Stephanie Farley

Misha Thompson, Lawrence senior, dances with Greg Isaac, Besançon, France, senior, on Tuesday night. The KU Swing Society meets every Tuesday at 9 p.m. in the Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave.

Under dimmed lights, dozens of dancers weave seamlessly to big band music, stepping and swaying in time.

Conversation and laughter bounce between partners as they twirl and slide their bodies as the time nears midnight.

It’s a regular Tuesday night for the members of the KU Swing Society.

The society’s primary mission is to keep the decades-old swing music and style alive, Misha Thompson, president of the society and Lawrence senior, said.

The group meets every Tuesday at 9 p.m. on the second floor of the Ecumenical Christian Ministries.

Reasons for attending varies from attendee to attendee. Some dancers do it to relax while others like to hone their abilities.

Richard Alexander, Oklahoma City graduate student likes the social aspect of the society.

“I’m stuck in a lab all day,” Alexander said. “I get to be social, relax and hold a beautiful woman. You can’t beat that.”

Swing dancing provides an opportunity for Emily Moisan, KU Ballroom Dance Club member and St. Charles, Mo. sophomore, room to experiment with improvisational dance moves.

“It’s sort of like playing in a jazz combo versus an orchestra,” Moisan said. “There’s a lot more improvisation with the moves.”

Swing dance is a purely American dance, not in the patriotic sense, but in a way that connects generations, Greg Isaac, Besançon, France senior, said.

Issac said his grandmother would tell him stories about her days dancing.

“My grandmother and her friends would drive to Kansas City and would buy a bottle of whiskey to dance,” Isaac said. “And they would not be done until that bottle was gone.”

Raw recruits

Every swing society meeting begins with a lesson for new people on the basics of the Lindy Hop, a popular variation of swing dancing.

Looking like recruits fresh off a bus at boot camp, new members nervously line-up in two gender divided rows and learn a basic eight-count move taught by Isaac, Thompson and Terri Pohl, Omaha, Neb. junior.

“1-2-tri-ple-step! 5-6-7-and-8!” Thompson said in a rhythmic, drill sergeant style, without the military harshness, as the members moved gingerly.

“Don’t be afraid to jazz it up,” she instructs. “Don’t be afraid to sashay it.”

After mastering the moves on their own, the learners couple up and dance together to Thompson’s counts and claps.

A smile creeps across a woman’s face after Isaac compliments the entire group for doing the move well.

How to swing

Want to see what swing dancing is all about? Watch this video to learn the basics of swing dancing from the Swing Society.

“You know when somebody has fallen in love,” Thompson said. “It’s on their face. They do stuff that you’ve forgotten to do or never thought of doing.”

After the lesson is over, members dance to music until midnight.

Swing scene

For some of the swing dancers, Tuesday night isn’t the only night they dance away.

Sometimes the dancing continues on Wednesday and Thursday nights in Kansas City, Pohl said, at bars such as the Jazz Kitchen, Westsider or the Red Vine.

On the weekends, society members visit events hosted by similar dance groups in Kansas City such as the Kansas City Lindy Hop Society or the Kansas City Swing Dance Club, Thompson said.

Alexander plans on attending a swing dance camp in San Diego, Calif., during Spring Break.

The members also hold “swing bombs,” which are unannounced public performances of dancing at places such as Wescoe Beach.

“We’re usually greeted with curiosity,” Thompson said.

Music history

The swing society has been around for several years but only became an official club with university funding last semester.

Ideas for using the funding range from getting new music equipment or bringing in a guest dance instructor.

Today’s swing society evolved from the late ’90s neo-swing revival.

Swing nights in Lawrence started at the Bottleneck, moved to the now-defunct Flamingo, to Abe & Jakes Landing and then to the ECM in 2001, Isaac said.

Thompson got into dancing during the neo-swing craze of the late ’90s, when bands such as the Squirrel Nut Zippers were on MTV and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy played Super Bowl halftime shows.

“We were at a party and all of us girls were clamoring to learn, ” Thompson said. “And few of us girls starting to sneak into bars and, of course, it snowballed from there.”

Thompson and other members enjoy the older acts like Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman.

Another major revival in swing music is possible, said Matt Pool, society member and Lawrence sophomore.

“Major cultural events are repetitious,” Pool said. “I would expect it come back again in 10 to 15 years.”