 "Photo: Riannon Rowley")
A time portal will open Friday night allowing people to experience an era where swing dancing and jazz music reigned supreme.
The Swing Dancers of Lubbock will be hosting Fall Forties Night Friday at which every one is invited to swing dance back in time. The group is being organized and coordinated by two Texas Tech students. Alison Church, one of the group’s leaders and a senior photojournalism major from Arlington, said Swing Dancers of Lubbock has been active on and off throughout the years. Church said this year they decided to expanded the group to the community.
“We’ve got a lot of community members who wanted to swing dance,” she said. “When we threw the Spring Swing Fling event, we had a lot of people come up to us. We knew there had to be an interest if there was an interest at Tech.”
Church said this swing dance is going to have a different feel than the Spring Swing Fling.
At the last dance the group hosted, the attendees came dressed in a variety of traditional swing dance outfits. She said the group is encouraging everyone to dress up for Fall Forties Night as well.
“It’s like a late Halloween in a way,” she said with a laugh.
Church got her start with swing dancing two years ago when she decided to take a swing dance class at the Robert H. Ewalt Student Recreation Center. She said her involvement in swing dancing has grown into a passion.
“It’s a way for me to forget the stresses of my day,” Church said. “The music is also great. It’s exciting and relaxing.”
The group will began another series of lessons Monday. She said a Lindy Hop transitions class will help dancers move into other styles of swing easier. Besides teaching a main class, the group leaders teach private swing dancing lessons.
“We encourage if you really want help to talk to us after class because we’re available,” Church said.
Megan Schneider, a Tech alumna from Lubbock, is involved with the Swing Dancers of Lubbock and takes private lessons from the group’s leaders. Schneider, a tennis coach as well as a middle school teacher, said she has been swing dancing for two years and plans continue until she can’t move anymore.
“Swing dancing is the one thing a week I do just for me,” she said.
Justin Mann, a leader of the group and senior computer science major from Sugar Land, said he believes anyone can swing dance, but it takes a lot of practice. Mann said he began swing dancing three years ago with his roommates through a swing dancing class at the recreational center at Tech.
After a semester, his roommate stopped attending the swing dancing classes, a but Mann said he continued without him because he considers swing dancing a “blasty blast.”
He said he met new people, including Church, from the swing dancing class and began traveling with them to dance exchanges and workshops in different cities such as Tampa, Fla., San Diego, Albuquerque, N.M., Dallas, Houston and Austin.
“We started traveling and learning different things from different people,” he said.
Mann said this year Church and himself were the only ones left from the group they began swing dancing with experienced enough to teach a large group of newcomers to the dance. The swing dancing class at the center instructs students on how to do the Jitterbug, so he and Church thought they might provide another dance for the community to learn.
“We know that Lubbock has been taught the Jitterbug for the past three to four years,” Mann said, “so we thought teaching Lindy Hop would increase the skill level so people could try the other kinds of dances like the Charleston, Balboa or East Coast.”
The group decided to host another swing dance he said because the Spring Swing Fling was such a success and the group had the means to put another one on by themselves without the assistance of the Tech Jazz Department which helped last time. He felt it was cool to get the school involved but said he understands it takes time for the Jazz Department to prepare for performances.
John Hazelwood, a member of the swing dancing group and a senior music education major from Springfield, Va., said he helped coordinate the music for the upcoming dance. Hazelwood said the music for the dance will be provided by a six-piece band headed by
Bruce Keeling, the jazz music director at South Plains College and a friend of his family. He said he had looked for musicians within the School of Music at Tech, but they were all busy so he got in contact with Keeling.
Hazelwood started swing dancing a little more than a year ago. He began getting into jazz music so he said an interest in swing dancing came naturally. He said he has enjoyed every minute he has been involved with the swing dance group.
He said he sees a lot of people are hesitant to start swing dancing, but once they do they consistently come back. He encourages everyone — newcomers and veterans of swing dancing alike — to come out for the dance Friday.
“I think it’s going to be an awesome experience,” he said, “and anyone who hasn’t experienced swing dancing should come and check it out.”
Admission for Fall Forties Night is $15 and will take place 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday at the Westminister Presbyterian Church on Indiana and 34th Street.
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