Austin Lindy Hop
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Austin Lindy Hop
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| Why Bother Learning How to Dance At All?A Guy's Testimonial.Social Dancing is great for many reasons. However, to be blunt, and from a guy's perspective with more of a jock background, I honestly felt somewhat put off by the notion of learning to "dance," originally, no less making it such an obsessive hobby. I always had a subtle interest, I just did not admit it much in public. I also had plenty of other things to do. Moreover, as a kid, I grew up in the avid days of Disco and then (during my more formative years) the even more avid "Disco Sucks" days that followed, in the latter of which the mere thought of learning to dance was considered a fundamental threat to your manhood. Just the word, itself, sounds somewhat dorky. "Dance." Definitely a fruity word. Grow up. Kids dance. Girls dance. Or Kevin Bacon, Footloose-types (who take themselves too seriously and need to get a life) dance. It's just "dancing." La la, la la, la. Gimme some Scotch and a cigar. Throw another slab on the barbecue.
However, after a healthy dose of genuine self-confidence that allowed me to overcome my own insecurities, I found that dancing is, most simply, a helluvalotta fun. There are other attractions, not all of which apply to everyone. It is a great way to meet and develop new friends, most of whom are active, fun-loving, and friendly. They are not just dorks. It is great exercise, not just aerobically, but also for general coordination and strength. (Even Walter Payton took dance lessons.) Chicks dig guys who can dance. It is a great way to expand your interests. It is a great way to stop watching too much TV and get up off your butt and do something. Nobody parties like Lindy Hoppers at a Lindy Exchange. It can help you learn about and understand American culture and history, especially the era from the 1930s to the 1950s. Chicks dig it. It can give you an excuse to dress up in fine vintage clothing from the Swing Era, or ignore the vintage stuff, altogether, and just come out wearing hip-hop, polyester warm-ups made by Adidas. Chicks dig it. It can give many emotionally-detached men an unintimidating way to richly express themselves emotionally . . . without even getting drunk or getting laid. It also can make you a part of a growing, enthusiastic National scene that has taken traditional social dances like Lindy Hop, Balboa, Jitterbug, Charleston, Shag, and Swing, and made them distinctly modern and funky. And Chicks dig it.
Jokes aside, the most fundamental reason dancing is so fun is that it allows you to enjoy music by doing more than just sit idly by, tapping your toes or snapping your fingers, giddily exclaiming "Dude, this stuff rocks!!" Great dancers all love the music to which they dance, and their dancing enhances that enjoyment in ways that most people cannot even imagine until they experience it. In its best form, social dancing provides a way to "talk" about music with your partner without speaking. It also can open your appreciation to the driving forces and musical themes behind American music: Jazz, Blues, Rock, Rap, and even Hip Hop. American swing dance music can be simple fun such as Swing-Era pop tunes by Benny Goodman in the 1940s, giddy Jump Blues tunes by Louis Jordan in the 1950s, early Rock and Roll/Rockabilly tunes by Buddy Holly or the Beatles in the 1960s, or Neo-Swing Rock songs by Brian Setzer or Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in the 1990s. Or, at its most challenging, it can be rhythmically complex and musically intriguing jazz, from the big band tunes of the Count Basie or Duke Ellington orchestras, to small jazz combos led by Oscar Peterson, Roy Eldridge, and (more recently) Diana Krall, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Harry Connick, Jr. Dancing can enrich your appreciation and passion for music, and can even open the eyes of the most studied academic musician as to the true reasons why we all love music.
Now, you need not be so passionate about music or dancing as we are, and we won't brainwash you to be that way (so far as you'll know); and you certainly can merely hold a passing interest in learning how to dance in order to take part. Most passionate dancers started out that way, as well; but many others have taken our classes and only maintained it as a casual hobby, which is fine. But even as a simple little ditty, social dancing allows you to enjoy music more richly than before. Like riding a bike, it is also something everyone should learn to do. |
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