Get ready to groove your way to mastery with Chicago Style Stepping classes online (also known as Chicago Step classes, Chicago Steppin classes or Chicago Style Steppin classes). Whether you're a beginner or an experienced dancer, these virtual lessons will unlock your potential and channel your inner rhythm.

Chicago Style Stepping, known for its smooth and elegant footwork, is a beloved style of partner dance that originated in the Windy City. With its distinctive moves and infectious music, this dance form has gained popularity worldwide.

By enrolling in Chicago Style Stepping classes online, you'll have the flexibility to learn at your own pace and convenience. From the comfort of your home, you can access high-quality tutorials, expert instruction, and interactive exercises. Each lesson will break down the steps into easy-to-follow instructions, ensuring that you build a strong foundation and progress with confidence.

Step by step, you'll develop your coordination, timing, and style. You'll improve your dance techniques, footwork, and rhythm, acquiring the skills to dance with grace and precision. Whether you're planning to impress on the dance floor or simply looking for a fun way to stay active, Chicago Steppin lessons online will take your moves to the next level. Get ready to ignite your passion for dance and unlock your true potential.

Benefits of Chicago Style Steppin classes

If you loved "The Quiet Storm", "Whispers in The Dark", "The Sweat Hotel"  and other Urban Adult Contemporary radio programs that come on in the evenings on smooth R&B radio stations you will love the music of Chicago Steppin. You may primarily just listen to the music or make love to the music, but when dancing to it you would normally just slow drag with a partner. If you are like me, you never knew that you had a desire to be able to express yourself more fully while listening to your favorite slow jams. Now you can.

As a Chicago Style Stepper you have multiple dances you can do to this music. You can "Step" to it or "Walk" to it. These are two dance forms under the umbrella of Chicago Style Stepping. Freestyling, bop and slow bop are also part of the culture of Chicago Steppin. With all of these styles you can dance to slow romantic music, hip hop, jazz, electronic music, DJ mixes and James Brown music.

Not only is this a good source of exercise, it is a culture that many live as a lifestyle. If you are a stepper the culture could be the source of your social life, recreation, entertainment, fashion, income, love, family, friends, business contacts, notoriety, etc.

Currently the demographic that is most attracted to this dance is African American adults ages 35-65, but this dance has something for all ages and nationalities since all generations and many genres of music work for this dance.

Online Chicago Steppin classes vs. in-person classes

Online Steppin classes and In-person Steppin classes are both great options. Each has its pros and cons.

In-person classes:

Pros: Receive instant physical feedback from the instructor

Learn and physically practice with other students

Can go to a local event to dance with others

Develop strong local connections

Cons: Must go at the pace of the class which may be too fast or too slow

If you miss a class then you could fall behind

It's hard to remember what was taught in class in order to practice at home

You must travel to and from class which takes time and costs money

Your schedule may not work for attending the class

Classes tend to be more expensive than online classes

You may not like everyone in the class which could make learning in that environment uncomfortable

You may want more than what your local instructor can offer.

Virtual online classes at steppersflow.com

Pros: Learn at your on pace

Learn in the comfort of your own home or wherever you want

No need to worry about forgetting anything, because you can review videos whenever you want.

No travel time or costs

No schedule conflicts. Learn in the middle of the night if you want to.

Costs less than in-person classes

Interact with other online students from around the world virtually face-to-face

Develop local, national and international connections

Get feedback from the instructor, assistants and other students

Cons: Cannot get physical (touch) feedback from the instructor and classmates

Not in the same room with the teacher and classmates

No access to local stepping events

Can't go out to dinner with classmates after class

Best of Both Worlds

Pros: Go to in-person class and review and practice using the online platform at home.

If you miss a class in-person you can still keep up at home.

Bring what you learn online to your in-person teacher to get physical feedback

Get a second opinion from more than one instructor

If your in-person class is too slow get ahead of the class by learning online

If you don't have a local community near you then you can create one using the steppersflow.com platform

Start an in-person practice group with nearby online students to give each other physical feedback.

Invite instructors to visit your local community to receive the physical feedback

Create your own local stepping events using home grown Stepping DJ's or virtual Stepping DJ's from Chicago or the USA

Finding the right online Chicago Steppin lessons

There are a few online options currently available and there will be more in the future as technology improvements make it easier to develop online schools. There is a saying in the dance world, "The best dancers aren't necessarily the best teachers." In the online space you can also say, "The best in-person teacher cannot necessarily design and implement the best online platform for your learning." Steppersflow.com is a new state-of-the-art platform for Chicago Style Stepping. It is quickly becoming the gold standard of Chicago Style Stepping instruction online. Steppersflow.com makes it easy to take advantage of this comprehensive platform with a very low price of $9.99/mo. USD for the Chicago Style Stepping Foundation course

Steppersflow.com is more than just a website with prerecorded instructional videos. It is a private online community where we can share ideas, learn more and get questions answered. You also can give and receive feedback in a live virtual format. New lessons will be developed directly as a response to requests from you the students. This platform will be ever-growing and improving with your input, so it will remain the premiere source for learning Chicago Stepping online.

Mastering the basic steps of Stepping - Chicago Style

Learning how to step is easy. Anyone can do it through our platform. Once you learn the basic 8-count pattern and a few half turns, left turns and right turns then you are officially a stepper. You get that in the first two months of the Chicago Style Stepping Foundation course. Mastering the basic steps is just a matter of review and practice. After that you will start putting those basic moves in basic combinations.

If you love what you are doing then the process will be enjoyable and worthwhile. Just like learning anything, as your skill builds your enjoyment of the dance and culture will increase exponentially.

There are a lot of moves, concepts and techniques you could learn, but some of the best dancers do a small number of moves, but they do them so well with their own flare and style that they are considered legends in the game. If you were to learn from them, they could teach you all of the moves they do in a few days, but you wouldn't be able to do it like them until you spend the time mastering the basic steps. Even then you would do it and are encouraged to do it with your own style and flare.

History of Chicago Style Stepping

Chicago Step is a swing dance. There are dozens of swing dance variations around the world. Some developed based on a country's, region's or a city's style. The mother of all swing dances is the Lindy Hop/Jitterbug. Chicago's version of swing called the "Bop" started with the teenagers of the South and West sides of Chicago in the 60's and 70's. It was a past time of many gang members, pimps and other hardcore folks. Many of the people who were teenagers back then grew up with the dance and are still dancing today.

Before 2003 the bop (now called stepping) was a local dance form just like Detroit Ballroom, DFW Swingout, DC Hand dance etc. But in 2003 a famous Chicago born R&B artist named R Kelly featured the dance in 2 music videos "Step in the Name of Love" and "Happy People". Before 2003, many would-be stepping instructors from Chicago that lived in other cities had trouble drumming up interest in learning the dance, but after those videos came out, people started being interested. New classes sprouted up and teachers from Chicago started traveling to other cities to help develop new communities like Atlanta, Oakland, Boston, Detroit etc.

Now it is the most popular of the urban partner dance styles that hail from a local community. Now new generations of people from around the US are flocking to this dance form. It's even started up in France, but it is now on the verge of exploding around the world with the help of platforms like steppersflow.com .

Chicago Step etiquette and dance floor etiquette

With the beginnings of stepping coming from the pimps and gangsters who typically dressed to impress, the dance fashion complete with loud colored suits and hats, often called "steppers sharp" fostered a civil more classy demeanor on the dance floor. The dance floors were the spaces where the gang animosity was kept in check. Members of opposing gangs would coexist without incident while stepping. You might actually dance with each other in a show of skill in almost a battle format with the men dancing with each other. When dancing with the women they could be more romantic, but oftentimes the women wanted to demonstrate their skill just like the guys.

Nowadays the battle dancing among men still exists. It may be called "man-on-man", "freestyle", or "the get down". When certain old school songs or artists like James Brown or the JB's are played then men start taking turns dancing with each other or with certain women that can "get down". A circle will develop around them and most people become spectators.

During regular dancing between men and women there are rules and expectations that are observed. A few of them are

Stay in your lane - The dance happens in a slot and typically does not change orientation during the dance. Another couple is dancing right next to you taking care not to bump you or take your space

Don't get on a crowded dance floor in the middle of a song - Many popular clubs have small dance floors and they fill up quickly. Once people have settled in their space it is very disruptive for a couple to come in late and try to take some of someone else's space. It's better to just wait to the beginning of the next song to get your space.

Don't dance east-west in the middle of the floor if everyone else is dancing north-south. East-west dancing is acceptable on the short ends of the floor.

If you bump into someone, apologize even if it's not your fault.

There are plenty of rules and they are broken all of the time, but the above are some of them.

Advanced Chicago Step techniques and moves

When you progress in your dance there are many things you can do to add to your dance. You master dancing both roles, the leader's and follower's roles. You could learn "Trios" This is when 3 or more people dance with each other. It can be 1 leader leading 2 or more followers at the same time or two leaders passing one follower back and forth. You could learn "Freestyle". You could learn the 6-count, bop and 8-count and switch between the styles during the dance. You can learn Chicago Style Walking and implement that in your stepping. By the way you can start learning how to walk while you are learning your stepping basics. Theoretically you could learn how to walk before learning how to step. Stepping is not a prerequisite for learning how to walk.

Most people learn the 8-Count first. You learn how to count and move your feet to the music according to the count. This helps you learn the basics, but after awhile you will not need the count because it will be ingrained in your muscle memory. You then can play with the count, by changing it or ignoring it at times. This opens up the possibilities in the dance and allows for styling and more organic movement.

Chicago Step events

There are many local, regional and national stepping events in the U.S. The most important one is the World's Largest Stepping Contest (WLSC) . This event actually has a season that starts with preliminary contests as early as June of every year and culminates with the contest in the 3rd week of September in Tinley Park, IL. The "Prelims" happen in select cities at select events across the country. A month of weekly contests are also held in July in Chicago.

There are many weekend events that happen across the country. They typically include parties from Thursday night to Sunday afternoon. Parties happen Thursday night, Friday night, 3 parties on Saturday (afternoon, night and afterparty late night), Sunday afternoon. If weather permits, the Saturday afternoon party is held outside in a park somewhere. They also have workshops and private lessons with popular instructors on Saturday afternoons and sometimes Friday evenings. Attendees normally fly into the city and stay in the hotel where the event is being held or a nearby hotel.

The parties typically have a dress theme or music theme. The themes are what differentiates the different events. Especially popular are white parties where the theme is dressing in all white. Some events have their own contests and offer monetary prizes.

Conclusion: Embrace the rhythm and take your dance moves to the next level

If you are just starting or considering learning how to step, you may have questions. The questions could be broken down to the 5 W's and an H.

Who? YOU that's who. It doesn't matte where you are. The limitation of not living in a stepping community no longer exists, so you can become a stepper anywhere in the world where you have high speed internet. I encourage people from all ages, nationalities, ethnicities, races and religions to become steppers.

What? Chicago Style Stepping aka Chicago Step aka Chicago Steppin. Learn your first, second and third steps with steppersflow.com.

When? Now. Sign up today and start on a journey that could change your life. At $9.99/MONTH USD there is no reason to wait.

Where? In the comfort of your own home or on the go, you can learn how to step from your computer, smart TV, or mobile device. You could be in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East or on an island and of course the USA

Why? Change your life. Live the stepping lifestyle. Have fun, exercise, socialize, express your creativity or business savvy. Find love, family and friends or bring your significant other with you on this journey.

How? Sign up for steppersflow.com for $9.99/MONTH USD and start learning and meeting new people from where you are.

This should be an easy choice to make and there is very little risk compared to the reward. Become a stepper today