Hotter Than July Contest Reflections

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Fri 24 May 2013

Hotter Than July Contest Reflections

Written by Administrator

Sunday, 05 August 2012 16:05

Tori, Nikee, Shuwn, and Dana

J.E.P. Productions kicked off an extremely successful “Hotter Than July” contest that was reminiscent of the yearly 3G’s competition hosted by Millennium Productions nearly 5 years back. To J.E.P.’s credit, the contest came off without a hitch. There were no judging controversies, everyone got paid, and the contestants who lost all seemed to take it in stride.

What I found particularly fascinating, among other things, is how Steppin is continuously evolving. While some Steppers, like 2^nd place winner Marcus Reynolds and Opal Jones wore traditional tailor made zoot suits, new skool Steppers William Barnes and Qiana Wilson wore a matching white ensemble with orange ties that gave off a prep school sort of look. Not only that, but Qiana danced in low top air force ones, an anomaly for females and a far cry from the heels, wedge heels, and even cowboy boots of years past. Then there was Nikee’s “Pee Wee Hermanesque” style that included a tight suit with a bow tie. Nearly gone are the days of oversized matching Harlem Nights style walking suits.

In a completely different vein, it was fun to watch the new Steppers start to carve out their own lane. First place winners Feo and Candace struggled for years to gain the acceptance of prominent Chicago Steppers, only to have them singing their praises 7 to 8 years later. To be clear, winning contests might fatten your pockets, but it doesn’t always translate over into being respected by your peers as a great dancer. Feo and Candace have now accomplished both and they’re going to give everyone hell from here on out.

Speaking of new Steppers, William Barnes, Qiana Wilson, Marcus Reynolds, Opal Jones, Kevin Brewer, Valencia Collins, Tamika Clark, Audra Edwards, Torrey Loggins, T. J. Mark Alexander, Tosha Downey, Rich, and Andrea are all fairly new dancers. All of them having been dancing around 3 to 4 years tops. So what we are witnessing is an entirely new generation of Steppers making their marks and providing hope that both leisure and competitive forms of the dance will be okay in future years.

Another major issue coming up more and more around Chicago is the influence of Out-of-Towners on the dance. Detroit, in particular, is the big elephant in the room. It sort of reminds me of how Motown was the home of soul for years, and then Gamble and Huff created a hot bed of new groups and talent out of Philadelphia that gave the Motor City a run for its money. Without question, Chicago is undoubtedly still the Steppin capital of the world, but I’d venture to say that the best new talent right now is coming out of Detroit. Pete Frazier mentioned it at the World’s Largest prelims, and Charnice Simmons made mention of it at the Hotter Than July prelims. Why you ask? Well, according to Charnice it’s simple, “They’re hungrier for the dance.”

For the first time in World’s Largest History, most of the Chicago bred greats are claiming retirement, and Detroit is positioned to win every single category of the World’s Largest Steppers Contest. Now surely, there are tons of Steppers entering the contest from Chicago and other parts of the nation who see that notion as entirely ridiculous if they have anything to say about it, but with Drew in both Original Old Skool, Walking and Trio, and Feo and Candace in Original New Skool, Trio, and Walking, as well as Steppers like Keesha Anderson and T. J., Sherry Gordon and many others who are also threats, the Motor City is sitting pretty.While the overall talent pool might not be as high as it has been in years past, it’s fun to chronicle the dance during these years of transition.

To that end, I marveled at how Feo has gone from dancing like a robot with a stutter step to being a bona fide dancer with footwork and style. It’s cool to see that T. J. is no longer flailing his arms, or that Will Barnes has stopped pointing his fingers in the air like female heavy hitter Lola Harding. The Hotter Than July Contest was an awesome peek into what we can expect for the World’s Largest Steppers Competition.

Shouts out to D. J. Cross who played the music for the competition and D. J. Roy Shannon, who co-DJ’d the party, Lawrence Parker and Tosha Downey for busting out the splits to house music, Valencia Collins and her Sister for housing it up with Strictly Steppers’ Big Henry, and Pete Frazier for MCing the affair and doing his classic spank! Pictures of the affair are posted in the ChiStepper Photo Gallery.

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