Swing Dancing!

This quarter, I attended the Mentor/Mentee bonding event, which was a swing dancing lesson. The event was really cool because it was both fun and educational. In the lesson we started out just by warming up and then learning a very basic step move that preceded all of the other moves we learned. This was good, I felt, because none of the scholars present (myself included) seemed to have any previous experiences in swing dancing. Thus, when we would screw up or struggle to learn a more complicated part of the routine, we would just fall back in beat by repeating the basic first step.

As our dance teachers taught us, the "swing" in swing dancing comes from the hand holding between dance partners, where there is tension. The tension is actually the two hands pushing against each other. When the lead (usually the guy) guides the follow (usually the girl) into a dance move, the energy from the tension in the pushing is transferred to the rest of the body, enabling the dancers to move into a swing-like fashion.

During the lesson, all of the pairs stood in a circle, and after each move was learned and added to the routine, the leads would switch partners, moving clockwise. This was great because then I had the chance to meet and socialize with everyone who came to the event. There were more girls than guys, so I volunteered to be a lead. This was all good and well until some of my partners were taller than me. I admit (haha), it is rather difficult to lead a lady into a spin underneath one's hand when one's hand is not high enough for her to move easily beneath it!

Our class was taught by two members of the swing dancing club here at Ohio State. They were excellent teachers and coaches. Although not everyone was able to spend time with their mentors or mentees, the event was a cool way to meet co-scholars or have fun with old friends. I would certainly recommend the swing dancing club to anyone who is interested in dance or simply to anyone who is looking for something different to do.