Swing, Swing, Swing...

I knew there were plenty of swings. I read somewhere at least thirty varieties. Right now Gary and I know EC, WC, Lindy, and sorta rockabilly. We are learning that from a tape (Ms. Sophia out of Chicago, she rocks). Unfortunately, a tape just isn't as good as a real live teacher, even though Sophia has lots of cool moves. Anyway. Gary and I set out last week to experience the Carolina Shag, the St. Louis Imperial Swing, and the Arkansas Street Swing. I say "experience", because no way can one learn a dance in one weekend. Well, at least we can't.

It was a great weekend. Fabulous dancers, some of the best I've ever seen. The Shag was rather "meh" to me, it kinda looked like those Irish dancers that keep their upper body stiff and do the feet. The Shag is impressive, don't get me wrong, but maybe I'm just too bouncy for it. The Imperial Swing was cool and I liked the moved we learned, but I didn't see much difference from it and EC. The Arkansas Street Swing was another story. Loved it. Very slinky, and although we will be adding the move we learned to our WC, it was really different from anything we've done so far.

I find it fascinating that there are so many variations on swing, which I know there are that many on Latin dances too, and probably other ballroom dances as well. Which means that there will always be a new dance to learn.

Somehow, that's very comforting.