BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP, MI — Tyrell Brown only needs you to follow four steps to forget your troubles.
The 53-year-old bus driver, known in part for organizing group bicycle-riding outings across Saginaw County, in 2023 added Detroit-style ballroom dancing lesson sessions to his community-organizing résumé.
While Detroit-style ballroom dancing lessons were present in Saginaw County years earlier, Brown launched the latest group as a form of relief for people primed for social events following years of pandemic-era social distancing.
Since then, the sessions have grown in popularity, with more than a dozen people attending the weekly Tuesday gatherings at The Epicurean Elks Lounge, 1704 Veterans Memorial Parkway in Buena Vista Township.
For some of the regulars involved in the weekly gatherings, Detroit-style ballroom dancing “becomes like a lifestyle,” Brown said.
“Sometimes, when I’m in a store and I hear a certain song, I start to mess around with my feet and move that way,” he said. “It becomes like a habit.”
So, what separates Detroit-style ballroom dancing from other forms of dancing?
The Detroit-style dance form is centered on launching with a “four-count step” routine that involves participants landing their feet on the floor four times before recycling the pattern.
“It’s not choreographed but there’s certain moves that you do,” Brown said. “It’s elegance at the core. And somebody who can really do it, they got a real nice flow about it, so it is still elegant, but it’s got some funk on it.”
While Detroit-style ballroom dancers can dance to different genres of music, he said he prefers moving to mid-tempo R&B.
Brown said he first learned the style to the tunes of Tevin Campbell’s “Can We Talk” One of the songs popular during the Tuesday sessions is “Key to the World” by L.J. Reynolds.
“But we dance off anything,” Brown said. “I have one lady out of Flint, and one of her favorite songs to dance to is a Tupac song, OK? As long as you got a beat, you can dance off of it, fast or slow.”
Detroit-style ballroom dancing is exercise fit for most age groups, Brown said.
“If you can walk, you can dance,” he said.
He was in his mid-30s when he learned the routines; one of his group’s participants was in his 80s.
“We don’t discriminate on age at all,” Brown said. “It’s very family friendly for all ages, and it’s fun. If you’re older, it’s real cool because you get to moving around and increasing your heart rate, and you kind of really don’t know you’re doing it.”
The Tuesday sessions feature three instructors: Henry Gibbs, Millie Stidhum Gatson and Leroy Culpepper. They work with attendees at all skill levels, from beginners to experts.
There remains plenty of space for newcomers interested in joining a session, Brown said. Individuals interested in attending can simply show up. No registration is necessary.
Attendance for one session is $10. Sessions begin at 6 p.m. and wrap up about 8 p.m. on Tuesdays.
No partner is required.
He recommended newcomers wear hard-bottom shoes for dancing.
“It’s easier for your joints and it lets your shoe glide along the floor,” Brown said.
The group maintains an online presence via a Facebook page, titled “Saginaw Ballroomers STEPPERS & Hustlers,” where members share images from the Tuesday sessions and information about dance events across the state.
Brown said Detroit-style ballroom dancing is a fit for most dance events.
“If I go to a wedding and I see a couple really getting down on the dance floor, nine times out of 10,” he said, “that’s ballroom’ing.”
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