Swing Dancing with Pride in 2008

Ba duh duh da da, duh, duh, duh. Ba duh duh da da, duh, duh, duh. I tap out the melody of Leap Frog as I stand in my pinstripe suit. A dozen or so high-schoolers stand at the outskirts, all dressed to impress. I search the available females and pick out an idle woman. The beat is fast, the music is loud and it is time to dance.

The twenty something instrument big band of Sophisticated Swing is in its prime as I waltz through the crowd and into available floor space. I have selected Christina Mihalic, a regular and one of my personal favorites. The band usually plays a bridge as we start to Jitterbug, but only when I dance with other girls. This time, however, I want to start off with a bang. I lean over, whispering to my partner. I push her away as I stand in the middle of the dance floor, snapping my fingers and tapping my feet. No one notices me, yet. In about eight counts, (I never count, it just sort of happens) I nod to my follow and she sprints toward me and jumps. I catch her on my right side and she is sitting on my right hip. With the momentum from the jump, she springs up and over to my left hip. Last I pull her to the middle and she straddles me. I bend over, and then fling her three or four feet into the air, leading her to land in front of me. This is just the opener. We start the Jitterbug and our moves. It is never smart to start with too many aerials, a good dance is like a good play, the plot must build up to a climax at the end, or both the actors and the audience will not want to see the production.

I spin her around a few times, pulling fancy moves out of my sleeve that not even I saw coming. It is peculiar when you swing dance, if you dance the basic pattern and one or two moves, you do not have half as much fun as making up slick combos and new moves as you go, yet staying on beat and on the correct foot.

We hold hands and hop to the left and to the right, all of our foot movements synchronized. I bring her close to me so she can slide between my legs, and as I do, I whisper hip flip as the next move. She nods in approval. In another 4 counts, I step behind her, resting my right side against her let side. I am holding her, and as I lean over, she does a back flip. The middle to old aged crowd claps in approval, wishing they still had the lithe bodies to do the same.

Now we have an audience, but only 30 more seconds of music. Like a play, TV show, or movie, once you get the audiences attention, you have to feed their hunger. I whisper over the back and we dance into position so our backs are facing each other. Again I lean over, tossing her over my back. Although this move is the first flip made in swing dancing, it will always be a crowd pleaser.

We have more tricks tucked away in our dressy outfits, but the song is almost over. Dramatically, I swing her out one last time and pull her in. She hops onto my hip and points out her feet. The song ends as our newfound audience claps with radiant faces. This isn’t a dream, I have to tell myself, this is big band Saturday night.