Steppers 977 pays homage to Chicago-Style Stepping music and the culture it represents. Chicago-Style Steppinmg, affectionately known as Steppin, like most social dances, evolved from the "Bop" in the 1970s. In 1973 Sam Chatman was the first to coin the term "Chicago Step", and has been widely credited with marking steppin's evolutionary transition from Bop.
The swing dance known as Steppin' is a part of the Western Swing family. The parent dance "Chicago Bop" may have been more Eastern Swing, but Steppin' has characteristics more similar to Western, especially its usage of a lane or slot. The term "Bop" was used to describe the dance form by Chicagoans until the early 1970s. Prior to that time "Bop" was a universally known term with its origin beginning sometime between 1945 & 1950 to express music and dance. The dance known as Chicago Steppin' evolved from Bop and is more likely a derivative of Jitterbug.
No published syllabuses exist for the dance. Chicago-Style Stepping gained a real foothold when a local radio station, WVAZ (102.7FM/1390AM) began playing "Mr. Fix-It" and "Loves Gonna Last", two obscure songs recorded by Jeffree (Jeffree Perry) from his MCA 1979 Jeffree album. "Mr Fix it" had modest success as a single on the R&B charts. "Loves Gonna Last", an album cut, became so popular in Chicago that the steppers dubbed it The Steppers National Anthem.
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