Five, six, ready go! With big band music booming and eight couples circling the dance floor, Paly’s Swing Dance Club is continuing its moves into the new year.
Started in fall 2005 by sophomores Alex Ackroyd and Laurie Nordlund, the club meets at lunch on Fridays in the dance studio, located off the small gym.
Though only in its first year at Paly, the club already has a volunteer instructor, Phil Mast. A dance instructor at Cubberly Community Center, Mast shares his enthusiasm for dance by volunteering, so that high school students can enjoy social dancing with others their age just as much as he did in college. Mast is teaching club members east coast swing dance, which he says is generally faster than its west coast counterpart, and thus more similar to dance styles such as the jitterbug and jive.
Though club members learn new steps, such as the “around the world step”, “pretzel,” and “underarm turn,” every meeting begins with a review.
“We’ll get in a circle and start off with the basic steps,” club president Ackroyd said.
By forming a circle at the start of each meeting, members are able to rotate partners and dance with many different people. As with other types of dance, swing is no exception when it comes to the importance of leading. Leaders retain their role for the entire rotation during each lunchtime lesson.
“You can’t lead your partner if you have noodle arms,” Mast said. “Firm arms here ladies, no noodles.”
About half of the club’s members are students in dance class at Paly, while others, like freshman Edda Margeson, enjoy dance, such as vintage ballroom dancing, outside of school.
Margeson is not alone in her interest. In fact, interest in ballroom dance is growing nationwide, due, in part, to recent dance movies in theaters, according to an article in The Arizona Republic titled “Stepping into the ballroom.”
“Lisa Bianco, owner of Fred Astaire Franchised Dance Studios in Chandler and Mesa, said she has never seen a wave of interest in ballroom dance like the one going on now. ‘The interest has been phenomenal,’ said Bianco, who credits the shows and movies for stirring curiosity,” according to The Arizona Republic article.
“They’re [new ballroom dancers] being inspired by movies like 2004’s Shall We Dance, featuring Jennifer Lopez, and the documentary Mad Hot Ballroom,” according to The Arizona Republic article.
In keeping with the trend, according to Ackroyd, the club plans to attend Paly’s spring swing dance concert featuring the Paly jazz band and hopes to encourage a greater variety of music at school dances. With these plans in mind, Ackroyd said that the Swing Dance Club is stepping in the right direction.
“Triple step, triple step, rock back,” Mast said.