Milwaukee's Largest Contest Review

You are here > Home

Category Blog

Wed 19 Jun 2013

Milwaukee's Largest Contest Review

Written by Administrator

Sunday, 26 August 2012 12:28

2012 Milwaukee's Largest Contest Winners

Last night ChiStepper.com was in the building for MSBU’s Annual Milwaukee’s Largest Steppers Contest. As always, the contest was a major hit and a number of awesome couples came out to perform. As the contest started, there was a bit of controversy surrounding whether or not the couples who registered late would be allowed to perform. Cynthia Wilson, one of the founders of MSBU, made the unpopular decision to stick to the rules and not allow the late couples to perform. This is where things get a little tricky.

On Cynthia’s behalf, it seemed like a tough decision to make considering two of the couples, Feo Duncan and Candace Hinton and T. J. and Keesha Anderson had come all the way from Flint/Detroit, Michigan with the sole purpose of competing. Some purported that they got stuck in traffic. Almost immediately, people started weighing in with different stories. Some said the couples were at the party yesterday, and couldn’t have been stuck in traffic. Others said Feo had to work so he drove home and drove all the way back to Milwaukee the next day. Master of ceremonies, Pete Frazier engaged the crowd on the issue, who cheered in favor of all the couples competing, but others felt it was a bad move. Then there was the issue of registration time. Apparently, Feo reported not knowing there was a registration time. MSBU retorted that the contest registration time was on the entry tickets. To that end, Feo and Candace didn’t have tickets as their name was on the door. So, as you all can see, this stuff gets pretty complex.

1._Cynthia_and_Lisa_MSBU_380

Lisa McCants and Cynthia Wilson (MSBU)

Ultimately, Cynthia Wilson stuck with her guns, so a lot less fuss could have been saved with a simple, “No” behind the scenes. Without knowing all of the varying back stories, it seemed Cynthia made the right move. People always complain about integrity in the contests and promoters not sticking to the rules and showing favoritism, so the only way to keep a level playing field is to make unpopular, but honest decisions. Moreover, while no likes to see these couples dance more than me, I’m actually really cool with both sides, and in my honest opinion, the burden of knowing the rules, registration times, and any other detail lies on the contestants. If I am going to drive nearly 400 miles to compete, you best believe I’m going to know the ins and outs of what’s required of me. If you think about it, nearly 20 other couples managed to get it right, many of whom were also coming from out-of-town. Without question, had Feo and Candace won, which is a highly likely probability, many of the same people who cheered to allow them to compete would have been screaming bloody murder and purporting contest conspiracy theories. It was really a no win situation for MSBU.

When the final decisions was made Feo was obviously upset, and while both he and the crowd were disappointed, everyone seemed to handle the situation well. A guy named Milwaukee Walt on the other hand, decided to throw a bottle full of water in the air, that landed near a couple getting ready to dance and table full of Steppers. It was an amateurish move from a poor sport, and if I was MSBU that cat would never be allowed in my parties again.

All of this commotion in reality took about 10 minutes. The majority of the party was big fun and DJ Kel C and the Legendary Steve “Breeze” Brewer played great Steppin music throughout the night. During the contest however, the music was a bit off. The records weren’t always slammed in right, sometimes causing the dancers to have to adjust mid song. Even great Steppers like Westside Mike and Alexis finished their dance on the downbeat because of one of these awkward slams. If DJ Kel C was spinning the music, this is understandable because she a relative newcomer to spinning for Steppin contests. Steve “Breeze” on the other hand, wouldn’t get the same pass. I’ve heard Steve DJ tons of contests however, like The Pines in 2006 when he absolutely smoked it, so I’m a bit confused to what was happening up there.

As for the contest, we don’t have the full results, but here’s a snapshot of what went down …

Original

1^st Place: Nikee and Tori
2^nd Place: Drew Alexander and Tabitha Williams
3^rd Place: Royce Banks and Danielle Wordlaw

Freestyle

1^st Place: Alfred Johnson and Partner

Trio

1^st Place: Drew Alexander, Tabitha Williams, and Pat Clay

Beginner’s

1^st Place: ???

Unfortunately, ChiStepper didn’t get the name of the Beginner’s winners, or Alfred’s partner. Speaking of Alfred, he had a major cheering section with him and he showed out by doing the splits and kicking one leg in the air. ChiStepper spoke with Royce Banks after winning and he said, “Terrance, do I win money for this?” I said, “I think so Royce.” He said, “Wow. I just woke up out of bed to come down and qualify for the World’s Largest Steppers Contest.” I’m sure a few extra dollars for his troubles didn’t hurt. All of the winning couples did an awesome job, but equally exciting was seeing a few others couples register for what is becoming an epic World’s Largest Steppers Contest. Some of those couples include …

Jamie Graham and Deon Farr (Original)
Royce Banks and Danielle Wordlaw (Original)
Ken Hilliard and Tanya “Tee Tee” Nash (Original)
Maurice Thomas and Paula Crawford (Not sure what category)

Other couples that were preregistered and/or may or may not be dancing in the World’s Largest included …

Smoke Dixon and Cheryl Powe
Mark Alexander and Tosha Downey
Kirk and Sebrina White
George Hilliard and Sylvia Williams
Ericka Jones and Partner

The Walkers Category added some new heat to the World’s Largest as well, as 5 more couples qualified including …

Dee Dee Adams and Jackie Dace (I was both shocked and excited to see this couple. I’ve never seen Dee Dee compete before and he has such an awesome style)
Royce Banks and Rosa Douglass
Mark Alexander and Tosha Downey
Lawrence Parker and Patina Williams

Beginner’s Dancers

Andre Ivey and Shenina Fletcher
Marcus and Partner

ChiStepper wasn’t able to catch all of the names, partners, and categories but will be sure to publish the full list once released by MSBU. Check out the ChiStepper Photo Gallery to see some of the faces that were in the place.

Written by :