Honors, Awards & Milestones
The Era Footwork Crew is celebrating 10 years of footwork community connections and dedication to advancing the art form in Chicago and across the globe. Here are just some of the highlights:
2014
Performance at Pitchfork Music Festival
Era Crew performs for DJ Spinn's set at the 2013 at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago's Union Park
First Lab Sessions with Teklife Collective
A party with leading footwork DJs from Teklife collective including RP Boo, Traxx Man and DJ Spinn at High Concept Laboratories
Establishing the brand
The crew creates the first iteration of the iconic double E logo
On tour in Japan
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Bulb & P-Top featured in "Manglehorn"
Bulb & P-Top battle in this Al Pacino movie (Al Pacino walking up with the cat is crazy)
2015
Litebulb named Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist
The most substantial source of support for individual dancemakers working in the Chicagoland area, designed for dancemakers actively taking risks, experimenting, and poised to invest in their artistic practice with greater depth or scale
“Meet The Era” documentary film with VICE
A short documentary film with VICE that shows Chicago footwork from a footworker's perspective. Featuring dance portraits of each member in The Era.
Litebulb featured in Dance Magazine
Bulb is awarded a spot in Dance Magazine's coveted "Top 25 Dancers to Watch"
First “Era” t-shirts sold
The beginning of selling merch
Performed at SXSW / The Fader Fort
Annual invitation-only music festival hosted by The Fader magazine alongside South by Southwest (SXSW)
All Day (remix)
A video by DJ Spinn & The Era highlighting Chicago from a footworker's perspective
In residence at Bing Art Books
Chicago Artist Theaster Gates converted a bar into a bookstore in Washington Park, offering art, architecture & photography publications, plus author readings & live music in Chicago's South Side. The Era's residency, "Focus on Footwork," included performances and a panel discussion.
2016
Windy City Live
As part of promotion for their first stage show at Hamilton park, The Era made an appearance on Windy city live for the first time.
Video (Facebook)
Article and video (ABC Chicago)
IN THE WURKZ Mixtape
The Era's first FM (footwork mixtape) adds lyrical content to tracks all about footwork and how they started in Chicago before headlining across the world.
Featured in Towkio feat. Chance the Rapper "Clean Up" music video
Lollapalooza w/ Towkio
In the Circle art exhibition at Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago's Hokin Gallery presented "In the Circle: Chicago Footwork," an exhibition focused on the history and future of the form through photographs, collages, archival materials, film, and dancing, as curated by by The Era and Libby Buck
Honorary Doctorates
The Era received recognition from South Shore High School for their accomplishments in arts with Footwork. They also spoke, taught and gave a quick footwork cypher as part of the ceremony.
Colored Era Tees Commercial
The first effort to market and brand the shirts in a creative way.
2017
Released debut EP - So.lo (z)
The Era self-produced their debut EP So.lo (z) in 2017 — five tracks about their lives in Chicago, dedication to resurrecting and preserving footwork culture, and bringing innovation to the form. The Era Crew performed the EP at the Adidas store in downtown Chicago.
Chicago Public Schools Tour
The Era performed and taught workshops in K-12 Chicago public schools.
"It's pretty simple to me, show them another outlet for expression and a successful career instead of the usual, rapper, singer and sports lane. Showing them you can have just as many opportunities as dance artists like any other field if they push themselves with guidance from mentors that are or have been successful in the field of dance."
Hosted Summer Dance
This free outdoor series offers dance and movement lessons for all skill levels taught by professional instructors, followed by music and social dancing. In 2017 The Era hosted these series.
2018
Circle Up Summer Camp / Open the Circle nonprofit organization
The Era’s footwork summer camp offered to more than 100 youth dancers on the south and east sides of Chicago at no charge. For Litebulb, Open the Circle’s summer camps maintain the tradition of footwork in Chicago. “In a sense, that’s the essence of it,” he says, “passing it to kids because we were kids when we got it.”
Chance The Rapper Open Mic Showcase
The Era performed at Chance the Rapper SocialWorks organization “OpenMike” event that provides a platform for young creatives to share their work and network.
"Prime Time: F00TW3RK" takeover at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Curated a museum takeover event at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago celebrating Chicago footwork. "Prime Time: F00TW3RK" featured performances, digital art installations, including a GIF party media lounge, AR/VR experiences by the Digital Museum of Digital Art (DiMoDA), and an installation by Rebirth Garments.
Footwork Saves Lives initiative
Footwork Saves Lives is an initiative to bring awareness to the importance of Footwork within the communities it came from. With the message spread through merchandise, there is also a story that each Footworker can tell you on how their lives have been saved.
2019
First "The Ring" Footwork Battle
Created by P-Top, The Ring is a Chicago footwork event where talented young dancers come together, settle their differences in the circle and earn respect. All young footwork dancers are paid for their participation in dance battles regardless of the evening's winner.
Circle Up Summer Camp continues
Read article (Chicago Reader)
The Era lid releases
The continued expansion of merchandise with hats.
IN THE WURKZ evening length performance debut
Dancers narrate their life stories through memories associated with footwork dancing — from "juke parties" at roller rinks on the South Side to battles after the Bud Billiken Parade in Jackson Park. Chicago themes drive the story about the life-saving power of footwork and community across generations of dancers
The Era x At&T ad for Footwork Saves Lives
Footwork Saves Lives Hoodies Campaign
Rap Caviar feature on Spotify
The Era was a feature video on one of Spotify’s most popular playlists that highlighted what’s happening in Chicago.
House Music Festival
The Era curated a series of battles as well as performed as part of Chicago’s house music festival.
Teaching in Schools through Urban initiatives
As part of teaching Footwork to the youth, The Era partnered with Urban Initiatives to bring the dance to public school during the summertime and after school.
IN THE WURKZ receives NEFA award to tour
IN THE WURKZ, the evening-length performance, toured nationally and internationally in 2020-2021 with support from New England Foundation for the Art (NEFA).
2020
ART on THE MART installation: Footnotes
ART on THE MART is one of the world’s largest digital art platforms that transforms an architectural landmark into a permanent, larger-than-life canvas. It brings cutting-edge video mapping techniques to Chicago’s Riverwalk, displaying projections of contemporary art across the 2.5-acre façade of THE MART, the largest privately held commercial building in the United States.
Footnotes followed the musicians and dancers as they built a new footwork track inspired by the classic blues song, “Sweet Home Chicago.” Hand-drawn animations by Calhoun emphasized the fact that Chicago footwork is both music and dance simultaneously.
Footnotes was awarded Time Out Chicago’s Best in the City Award.
"At one point in the film, an animated DJ Spinn taps an MPC, the sampling device that is the main instrument of footwork music, and an animated dancer bounces on the keys. This image is important, Glasspiegel said, because it’s a metaphor. 'That’s a driving theme for us — that footwork is both music and dance — which people might not know if they don’t know the history.'" — The New York Times
IN THE WURKZ at Arts Bank w/ Theaster
Steelo wins CDF Lab Artist Award
Read article (Chicago Dancemakers)
"The Testament" — a short footwork film
The Testament film premiered at Physical Theater Festival Chicago, and directly references George Floyd, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor, whose deaths sparked a summer of racial reckoning in America.
"Through dance, our voices and energy can be limitless which in turn forms community amongst one another. We know how oppression can divide us but in the face of negativity, dance brings positivity, awareness, and furthermore brings us closer together. Coming together through dance inspires that same community to work on strategies that best serve their needs and the needs of others that many forms of oppression negate. I think dance helps us all release feelings that may be pent up from past experiences or speak on issues that may be uncomfortable for many but most definitely need to be said for the greater good of humanity." - Litebulb
Featured in brand campaign for Adidas Originals
Lollapalooza at Promontory
Manny Leaders for new Chicago
Footwork Youth Festival
This three-hour event was free for all ages and included workshops in media production and fashion design, a team footwork battle, and youth performance curated and choreographed by The Era. "Footwork stations” throughout allowed young dancers to take turns learning from one another.
"I live in this neighborhood (Burnside) and some of these kids live around me. So for me to be able to provide opportunity for those kids, it’s gives them the opportunity so that we’re not even competing with each other for opportunities." - Litebulb for interview with The Triibe
2022
Burberry x SSENSE event
In celebration of the Burberry x SSENSE collaboration, The Era performed at an exclusive Friends of Burberry event at Burberry's Michigan Avenue store in Chicago.
"Set in the Michigan Avenue store in central Chicago, the immersive space features specially commissioned work by digital artist Oscar Zabala, accompanied by audio composed by musician Alexander Mackay. The exclusive event featured performances by Chicago-based singer-songwriter Ravyn Lenae and The Era."
2023
The Era featured in “Skywalkers” Film at O’Hare Terminal 5
"O’Hare Video Installation Combines Footwork and Native American Dance Styles into Uniquely Chicago Film" - WTTW
"Skywalkers," filmed at the Willis Tower, on the lakeshore at the Promontory Point with the city’s skyline in the background and other locations, plays on permanent loop in Terminal 5 at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.
We Gone Step feat. Tru Foe is released
You can play with us. But we won't play with you. Welcome to our universe. The Era begins.
LB Productions relaunch
Litebulb wins NEFA Award
Read more (Chicago Crusader)
The Era is selected for Black Legacy
Read more (Dance Legacy Project)
Who Betta feat. DJ Spinn & Jana Rush single is released
“Who Betta" is a footwork battle track with a triumphant hook.
2024
Chief Manny receives Platform Award
The Walder Foundation awards Chief Manny a Platform Award.
Read more (Facebook)
COMBO PACK EP is released
This fresh EP has three new footwork anthems plus "Who Betta." Telling stories with their feet and the mic, The Era trades off giving you a deeper look into the Chicago underground.
