A Year of Swing

Crazy to think it's only been a year since I dived full-force into the world of swing. And what a wonderful year it's been.

When I think about all the amazing opportunities I've had the past twelve months, I feel so thankful and blessed to be able to do something that brings me so much joy. I've been able to go to Eastside Stomp almost every week. I entered my first competition. I got to dance in a Greg Ruby music video; talk about awesome! Danced till 3am at the B'ham Swing Jam. An insane amount of competition videos watched on YouTube. Got a tad bit more comfortable doing solo jazz. Took lots of classes and learned lots of new skills. Went to my first, plus several other, dance events. Started learning Balboa. Had the opportunity to dance to dozens of amazing bands. Made new friends. Performed choreography from Chester's class at Jitterbug Weekend. Listened to new-to-me jazz musicians on my commute. Took classes from some amazing instructors. Got really sweaty.

Because of swing dance I've been pushed out of my comfort zone. Things that used to intimidate me, particularly ones that made me feel weird or silly in public, don't bother me nearly as much as they used to. Or being able to mess up a move, but not caring because you're both having fun and that fun doesn't depend on you being "perfect". Asking people to dance used to intimidate the heck out of me, but now it's no big deal.

Thank you for everyone who's danced with me, taught me, played music that I danced to, or have met in the lindy community. And especially everyone at Eastside. Being at Aria is like being home.

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.