Dusting Off The Dance Shoes

I've always loved to dance. My grandma used to tell me stories about when I was little, before I could even walk, pulling myself up in front of the TV and 'dancing' to the Muppet Show theme music. As a child I did all the normal little girl things: ballet, tap, jazz . . . etc, and continued doing that sort of dance on and off through high school.

Then I hit university. And just in time for the Swing Revival! I took ballroom classes, and loved them, but my heart belonged to the Lindy Hop! It's the child of the Charleston and Swing Music, originating in the Savoy Ballroom, in Harlem, NYC in 1929. By the 1940's it was hugely popular, and the American Service Men brought it over to Europe during the Second World War. It's this style Swing Dance that I do.

Only, I haven't been doing it! When I was at BYU it was easy. They have a swing club where I learned and danced multiple times/week by my last year. When I lived in London, I still danced at least once/week. And in Sheffield, it was a little less frequent, but still every couple weeks. Since moving to Colchester, though, I've been hard pressed to do much of anything. There's no club out here, so I have to travel, which is expensive. It also means I get home late, and most of the good dance nights are week nights! So I don't go very often. In fact, I got a new pair of dance shoes for Christmas (I was bruising my toe nails in the old pair!) and by the last week in August, I hadn't used them once!

No more!!!! I refuse to live like this. I went dancing on Friday. It was fabulous. Really great venue. Small group, but very friendly. I was dancing the whole night. So much, in fact, that half way through my 6th back-to-back dance I had to beg to stop. I couldn't breathe. And I'm going again next Friday. I'm also going to start attending the Cambridge dances on Monday nights. It's about the same distance, but I can drive there, so I'm in no danger of missing my last train home and don't have to stress.

So, the upshot: My life 'don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!' See you on the dance floor!