Generations of dancers celebrate rich legacy of footwork at Chicago House Music Festival

All of the footworkers at the Chicago House Music Festival and Conference on Saturday were impressive, but a standout was DJ Corey Hill.

Wearing a blue and white jersey, the 20-year-old South Sider displayed the speed, precision, grace and endurance characteristic of the fast-paced, Chicago-born dance. Flanked by members of his crew, the Terra Squad, Hill performed to the popular, pulsating “Bounce” by his father, DJ Clent, a pioneer of the footwork music genre.

Though Hill was born into the house culture, he has formed his own personal connection to the art form.

“I’m trying to communicate that this is from my soul,” he said. “This is from my heart. I want to show them how I get down — nothing but raw, pure energy.”

That passion was palpable throughout the Chicago House Dance Summit, an afternoon of workshops, demonstrations and dance battles that took place in Millennium Park. There was even a coloring station featuring the children’s book, “Elvin Discovers Chicago Footwork.” Hanging from the stage, a white banner stated “Footwork Appreciation Month,” which is now an official Cook County observance to be celebrated each August.

Featuring multiple generations of excited performers and attendees, the summit underscored the rich legacy and promising future of house dance, music and culture.

Festival organizers said showcasing house dance was a priority for the four-day celebration, which continues Sunday on the Chicago Riverwalk.

“It’s a cultural event, and part of that is cultural preservation,” said David Chavez, a festival curator for the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. “So we’re highlighting the legacy DJs and legacy dancers, and having a platform for the emerging dancers and DJs. It helps introduce younger generations to what I think is one of the city’s best cultural heritages, which is house music. It’s part of our DNA. It’s our calling card to the world.”

At the start of the dance summit, Kelli Forman and “King Charles” Lee Parks IV led attendees through a demonstration of kicks, slides, turns and other signature house moves. At one point, the crowd performed the popular “Cha Cha Slide” line dance with some complex footworking thrown in for good measure.

Front and center were 7-year-old Lucy Paterno and her 12-year-old brother, Austen, who were in town visiting from Wilbraham, Massachusetts.

“I wish we had something like this where we live,” said their mother, 47-year-old Jaime Paterno. “It’s so inclusive. It’s welcoming to everybody coming. House music in the ‘90s in the clubs, there were no kids around. This is so family-friendly.“

In addition to teaching, Forman and Parks work for the national Creative Netwerk nonprofit, which serves young people through branches in Chicago and throughout the United States.

“We really believe that the kids are our future,” said Forman, 35, of Iowa, who is the organization’s executive director. “They still have so many bright creative ideas that are going to heal our generation. Dance is so creative and it unifies people and gives them another option for how to connect.”

Parks, 38, also emphasized the benefits of house music.

“It helps people release, in a very healthy way, when they’re going through struggles,” said Parks, the organization’s creative director, who grew up in Harvey and the south suburbs before moving to Arizona. “This was the release for people who were going through struggles in the projects and different parts of the West Side and the South Side. And we’re here to nurture that.”

Summit attendee Krystal Richardson proved that kids aren’t the only ones who can start studying footwork. After initially falling in love with footwork at 10 years old, the 39-year-old Hyde Park resident signed up for lessons five years ago. And now she is introducing her 7-year-old daughter, Ava Davdison, to the style.

“She watches me practice all the time and she’s always telling me what I can work on,” said Richardson, who is affiliated with the House of Wurkz. “I just love to share the dedication, passion and working towards something that you want. It’s hard work, but it’s fun.”

After the dance demonstrations, the summit highlighted footwork pioneers and up-and-coming talent during exhibitions and battles. Later, Ibrahim Sabbi, of the Creation Global crew, won a dance tournament hosted by Jus.Be House Collective.

Among the footwork veterans was Terrayne “T” Ellis, 53, who has been dancing since the mid-1980s. The Austin resident expressed pride in the dance style’s growing impact.

“We’ve got something that we can call our own, similar to steppin’,” said Ellis, who leads the Main Attraction dance troupe and runs the Move Correctly dance studio on the West Side. “When you go across the world and talk about steppin’, people relate it back to Chicago. Now, when people hear about footwork, they can relate it back to Chicago. And to see the new generations pick it up, keep it going and revolutionize it, it’s a great thing.”

And even the young dancers like 20-year-old Angel Childress say they want to pass the knowledge on.

“I do hope to teach more youth and more people that don’t have an understanding about Chicago footwork,” said Childress, a Chatham native and member of the Terra Squad who now lives in Indiana.

Childress said she was “stoked” about the official “Footwork Appreciation Month” designation.

“It’s way overdue,” she said. “I feel like this is something that our culture really needed.”