While camping outdoors requires some equipment and knowledge, those resources are within reach, and the new campground is more accessible than ever, says Amy McMillan, CEO of Huron-Clinton Metroparks.
“One of the great things about these improvements is we have barrier-free camping now, if you have mobility issues or have a stroller you need to push around, it’s absolutely perfect for that.”
A number of education and community events are available for camp-curious metro Detroiters, including a Family Campout Night on July 24-25, and weekend programs for first-time campers to try out equipment for the first time.
“You kind of get that up north feeling being right here next to Belleville,” says McMillan.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
Support local journalism.
WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Large groups of teenagers have been gathering in downtown Detroit organized on TikTok and Snapchat. It’s part of a national trend being called “teen takeovers.” Most of the kids were just hanging out. But some of these gatherings turned chaotic. There have been brawls, vandalism, and an attempted robbery on Woodward. On April 11, a gun was fired, though no one was hurt.
Two of the 16-year-olds who organized the first gathering sat next to Mayor Mary Sheffield at a press conference last week. Daveion Page said he did it because he was bored. Danasha’ Tidwell said the violence that followed was “harmful and very unacceptable.”
Where can Detroit kids go to be safe and have fun? And, what’s the responsibility of a city to help grow and develop young people?
Jerjuan Howard is the first director of Detroit’s new Office of Youth Affairs. He’s also an Army veteran, founder of the Umoja Debate League, and the owner of a new bookstore on Puritan Avenue. He spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
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.
Fast Freddy leading a hustle at The Office Lounge
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.
Steven “Silk” Sturkey leading a hustle at Shield’s Pizza in Southfield.
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.”
DJ RocWitMoe at WDET studios.
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.
Support the podcasts you love.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
As part of WDET’s series CuriosID, a listener wonders if driving an electric car could actually create more pollution, since it would force power plants to generate more electricity to charge it, thereby generating more smog.
In this episode of “CuriosiD,” we answer a question about the heyday of the iconic, ornately-designed structure and what the future holds for the historic site.
Detroit teenagers have been gathering in large numbers downtown over the past few weeks.
On its face, there’s a simple explanation: as the weather warms up, teens are looking for somewhere to be. But there was a time when Detroit teenagers already had those places. So what happened to them?
Pete Saunders, an urban planner and publisher of the Substack The Corner Side Yard, thinks these gatherings are signaling something deeper about how American culture changed. He joined the show to discuss why these teen gatherings are happening across the U.S.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Sixty years after voters narrowly approved the first millage to establish Oakland County Parks, officials say the system is undergoing a fundamental shift.
County officials recently unveiled a plan to revamp and grow its parks system. It’s called Mission 26 and it aims to help the county’s residents easily access the outdoors, especially in urban areas.
The focus on reshaping the county’s parks is funded by a public millage passed in 2024.
Oakland County Parks Director Chris Ward says it’s a green vision for the county’s future. “We know people are struggling financially, but the fact that they, you know, demonstrated such overwhelming support for that proposal shows how deeply people in this county value recreation and the outdoors,” Ward says.
The county is expanding urban partnerships, including at Pontiac Oaks County Park, and plans to open Oak Park Woods at Sheppard Park and convert a Southfield golf course into a nature preserve.
The county also launched the Co-Creation Lab to allow residents to help guide the future of the parks system through a new online portal,
If parks are considered part of the county’s preventive health and wellness infrastructure, Ward says their success must be measured by how actively they are used.
“Empty parking lots represent a missed opportunity to reach people,” Ward says.
WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
The Detroit City Council voted in new leaders Monday.
WDET’S Bre’Anna Tinsley was there.
James Tate was voted President 5-4. He served as President Pro Tem under now mayor Mary Sheffield. He says he wants to strengthen how the council operates.
”For years, I have pushed for a legislative agenda, and while we have not fully realized that goal, I did help usher into our rules, a process that can move us there. That matters because it increases transparency, accountability, and it also provides the public a way to see our priorities and measure our progress.”
Coleman Young II was voted Pro Tem, defeating Mary Waters.
Additional headlines for Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2025
Duggan’s independent campaign stresses unity
Independent gubernatorial candidate Mike Duggan says he’s bringing a message of unity to the state—the kind he says helped him bridge divides as mayor of Detroit.
As an independent Duggan won’t get any visibility from the party primary process. He says instead he’s visiting with small groups of voters across Michigan and finding many of them concerned about the same issues like affordable housing and job training opportunities.
Duggan says Republicans and Democrats are more interested in beating each other than working together to solve problems. “I have never seen a state more evenly divided than Michigan today. And people more fed up. I don’t think the climate’s ever been more fertile…to have a third option.”
Duggan claims rural voters in particular find they have more in common than they thought with the urban electorate that placed him at the top of Detroit’s city government. (Quinn Klinefelter)
Retail Food Business Cohort
The Brightmoor Artisan Collective is getting ready to launch a program for folks who want to start a food business.
Applications for the Retail Food Business Cohort are set to go live in a few weeks. Participants will be able to access free food safety certification, business plan development, networking events and a one year membership in the collective.
The Detroit Parks and Rec Department is launching a slew of sports programs for kids this and next month. Offerings include tennis, baseball, volleyball, basketball, flag football, soccer and “sports movement.”
Programs will be offered at recreation and community centers throughout the city.
Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
Support local journalism.
WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
12 activities made this year’s winter weather fun bucket list, with dog sledding in the Upper Peninsula taking the top spot and drop-in hockey on Belle Isle representing Southeast Michigan.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Login
