If Cities Could Dance: Chicago, IL / Chicago Footwork

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[magical music]

(Describer) KQED. If Cities Could Dance: Chicago.

[upbeat dance music]

(Christopher) Footworking is more than just a dance. We're taking our struggle and we redirect energy in a positive way.

[mellow music]

(Describer) Diamond Hardiman.

(Diamond) I started doing footwork at the age of 13. When I first started footworking, I was going through a lot of stuff, family issues with my mom being addicted and being abused. I didn't know how to express it. When I footwork, I just show who I am. Once your soul connects with the music, I feel energetic. This is my meditation spot.

(Describer) Footwork is similar to tap, but looser. Christopher Thomas.

[frantic music]

(Christopher) Footwork is a form of resistance against oppressive living conditions. This is a tool for young folks. It's a way out. So it's like artistic expression through social liberation. You could take 1,000 classes, you will never, you will never perform at the scale that any footworker that's from Chicago perform because you're not from that struggle.

[upbeat music]

(Describer) Donnetta Jackson.

(Donnetta) I grew up on the South Side of Chicago. I'm the only girl in the my crew. Chicago footwork is a style. Our feet move at 160 beats per minute. And I worked my way up. Like, I practice, I perform, I put the work in. Footworking, It's an art that I'm trying to master as well as to continue by reaching in tap dance as well. I'm just trying to spread the knowledge and the culture for both styles.

[train passes]

(Describer) Keith Warfield.

(Keith) A lot of Footworkers have looked back and see it in African tradition and African dance. We was fortunate enough to hold onto it long enough to still have it here in Chicago. And Chicago don't get enough credit. And I just see so much potential.

(Christopher) We have to be willing to educate, teach, and show using footwork as a platform.

(Diamond) Through my blood, sweat, and tears, this is the city where I started from the bottom. This is my home where I went through all my trials and tribulations.

(Donnetta) Without Chicago, it wouldn't be no Footworking. Without Footworking, it won't be no Chicago.

[upbeat music]

(Describer) Credits.

(Describer) Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.

Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

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As the backbone of street dance battles, Chicago footwork, developed on the city's South and West Sides, is meant to dazzle and discombobulate in equal measure. Dancers' feet move at 160 beats per minute. But for many, footwork is more than just rapid moves, it’s a way to express an alternative to and to resist violence and other effects of poverty. Part of the "If Cities Could Dance" series.