Welcome! + Dance History

Welcome friends!

Swing dancing is something that I've dreamed of advancing in for many many years now, but it wasn't until this past summer that I finally was able to start turning my dancing dreams into a reality. Since August I've been taking classes and social as much a possible and enjoying it oh-so-much.

Though I keep a dance journal that I'm filling with technique, I thought having a blog would be a good place to keep track of all the experiences I have through swing. You know; social dancing, workshops, classes, events, etc. All that fun stuff.

Let's give a little history on my dance experience and get you all up to speed:

My every first experience with swing dancing was back in high school. It was my sophomore year and some of the parents at the homeschool co-op my family went to put on this awesome 1940s themed dance dubbed the Winter Swing Fling. There was lots of patriotic decor, WWII propaganda posters, hot dogs and soda at the "soda fountain", and a huge group of high schoolers dressed in their best vintage inspired outfits. Right before the event kicked of, they had a quick beginners lesson where we learned the single step and a few turns before turning us out to the dance floor. And that my friends is where I first learned to swing dance and fell in love with it.

That evening I was floating on a cloud pretty much much the whole night; it was like a dream! Even though I had pretty much no idea what I was doing on the dance floor, that night remains on of my favorite high school memories.

Dancing at the Winter Swing Fling

From there out, my opportunities to swing dance were few and far between. There were a few more dances in high school and the year after I graduated I actually took a four-week class on Lindy Hop, but because I wasn't able to go out social dancing regularly at the time I never completely got it down. That never stopped my lack of enthusiasm for the dance or dream of one day being able to lindy really well.

Fast forward to 2016 and I ran across Camp Jitterbug again on the internet. I remember discovering it many years prior, wishing that somehow I'd be able to go some day, but never seeing it as a reality. But then I though about and realized, why am I not dancing?! I finally had the time and the resources, so in August of 2016 I started getting back into the groove with a month long Intro to Swing class in the area and started social dancing weekly and it's snowballed from there!

Since then I've taken many lindy hop classes, done lots of solo jazz, learned some balboa, and started learning shag. I've also been able to attend several events, one of the higlights being Camp Jitterbug here in Seattle. My home base is Eastside Stomp and the people there are like family. I'm also a part of a dance team that just started up.

And that's my story, folks. A bit of history behind the dancer. I hope you'll join me on the exploration of the world of swing dance. It's a wonderful thing.