In Da Club: Twin Cities Steppers Association

"Steppin' is not just a dance...it's what we eat, think, and breathe," preached R. Kelly on "Step in the Name of Love." Kelly's claim is truer in Chicago, where aficionados can find a place to step just about every night. But the dance/lifestyle is growing in Minneapolis, abetted by ambassadors such as Kevin Johnson [pictured, background], founder of the six-month-old Twin Cities Steppers Association, which helped put on last Saturday's "Summer Spectacular" dance at the Zuhrah Shrine ballroom in south Minneapolis. Stepping, not to be confused with the fraternity dance of the same name, can be traced back to jitterbugging, whose progeny includes the smoother dance called bopping, which in turn gave way to the even smoother stepping in 1970s Chicago. A fluid, six-count dance full of slides, cross-pivots, and turns, stepping is dance-floor foreplay of an elegant stripe. Classic stepping records tend to be lithe, mid-tempo R&B, often obscurities like Jeffree's genre classic "Love's Gonna Last" and Lou Johnson's "Step with You," one of the tunes spun by KMOJ's Ray Richardson at Saturday's event. "A lot of people just come to watch," says Johnson, and at Zuhrah the line between wallflowers and spectators was blurry. Dressing up is nearly mandatory, and some of Saturday's dancers were sporting the form's trademark attire: Zoot suit-style extra long jackets and baggy trousers for the men, décolletage and high heels for the women. TC Steppers is preparing to add lessons and contests to its mission, and is planning events for September and New Year's Eve. Johnson, a graceful dancer himself, might also be a de facto couples' therapist for the mature set. "Once they hit their 30s, a lot of people just stop going out," says Johnson. "We're trying to change that."