The 2011 White Party Weekend Review

By Tracey Bivens

I’m back to writing my reviews and conducting my interviews on I Love Steppin.com after taking a short vacation from the writing scene.  Detroit’s Project 300 is taking up a lot of my spare time but I’ll tell you all about that later.

Rockin Rodney Mack pulled off another multi day extravaganza this year with all the bells and whistles. Because this event had so many components connected to it, I’m going to make a concerted effort to talk about some of the things that made it memorable both from a celebratory standpoint and a room for improvement viewpoint.

I am sitting at the keyboard with my feet in a bucket of ice water and several different forms of liquid foot softeners in it because my feet are swollen. The 8^th Annual White Party Weekend activities actually kicked off on Wednesday night for many Detroiters and a few people from Toledo. One could officially consider Wednesday, day one of the dance-a-thon.

People started sprinkling in on Thursday and gathering at the Dearborn Hyatt. You could see the anticipation on many people’s faces because you have to remember that next to the Good Deeds International (GDI) Heritage Ball, the White Party in Detroit is one of the most highly anticipated steppin events of the year. I was actually quite surprised to see as many people as I did on Thursday because it is still considered a “week work” day but a crowd of over 300 did manage to come out and participate the sounds of DJ Rodney Mack. As I sat at the will call table meeting guests in the hotel lobby, I kept thinking to myself, “these people are gonna be burnt out by Saturday night with all this dancing.”

The weekend itinerary and tickets had a lot of conflictive times on them that didn’t match up with “actual” times but luckily the hotel was able to print up posters with corrections to resolve the situation.

Day three, Friday, gave guests an opportunity to visit the revolving Rotunda Room on the 16^th floor of the Dearborn which offered card and board games as an alternative to steppin but what do you think most of the people did when they saw a mini sized dance floor up there? You guessed it, an impromptu steppers set was born. So as that was going on, I peeked in on a few of the workshops and the pampering room which offered coiffuring to the men and women who may have not had an opportunity to take care of those things at home i.e. eyelash applications, manicures, etc.

That evening, the Burton Manor, which I will say is my all-time favorite place to step, offered steppers the opportunity to step on a marble floor to the sounds of DJ Shorty Smooth aka MrMakeUDance aka Mykel Farr with DJ Calvin pinch hitting. I think Mykel and Diddy are reinventing themselves. Laughing. 

The prelims for the World’s Largest saw only two contestants enter from Detroit. A lot of people thought that Drew Alexander and Lakeesha Anderson along with maybe Feo Duncan and Candace Hinton were going to wow the crowd with their entry dances, but no cigar...for now at least. Emcee Pete Frazier, and the first lady, Mrs. Linda Frazier, graciously greeted many of the guests in attendance with a handshake, smile and conversation which further explains why Pete Frazier is considered one of the best “people skilled” promoters in the industry.

I typically don’t attend after parties because I’m …oh I don’t know…sleepy and tired by that time but I received some reviews about the after party that suffered from the “This ain’t how they did it in Atlanta!” syndrome.

Day four, Saturday, and I noticed that some people were getting antsy after they went to the mall several times and visited the Rotunda. Guests were sitting around the hotel lobby munching on Ms. Cheesecake, Lynne Batten’s, Snicker Bar, Sweet Potato Pie and Moscato Flavored cheesecakes. The people were actually kind of…well bored. Logistically, Dearborn is a suburb that does not have much to offer in the form of entertainment. If you don’t have a car when you come to events like these, you really are kind of stuck sitting around the hotel lobby shooting the breeze and having fireside chats about the politics of steppin.  Cleveland’s DJ Huck, Vince Huckabee, was spinning, obviously gearing up the crowd for his upcoming linen affair.

Saturday night brought in a sea of white outfits and about 1800 guests in total. DJ Smooth and Mellow Khris did their thing and everyone else came out and stepped. You could begin to see that some people were really tired because women were sporting flat sandals as early as eight o’clock and some men were wearing flat sandals as well. One standout that evening was the long overdue presentation that the Detroit steppin community presented to Rodney Mack. It was an appreciation plaque that recognized him as being in the forefront of providing Detroit with the first steppers sets and ushering in events like the White Party and the Masquerade Ball. Chicago surprisingly won the “rep your city” segment when roll call was taken. How was that possible? (Laughter) Honorable mentions went to Detroit and the Ohio clan. K Jon did and A, B and C selection. By the way, I wonder when his movie is coming out that he put together last year?

Day five, Sunday, was not a day of rest because this was the day of the forum, picnic and afterglow. Okay Rodney Mack…give us a break…whew! (Laughter).

Terrance Pratt, taking a cue from previous comments about unproductive forums made great attempts to make change in our community. If you ask me, the forums CAN be the most important part of steppers set because they help to shape people’s opinions. From what I gathered, these were the highlights: Stop counting, start listening to the rhythm and the beat. Workshop attendance is dwindling, instructors stop taking advantage of people by taking their money. Out of town men and women who are in their 70s and 80s need steppin role models who are around THEIR age to pattern their dance after. Promoters are SEEMINGLY just throwing three day events just to make money. Women stop bashing men as they develop their skill level in the dance. Pioneers of steppin in Chicago want out of towners to constantly remember steppers who have passed away and acknowledge their contributions to the dance every time they set foot on the floor… even though they don’t come out to any events (that’s gonna be kind of hard to do isn’t it?) Always the consummate professional, T Pratt has always provided the steppin community with a forum to improve upon the status quo. I can’t forget my other brothers in the media circle. Thank you Lamont Watts of clubsteppin.com for broadcasting the event throughout the weekend and Ken Bedford for your videotape package that you are putting together.

The Detroit Steppers Network (DSN) did get to mention their Project 300 August 6^th event in which we hope to bring 300 men and women into the steppin arena. It is quite an advantageous project because all of our instructors are working together to teach the same way on that same day to try and start these “virgin” steppers off with a strong foundation. We are going to the missions, shelters, churches, street bazaars, etc. and we mean business because we are bound and determined to make this happen!

The picnic was a picnic and the afterglow was the afterglow. Big ups go out to the lady DJs that took charge of the turntables at the picnic. Cleveland’s Michelle Mason, DJ Butta, DJ Queen B (Vegas) & DJ Verdena (Chicago). These ladies definitely have a an ear and flair for music. DJ Queen B (Vegas) & DJ Verdena (Chicago)No female lead contest took place at the afterglow due to non-participation but DJ Tyk Myn did drop a few hot ones along with emcee Keith Hubbard. Just to let you know how tired people were…a lot of us were sitting at the bar watching Miami play against Dallas in the NBA finals. Go Heat!

I want to acknowledge some standouts from the weekend that made this event special for various reasons. Detroit’s own, Rebecca Atkinson, the young lady toting the little baby around the events? Well, she played a major role in the setting up of this weekend’s activities and sacrificed a lot of her own personal mother/daughter time to make sure that questions were answered and expectations were met. Thumbs up Becky! Pat Clay, Chicago, has got to be the sweetest woman on earth as she articulates aspects about steppin and what kind of role it should play in the lives of men and women. Good Deeds International who came up from Atlanta in full force and even had sweetie pie Melanie Fields and Devan Powe offering to help set up on Saturday night in the ballroom before the main event…and yes, they had their fliers in tow advertising the Heritage ball for 2012. Check out their flier and the metaphors they use…it’s really creative!  The Majestic Gents’ twins, Jim and Jerry who spoke about celebrating life before celebrating anything else in this world. Tyk Myn and Andre’ Blackwell, who provided the honesty and truth about steppin to Sherry Gordon and myself in a two hour long conversation. Detroit’s, Ira and Gail Blakely, Darby Settles, Jackie “Shortcake” Jones and her camera, “Slick Vic” Plotnikov, newlyweds, Sean and DeeJay Wilkins, Cliff “Big Slim” Reynolds, Karla Jeffries, Janay Pa, Carolyn Rawlings, Columbus’ Own, Dancin Dons and Divas, Victor A. James and Nikola Thomas. There were dozens and dozens of other notables but I don’t have enough energy to type all of those names. (Laughter)

Remember I said I was going to talk about areas in room for improvement in these weekend affairs? Tune in tomorrow when I create the ULTIMATE steppers’ weekend package. Promoters, take out your pen and pads because after having gone to enough of these affairs, I’m going to let you know how to present a virtual flawless event where everyone leaves complaint free!