Abhigya Ghimire
Staff Writer
While most students are busy running from one class to another, caught up in their hectic college lives, a group of students meet every Monday and Thursday to take a break from the stress and enjoy some swing dancing.
“I just think it’s very unique. People don’t really dance like this anymore, and it’s like stepping back in to the time,” said Abbey Collins, a senior elementary education major from Alabaster, Alabama.
Collins has been the president of the swing dance club for one and half years.
“Swing dance is a lot more rotational stuff. You are always with a partner and you are going be spinning around a lot,” said Christian Beason, a senior computer science major from San Diego.
Beason, who had never danced before joining the club, has been a member of the club since his freshman year.
“The club was a lot bigger with 50-60 people, and I had a friend who was always trying to make me come to it,” Beason said. “I came once, and I decided to keep coming every time after that.”
Currently, Beason is not only a regular member of the club, but he also helps teach swing dance to new members. While the club doesn’t have a professional teacher, the sessions usually consist of students having fun and teaching each other what they know.
“There are some members who have taken swing dance from professionals,” Collins said. “We just kind of pass along what we know to the people. And sometimes we look up YouTube videos.”
The club doesn’t have any requirements for a new member. As long as you are a Troy student, you can come along and have fun dancing with the club.
However, there is a waiver form which a student is required to sign if they are interested in doing lifts.
“We do it just for fun,” Collins said. “It is a really chill club. We don’t have a membership dues or anything; you can come when you want.”
People who have never danced in their life are also welcomed to join the club. Beason said that most of the people who come to the club have never tried it before.
“It’s a lot of trust that is involved with two people, so it just depends on what they’re willing to try,” Collins said.
“Anyone can learn,” Madison Kennemer, a sophomore ASL interpreting major from Pensacola, Florida, said. “You don’t have to do aerial moves.
“We have basic moves that you can learn, which are still easy and fun. You don’t have to know everything to be a good dancer in swing.”
Kennemer, who has been swing dancing since high school, said the club has helped her improve. Aside from dancing, she said that being a member also helped her spread out and meet more people.
“I’ve learned how to swing dance,” said Ryan Degale, a senior risk management and insurance major from Jerusalem. “So now, when I get married, I don’t have to take classes.
“I can just go in there and do a little something and call it a day,”
Degale, who joined the club one and a half years ago, also had no experience with swing dance before he joined the club.
“I’ve never heard anyone come and not have fun with it,” said Katherine Kratzer, a junior athletic training major from Montgomery, Alabama, and the vice president of the club. “There (are) so many different levels of swing that you can not have any experience and have fun with it or have a lot of experience and still have fun.”
Anyone interested in joining the club or learning about swing dancing is encouraged to come to the swing dance club, which meets every Monday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the TC lobby.
