By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Several first year students at Bowling Green State University have found a way to get into the swing on campus — The Falcon Swing Society.
The dance club was holding its Friday night dance in the lobby of Memorial Hall on campus. After a series of lessons to ease novice dancers in, the festivity spilled out to the sidewalks, where the sounds of classic swing music wafted over the green.
“It’s a great way to meet people,” said Emily Flowers.
“Swing dancing is a form of stress relief,” said Kaitlyn Wincup.
“I’m interested in 1940s culture and I like the music,” said Hayley Carter.
“It’s something fun to do on a Friday night that’s not in a bar,” said Jenna Dunn.
They are the newest dancers who join the club that dates back 15 years. The music and steps go back almost a century.
And what attracted them has been what’s kept other dancers at it.
Kayla Skrab, a senior middle childhood education major, said she was involved in musical theater in high school, “but I didn’t have time for that once I got to college.”
A year ago, though, she decided to join the Swing Society. “Sometimes it’s difficult to meet people who have similar interests that I do,” she said. “And so many people I’ve met here are a lot like me. They like artsy things and music.”
Kianarose Irving, a senior creative writing major, said she stumbled upon the club soon after she arrived on campus. She’d been heavily involved in dance. She has choreographed for musicals, a dance company, and show choirs as well as dancing herself.
The Swing Society was more than a way to stay active in dance. “I tend to be impossibly shy when it comes to social gatherings,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting the social aspect of dancing with strangers, and when I walked into it, it was so welcoming. It opened me up to make new friends.”
This isn’t about pairing up with a single partner for the night, said Ben Book, who taught the beginner’s lesson, then served as DJ. “What most of us enjoy doing is dancing with anyone at anytime to any song and in any role leading or following.”
“You get to have that personal moment,” said Fallon Smyl, the Falcon Swing Society president. “It’s like two minutes of love with a partner, a huge connection.”
While this is a student club, they welcome community members as well, and several are active members. Dance is a great way to bring generations together, she said.
“I’ve had the most fun in the world dancing with a 75-year-old man in Cleveland,” she said. “I’ve never had as much fun dancing with anybody as I did with him.”
The society dances twice a week, Friday from 7-10 p.m. in Memorial Hall in the lobby outside Anderson Arena, and Tuesday from 7-10 p.m. in the Wolfe Center. Membership is $10, with the first session free. This year the lessons on Tuesday will cost $5. Beginning in October, each Tuesday session will focus on teaching a specific dance. It’ll start with the Lindy Hop. That’s the “iconic” swing dance, Smyl said, “That’s what you’re going to see in movies.”
Smyl did ballroom dancing in high school. A musical theater major, she happened by a Tuesday session and was captivated. Here was something from days gone by, something her grandparents did.
Book said he’d acted in musical theater and sang in show choir in high school, and that was the extent of his dance experience.
A recent graduate of university now living in Bowling Green, he discovered the club during opening weekend his first semester there.
“What attracted me was the novelty,” he said. “What kept me is the great community built up around this scene. It’s a great group of tight friends, but also friends I’ve made in other places because there are swing groups like this all around the country.”
That includes in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Columbus and Cleveland. “We travel to them and meet new people and dance to live bands. I’ve fallen in love with the music.”
That includes classic recordings by the likes of Louis Prima to contemporary versions of swing. “l’m expressing myself through music. This is a wonderful way to do that.”
Book said he plans to continue dancing as long as he can. “Until my knees give out.”
