{"id":767918,"date":"2026-05-02T09:53:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/767918\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T09:53:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:53:24","slug":"chicago-murals-roseland-mural-honors-history-of-chicago-footwork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/767918\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago murals: Roseland mural honors history of Chicago footwork"},"content":{"rendered":"

Antoine \u201cTwan Twan\u201d Humphries got his start dancing as a kid in 1985 to the jukebox in his great-grandmother\u2019s Bronzeville<\/a> restaurant.<\/p>\n

Inspired by Michael Jackson and his older cousin, Humphries said, he would dance and earn money from the gangsters who once hung out at Lele\u2019s Grill on 47th Street and Indiana Avenue.<\/p>\n

He went on to become a member of the Chicago footwork<\/a> scene\u2019s first generation of dancers. Now, he hopes to create a hub in Roseland<\/a> at the home of his nonprofit, The Urban Ark, to preserve that history. He also seeks to raise money to keep the dance going.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Antoine<\/p>\n

Antoine \u201cTwan Twan\u201d Humphries planned and worked with a friend to paint this Roseland mural.<\/p>\n

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we come to Chicago, where do we go?\u201d Humphries remembers tourists asking him, hoping for a hub to learn about the city\u2019s unique dance style. \u201cWe don\u2019t really have a place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the beginnings of that place are easily identifiable by a two-story mural at 111th Street and Wentworth Avenue that details the history of footwork in Chicago. Humphries acts as a historian, describing the individuals and groups as well as the buildings and addresses where some of what he calls culture\u2019s \u201cbest memories\u201d were made in the 1990s. He designed the mural himself and painted it with help from a friend in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a beginning of a movement,\u201d Humphries said. The heart of the mural is a building representing the now-demolished Robert Taylor Homes that once sat along State Street in Bronzeville \u2014 and where footwork was celebrated.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"MURALS-ROSELAND_260503-10.jpg\"<\/p>\n

A mural that celebrates Chicago dance culture at Urban Ark, 149 W. 111th St. in Roseland, by artist Twan Twan, is shown April 14. <\/p>\n

Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

This was before cellphones and social media, and the weekend parties weren\u2019t advertised. Instead, Humphries said, \u201cYou knew where the party was because of the music,\u201d and once when you got close, you followed the sound. \u201cThe synergy of the culture surged from the project buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the center of the project building are the presidents of the early footwork groups, like Ronnie, Will and Tish. Some still dance today. In the two towers on the sides of the building, faces of people who, Humphries said, \u201cpushed the culture further\u201d look out the windows, like Marnie, Adonis and Kenyatta.<\/p>\n

Above the project building are faces of DJs who spun the music for the dancing, like Slugo, Deeon and Spin. Names of the early crews stretch across the steel beam that stretches horizontally across the top, like House-O-Matics \u2014 to which Humphries belonged \u2014 and Phase2. In the middle of the project building is Twan Twan, dancing with his eyes closed.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"MURALS-ROSELAND_260503-26.jpg\"<\/p>\n

A mural celebrating Chicago dance culture at Urban Ark, 149 W. 111th St. in Roseland, is shown April 14.<\/p>\n

Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

The Sears Tower rises on the left side of the mural, with names of DJs stretching across every floor. The John Hancock rises on the right side, holding the names of dance crews from the 1990s. A map on the bottom half of the mural shows some of the buildings where dancers practiced and partied, like Mr. G\u2019s, Grand Ballroom and Jackson Park Field House.<\/p>\n

Dancers seem to move all throughout the streets.<\/p>\n

Along the bottom of the mural stretches the event that all of them worked toward: the Bud Billiken Parade, which has been held every summer for nearly 100 years. Footwork dancers, gymnasts, drill teams and more march across the bottom of the mural as part of the celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what kept people off the street,\u201d Humphries said. It kept folks from being killed and from joining gangs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The mural shows faces of DJs who spun the music for the dancing, like Slugo, Deeon and Spin.<\/p>\n

|
\n Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Along the bottom of the mural stretches the event that all of them worked toward: the Bud Billiken Parade, which has been held every summer for nearly 100 years.<\/p>\n

|
\n Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

The mural celebrates Chicago\u2019s dance culture.<\/p>\n

|
\n Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

The mural shows faces of DJs who spun the music for the dancing, like Slugo, Deeon and Spin.<\/p>\n

|
\n Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

A mural celebrating Chicago dance culture at Urban Ark, at 149 W. 111th St. in Roseland, is seen April 14.<\/p>\n

|
\n Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

A mural celebrating Chicago dance culture at Urban Ark, at 149 W. 111th St. in Roseland, is seen April 14.<\/p>\n

|
\n Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

A mural celebrating Chicago dance culture at Urban Ark, at 149 W. 111th St. in Roseland, is seen April 14.<\/p>\n

|
\n Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

While the parade continues, Humphries said many of the people who started the footwork culture have moved on, whether from age or financial necessity or both. Not as many young people are rising up to take their places. That worries him.<\/p>\n

So Humphries hopes to raise money for the groups to buy their costumes and rent the safe practice space they need to prepare for the parade, instead of standing at traffic stops all summer asking drivers for money. He estimates they will need about $20,000 for costumes, and about $250,000 to rent all the equipment, space, floats and other support needed to perform. With the time they save they could take classes, become financially literate, and do other things to further their ambitions, he said.<\/p>\n

He calls it a start.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing you can do is put a plan together to start making change.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"MURALS-ROSELAND_260503-15.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Muralist Twan Twan stands next to his mural titled \u201cChicago Footwork History\u201d celebrating Chicago Ghetto House and Footwork culture on the side of Urban Ark at 149 W. 111th St. in the Roseland neighborhoodon April 17.<\/p>\n

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Antoine \u201cTwan Twan\u201d Humphries got his start dancing as a kid in 1985 to the jukebox in his…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":767919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5386,1818],"class_list":{"0":"post-767918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-illinois"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116504376766197014","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}