In this episode of CuriosiD, listener Katie Byerly asks the question:

What is Detroit ballroom and hustle dancing?

The short answer

Detroit ballroom and hustling are two distinct dance styles. Ballroom is a partnered dance traced back to the 70s that was loosely based on the Cha-Cha and accompanied by R&B or Soul Music. Detroit, or “urban ballroom”, is a smoother, more fluid dance style, as opposed to more structured and formal standard or Latin ballroom dances.

Hustling is another name for line dancing. It’s a group dance often set to specific songs. You might have heard the songs “Wobble” by V.I.C, or “Cupid Shuffle” by Cupid played at parties to get people on the dance floor.

Detroit Hustles

The most famous line Dance would be the Electric Slide, popularized in the 1970s. It’s done to many songs. But in Detroit, it most famously was danced to the song “My Eyes Don’t Cry” by Stevie Wonder.

There are hundreds of variations of line dances that go along with specific songs across different cultures.

And Detroit has popularized a few of its own, such as the Tamia Hustle danced to the song “Can’t Get Enough” by Tamia.  Or the In the Line of Duty hustle created by a former Detroit police officer and danced to the song “Feels So Right” by Janet Jackson.

And then there is the Turbo Hustle created by Detroit’s own legend, Frederick “Fast Freddy” Anderson.

“Right, right, right, left, left, left. That’s mine… I created that,” said Freddy. “But what they did, after a while, somebody took my name off of it. They had the same music. It started with me.”

In the original version, you can hear him saying “Freddy’s on the move” at the beginning of the song.

Freddy says he created the Turbo Hustle in the now closed Northland Shopping Center.

“We had a contest inviting groups to come in, and we all migrated and put this together, but I was the one who put the foundation to it, and we put it together, and that’s how it became the Turbo,” said Freddy.

Creating this line dance is only one of Freddy’s accolades. He’s had an extensive career in dancing, DJ-ing and modeling, since appearing on Detroit’s popular TV show The Scene in the 1970s and 80s. Now, at nearly 80 years old, Freddy can be found still emceeing parties across the city.

“This means an awful lot to me. You see, I take it seriously. People that generally don’t dance, they get up and dance for me,” Freddy said.

Freddy also teaches classes at rec centers in Detroit. On multiple days he can be found in senior homes for his class, “Getting Down While You Sit Around.”

Freddy says ballroom and hustling are easy ways to get people on the dance floor comfortably and without any social stakes.

“It’s an exceptional thing, because, you know, a guy takes a girl out, they don’t have to go on one side of the room, and you dance by yourself. This is thing that we all, we all do together, and to see a room full of people do it is truly exceptional.”

Hustle Classes

Finding a place to learn the steps to these dances isn’t difficult. Freddy is only one of dozens of instructors across the city teaching hustle and ballroom classes.

On Wednesday’s at Shield’s Pizza in Southfield Steven “Silk” Sturkey can be found teaching hustle classes from 6-8 p.m.

Silk says there are simple basic steps that make up a hustle.

“Like a cha, cha box, square, tick, walk, easy, reverse, full, turn, half, turn, pivot. There’s tons of names for each. Most of the moves are recycled. It’s just the choreography of the moves, where they go, how they go, the timing,” Silk said.

Silk has been teaching classes since 2012. He says in his time, there were more restrictions to becoming an instructor and an instructor certificate was required.

“Nowadays, it’s not so stringent. But from where I came from, there is a deep history the instructors that instructed me were instructed by instructors, and it was kind of passed down from generation to generation, so to speak,” Silk said. 

It’s a community

Detroit’s community of hustlers and ballroom dancers is tight knit, but still welcoming to newcomers and beginners.

Ask Maurice Franklin, better known as DJ RocWitMoe. He hosts the city’s Dancing in the D event in Downtown Detroit’s Spirit Plaza.

RocWitMoe says the hustle community feels like family.

“Because it gives a community feel. Because there’s a certain amount of people that do hustling and ballroom, not that it’s a community that’s closed off, you know?” RocWitMoe said.

“I mean, it’s a community where other people could come in, but it’s a community style to where everyone pretty much knows, you know everyone else. So we looked at more like as a family, rather than, you know, just people out partying.”

RocWitMoe says while hustling and line dances are seem more prevalent as they are done at almost every party, ballroom is also still very popular among Detroiters.

He’s been hosting several ballroom events called the Ballroom Bash at the Norwood on Woodward. The next one will be on May 1.

RocWitMoe says events like these are good for the city because they give people a fun, safe outlet.

“You know, people working day in and day out, you know, doing what they got to do to feed their families and everything you need that outlet. And it can’t be the head banging club scene,” RocWitMoe said.

“But you may still want to go somewhere and you know, maybe have a cocktail or two and then go home. And that in between part where you can have a release and a getaway from regular life is what you know ballroom is.”

WDET’s CuriosiD series answers your questions about everything Detroit. Subscribe to CuriosiD on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

We want to hear from you!

Have a question about Southeast Michigan’s history or culture? Send it our way at wdet.org/curious or fill out the form below. You ask, we answer.

More CuriosiD