“It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” Duke Ellington/Irving Mills (1931)
A few weeks ago, Holly asked me to go swing dancing. Not foreseeing my rather odd interest in Def Leppard of late, it seemed like a good idea. And so, in the spirit of doing something different and new, last night swing dancing it was.
Holly and I have a minor background in social dance. We took ballroom dancing lessons before our wedding. We wanted to present our guests with a decent first dance. We learned a nice Rhumba routine to Collapsis’ “Wonderland.”
Ten years later, we danced again.
The Piedmont Swing Dance Society (PSDS) sponsors a couple swing dance nights a month. This one was at the Oriental Shrine Club off of High Point Rd in Greensboro, NC.
After setting our sitter up with Coca-Colas and Salt-and-Vinegar potato chips, we drove the back roads to the southwest side of town.
When we arrived, the line was out the door. From 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm, the PSDS sponsored a beginner’s lesson. We learned the basic open swing step, a few twists, and a closed swing step. It was enough so that we could participate in the fun. There must have been 300 people at the beginner’s session.
The live band got going at 8:30 pm. The New King Rippers are an authentic swing group in the spirit of New Orleans jazz. I loved hearing their Louis Armstrong arrangements. Rather than a bass guitar, they employed a tuba. Excellent band.
The weird thing about swing dancing is the counting—slow (1,2), slow (3,4), back step (5,6). The steps (at least the basic ones that we learned) are in groups of six. Most of the songs we danced to were in a four count. Being so, the dancing falls in and out of phase with the music. Every other time, the “one” dance step is on the “three” count of the music. For me, that was the fun of it all. It was like riding a musical roller coaster, the faster the better.
And so, last night was a fun evening of trying something new. It’ll be nice to enjoy the rest of the day listening to Louis Armstrong and his Hot Fives. That is, if I can get Hysteria out of rotation.
