IU Swing Club offers dance instruction

Monday, Jan. 22, students and community members gathered at the Indiana Memorial Union for the IU Swing Club's Call-Out meeting.\nFocusing on East Coast swing, the group provides a place for students and community members to interact socially and learn to dance. The group charges a membership fee of $10 for students and $15 for non-students. It provides an 11-week instructional dance course for $35 dollars for students and $45 for non-students.\n"If you have ever seen the movie 'Swing Kids', they do a group dance, like the Charleston," said graduate student Robert Downey. Downey led the meeting and urged new members to join others on the dance floor.\n"If you don't know the moves, you can still do it."\nThe stereo began to emit swinging jazzy music, and those on the floor began moving their feet and waving their arms.\nThe Club meets at 8 p.m. Monday nights 8 p.m. in the IMU's Frangiapani Room, Alumni Hall, or Georgian Room. In addition to these weekly meetings, the group holds Saturday workshops at 9:30 a.m. in Alumni Hall. Downey said the group is loosely structured, without officers or regimented meeting protocol.\n"We're just goofing around," he said.\nThough the newcomers at the Call-Out meeting looked slightly nervous and hesitant to join in during the meeting's open-dance time, most seemed genuinely interested in what the club had to offer. Freshmen Lauren Compton and Jenny Tester said they saw a sign in the IMU and thought the club might be interesting.\n"It looks like a lot of fun," Compton said after the meeting. "Hard work, but a lot of fun."\nAlong with the newcomers, the club consists of seasoned swing dancers. Maura Maple, a graduate student, said she has been dancing for nine months and heard about the club from friends in the biology department.\n"There is a big biology contingent in the Swing Club," Maple said.\nIn recent years swing dancing has increased in popularity. The IU Swing Club, established in the fall of 1998, is an indicator of the growing trend.\nThe group is flexible and open to a wide range of music, Downey said. The IU Swing Web site states the group enjoys dancing to swing staples like Cab Calloway and Glen Miller and new music by Smash Mouth and The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.\n"If there is music that you think really swings, then just bring your favorite CDs!" the Web site states.\nAccording to Downey's Web site, which is dedicated to the dance, swing dancing can be traced back as far as the 1920s, when America began accepting Jazz as a popular form of music.\nOften, swing music was played by a large band, according to the Web site. Though these bands were commonly composed of all white members, the music they played was often composed by black musicians.\nBut, there was a place where race didn't matter. According to the Web site, at a place called the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, black and white dancers and musicians shared something that they all had in common: Swing. There are many different types of swing dancing. Between the East Coat, Collegiate Shag, Balboa, Hollywood, Detroit and many others there is no one way to swing, but the Savoy is the place that gave birth to the Lindy Hop, according to the Web site.\nThe group's next meeting is Monday, Feb. 5 in Alumni Hall.