Swing Dancing – My journey

‘Swing dance is a group of dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s–1940s, with the origins of each dance predating the popular “swing era”. During the swing era, there were hundreds of styles of swing dancing, but those that have survived beyond that era include: Lindy Hop, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and Charleston.’

If you had of asked me to dance over a year ago, I would have probably run away and cringed at the thought of me trying to dance. However, my beautiful wife to be, started swing dancing a couple of years ago and so to propose, I thought it would be a good idea to really get into something I hated, to show my appreciation for her. It’s not that I hated dancing, just that I hated being bad at dancing and was never confident enough to get stuck in. Anyways, the idea was to propose to her after dancing with her in the place we first met (which is now where she dances coincidently). I just wanted to see her face when she seen me (the guy who was terrible at dancing), busting out some moves. Bare in mind, before this idea I had tried a swing dancing lesson once before and I stood on everyone’s toes, sweated on everyone that I danced with, and cried myself to sleep. So that’s when I took private lessons secretly behind her back (without sounding shady).

The things you learn in the first few lessons are by far the most important. I was taught the basic step first and practiced over and over outside of the lesson. Practice makes perfect really. At first, all I could think about was my feet and if they were stepping correctly, however, with practice it becomes second nature and you can then focus on other components. I also found that doing the basic step alongside a dance partner gets you used to partner connection/flow and adjusts you to the pressure of dancing with a stranger.

The second component I learnt which is super important is partner connection. This is basically how you hold/dance with your partner. If you are leading the dance and you have a weak connection, your partner may find it hard to follow in the direction you want them to. The follow has the very difficult job of feeling the connection and determining which way to move/dance. Keeping a strong connection is always going to lead to a smoother dance. This isn’t something that you can get good at overnight, it will constantly improve over time as you dance with multiple partners. The point of me learning a lot about connection to begin with was so that I could confidently dance with my fiance without a routine in place.

I learnt not to apologise for every mistake I made. They happen and they should not ruin your flow/dance. Just pretend it was totally intentional or blame the lighting or something and keep your feet moving. I used to apologise every time I made a mistake whilst I was dancing and I’d have to stop and take a second to get back into the dance. I’m not saying stop saying sorry, but don’t think that just because you have made a mistake you have ruined the dance.

Most importantly, swing dancing has gave me confidence. Talking and dancing with strangers every week gives you the opportunity to learn about other people’s lives and gave me a reason to be out socialising. I learnt that its okay to make mistakes sometimes. Loosen up and have a bit of fun with it. Who cares if you can’t do this move or that move, as long as you are confident nobody will notice anyways. I always used to find dancing with random people strange and intimidating (like country dancing in school) but I really opened up to the concept and now I find it quite interesting to dance and chat with everyone.

A side note: I did not realise there would be so many opportunities to travel and explore with swing dancing. There are dancing events on all over the country and in other countries. It’s always fairly cheap to go to a dance camp, it really helps improve your dance skills and its a lot of fun.  Almost everywhere you go, there will be a swing dancing community near by with open arms.

I would totally recommend giving it a go. Any type of dance seems to do wonders to your health, social life and your confidence. I’m a fan of jumping out of my comfort zone and swing dancing really tested that. I really enjoy dancing now and the proposal went as expected. I plan to continue swing dancing and have been thinking about starting shag lessons to prepare for our first dance at the wedding.

Dancing the night away,
Dan Potts Himself
Thanks for reading!