STARKVILLE — Jazzy music plays over the speaker of an engineering classroom on Aug. 3 in the Simrall Engineering Building at Mississippi State University. In the middle of the classroom-turned-dance hall, Heath Anderson and Joy Cariño take the floor.
The dancers move confidently through the steps they learned throughout the evening. They stand shoulder to shoulder and connect hands before rocking and swaying to the beat. The pair spin to face each other, continuing to skid and tap against the floor before performing another spin and return to their initial stance.
Except during this combination, Anderson has been following Cariño.
“It’s definitely a lot easier to do the spins and stuff when you obviously are taller and can lead,” Anderson said with a laugh. “It’s tough to do the spins when you’re the lead and your follow is much taller than you. So I just try to be flexible.”
Swing dance is a category of dancing that grew with swing style music from the 1920s to the 1940s. One of the more well known styles of swing dance is Lindy Hopp, which developed out of Black communities in Harlem around the 1930s.
Today, groups across the country like Starkville Swing Dance continue to meet and practice the dance style. Thalia Vrantsidis, the Starkville group’s founder and a professor in psychology at the university, said swing dance often still appeals to participants due to its low intensity, along with how easy it is to jump in and out throughout sessions.
“It’s just fun, it’s playful, it’s creative,” Vrantsidis said. “(It) doesn’t take itself too seriously, like ballroom dance. I really like the dance and then I also really like the community.”
Vrantsidis first started swing dancing while she was in college and decided to found the Starkville Swing group two years ago, hoping to create a similar place to bring together students, faculty and the community. Starkville Swing is MSU affiliated but is open to all, she said, and its members typically meet at 6-8 p.m. every Sunday.
While traditionally, it would be taboo for men to be “follows” and for women to lead in dance environments, the swap was just another part of Starkville Swing Dance’s lesson. Jennavieve Lambeth, group member and instructor for the lesson, challenged the dancers to make the change after they had finished their first couple of moves for the evening.
“It’s kind of nice being in that swapped gender space, especially because (at) a lot of places that have a lot more members,” Starkville Swing Dance member Wes Cobb said. “…If you’re a guy, you’re probably going to lead and if you’re a girl you’re probably going to follow. … Here you’re forced to (switch roles) and it’s really nice because it makes you a better dancer.”
The switch is an intentional component to give everyone the freedom and ability to dance and take on whichever role they feel most comfortable performing, Vrantsidis said. It led to some missteps and some post-dance coaching from more experienced members, but the pockets continued to work through the steps as Lambeth instructed.
“I love teaching just because you get to see everybody progress and even if they’re messing up, that’s kind of the beauty of swing is you get to mess up,” Lambeth said.
It took some time and additional practice but the group eventually got the hang of the night’s moves and felt ready to put all of the steps they had learned for the night together into a full dance, with Anderson and Cariño at the center.
While the height difference was a bit of a challenge for Anderson, Cariño said she was comfortable in part because she has had some previous salsa and Latin dance experience before starting with the group in January.
“I’m pretty good with learning when it’s very structured,” she said. “I definitely personally need more practice with being more spontaneous and listening.”
At the end of the night, Lambeth opened the dance floor and let the students try their new moves in whichever order they chose, coming up with their own combinations.
“I encourage people to dance, because I think the lessons are fun, but you also want to enjoy the fruits of your practice and just dance with people, which is my favorite part,” Vrantsidis said.
The jazz music swelled to life once again, and dancers paired up. The social dance acts as a great conversation starter for some, along with helping first-time attendees to meet other people, Lambeth said.
“You can just show up and be yourself and get to meet people,” Lambeth said. “I’ve met so many people that I would have never crossed paths with here and there’s something about swing where you’re kind of learning to just shrug off and be goofy.”
Others stood off to the side and chatted about different topics, ranging from the lesson that night to events from their week while the music played on.
“It’s… open and friendly for people from a variety of backgrounds and ages and status,” she said. “…Within the space, it feels like that’s just sort of not relevant… We’re all just equals. We’re all just here to have fun, get to know each other and dance.”
To learn more about Starkville Swing Dance, visit the group’s Facebook page.
Posted in Community
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