Lindy hop or jitterbug right into USU's Big Band Swing club

By Coreena Payne

March 23, 2005 | The music starts and his body naturally begins to move to the beat. Within seconds he is relaxed and every worry in the world has slipped away. Alan Ambrose, publicity chairman for USU Big Band Swing club, said dancing is no walk in the park, but worth it in the end with all the rewards it brings.

The Big Band Swing Club started at Utah State University in the fall of 1998 by seven students who called themselves the Hep Kats and Kittens. Issac Ashby, president of the club, said he has been impressed to see the club continue to grow in the four years he has been a part of it. Today about 50 regulars along with guests attend the club each week, he said.

Every Tuesday night the dance room in the HPER building is filled with students taking time away from busy schedules, just to have some fun. The first hour is devoted to teaching beginning and advanced lessons in order to accommodate everyone's needs. After the lessons are over, a DJ livens up the room to create a fun way to practice the new steps, Ashby said.

According to many of the members, this club has become a special part of their lives. "I have only missed two nights in four and a half years and that was because of extreme illness," he said.

Many people involved with the swing club do it for the fun of it, vice-president Justin Hansen said. Some joined because they love to dance. Ashby said he did what most men do, went because a cute girl wanted him to. He went on a blind date with a cute girl and she wanted to go swing dancing, so they went. He said it was quite the sight because he had never danced a day in his life before.

"I almost broke her toes," Ashby said.

With continuous practice, determination and hard work, he said, he started to pick up on the moves. Once he had the steps down it didn't take him long to realize he loved it. Every week he faithfully went to practice, even though that girl dumped him.

After about six months, Ashby said, he became comfortable with the dances and wanted to try out for the competition team. He said it was a miracle that he made it.

"They must have been desperate for guys," Ashby said.

Tryouts are held each year for members of the club to become a part of the competition team. They consist of one night where an instructor teaches choreography and the judges watch. Ashby said they look for people with good skill that can easily pick up the steps and work well in a group.

It's all about the team players, Ashby said. Everyone dances with a partner, therefore it's not an individual effort; it takes teamwork. In order to give people who have never danced before a chance, there are two teams. A beginner's team and an advanced team, which both get experience competing.

Ashby said they work very hard to look good. Sometimes choreographing can take anywhere from two to three hours, and teaching it can take just as long.

The Swing Club's main focus is a special dance called the Lindy Hop. The dance steps started out in the 1920s in Harlem, N.Y. People would create these steps just dancing around to music, but they had no official name. When the Savoy Ballroom opened up, the Lindy Hop got its name and a place to begin.

Frankie Manning, a famous dancer from Harlem, took the Lindy Hop to the next level. He created lifts that could be incorporated in the Lindy Hop and called them "air-steps". The USU swing club was honored, Ashby said, to have a workshop with Frankie Manning here at USU. Manning came all the way from New York and taught students in the Swing Club his style of the Lindy Hop. His performances during the workshop stunned everyone, Ashby said. People were impressed that the 90-year-old man still had the moves.

The Charleston, a dance that was established during the Ragtime Jazz period, inspired the creation of the Lindy Hop. People on a small island by Charleston, S.C. came up with a combination of dance moves from outward heel kicks to bending and straightening the legs while moving up and down. They called this dance the Charleston. The women who performed these steps were known as the Flappers. They would flap their arms and walk like a birds.

African-American dancers took these moves and improvised them into the Lindy Hop. They changed the steps around, added cartwheels, fast spins and throws.

Later on the Lindy Hop accumulated several different names as the steps evolved to fit the times. First the Jitterbug was a common name for all the different styles of swing dancing. This became the title of a song written by Edwin Swayzee, who heard the name and knew it would fit perfectly with his song.

Other forms of dance that the Swing Club focuses on are the East Coast Swing, which is a synchronized two-step similar to the Fox Trot. The Collegiate Shag is also another favorite. It is a type of Shag dancing that was popular with college students in the 1920s, known as the Flea Hop.

The Utah State Swing Club has fun learning these popular dance steps, Ashby said, as well as the history behind them.

According to Ashby, dancing becomes something more when you can understand its history and bring it to a whole new level.

"It's more than a dance it's a culture," Ashby said.

This comes to life when the Swing Club performs for the community especially the nursing homes. It brings back fun memories for the elderly, Ashby said. They love to see their era being recreated because it gives them a connection with the students.

"It's a good feeling to perform something that draws in the crowd," Ambrose said.

The Swing Club creates great entertainment, a fun experience for students and a good source of exercise, Hansen said. It is very organized, and keeps up with everything going on at USU.

Each year the club has an official election for its officers, Justin said, to keep the club running and available to all interested students. All the members and guests of the club get a chance to vote for the candidates they think would do the job right, he said. Those who come up with the best answers, Hansen said, are usually the winners and keep the club going.

"We make sure everything runs smoothly," Hansen said.

Recruiting is also a major job for the club to continue increasing its attendance, Ambrose said, it must be advertised well. Ambrose makes banners, sits at a recruiting booth in the Taggart Student Center and makes fliers for students all over Logan as part of his publicity assignment. It was in high school when Ambrose said he wanted to join.

Ambrose said he knew he wanted to become a member of the USU Big Band Swing Club when the instructor Jeremy Wright came to his high school to teach swing lessons. After Jeremy and his partner performed for them, Ambrose said, he fell in love with swing. While Ambrose was still in high school he attended swing club every Tuesday night and after months of practice, he started to get it down. The biggest challenge, he said, was learning how to interact with a partner on top of learning all the new steps. Ambrose said with time and hard work it started to became natural.

"It feels good when you get a connection with another person without ever exchanging words," Ambrose said.

"The Big Band Swing Club is a good way for students to come have some fun and gain new friendships," Hansen said.

"Everyone is invited to join," Ashby said.

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