The CSULB swing club, once closed, and now re-opened, offers swing dance lessons along with social dancing every Monday from 7-10:30 p.m. Although it hasn’t been easy to get students interested in this older style of partner dancing they have been able to gather around 30 active members this semester.
In the 21st century, swing dancing along with jazz have lost a lot of their popularity they once had. Other dances like salsa can still be heard at popular nightclubs and are still considered somewhat mainstream.
At CSULB the clubs main role is to instruct the student how to swing dance with a partner and also as part of a group. It is a social dance. Unlike hip-hop or other dances in which you are instructed to dance side by side and are free to do your own dance moves, swing dancing requires you to touch and engage in the same dance moves together.
Throughout the first 40-45 minutes of the club meeting the students are taught different dance moves and are coached as they practice them. Most students that become members of the club are either curious of swing dancing or have heard of it through their older family members or friends. They aren’t advanced or professional dancers in any way.
Once the swing dance lesson is over the club engages in social dancing afterwards. This is where the members are free to mingle with each other and engage in a group dance. Members enjoy this because they are able to have the option to come to either one activity or both depending on what works for their schedules.
President of the CSULB swing club, Augie Freeman, said, “ It’s just fun it makes people happy, it’s a good way to release stress, and meet new people, make connections, get away from your studies, and forget about all your responsibilities, and I think that’s one of the biggest things about not just swing dancing and the club at our campus, it really is just fun.”
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