control of your own body. I think it's very possible that is the reason younger people dance solo, or are so uncomfortable doing "romantic" couple dances as opposed to "grinding" or something of the sort. Just look at how awkward it was to partner dance in class...and we were no where near touching.
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