http://www.indyswing.org/
I’m not going to spend a lot of time describing this historic building, because I know Gary will do a much better job than I could. I did know some about Madam Walker before I went, and I also knew the theatre was fabulous, as I’d seen pictures of it.
When we arrived, multicolored animal faces greeted us from carved woodwork over the door, and more of the same lined the ceiling in the small waiting room area where the elevator was located. The ballroom was on the fourth floor and I grew more excited as the lights blinked one, two, three, four. We got off, rounded the corner, and….oh. It was nice; large wooden floor, big overhead chandeliers, but it wasn’t the 1920s grandeur I had hoped for. The era looked more 60s or 70s; the fixtures were those hanging crystal numbers you see in almost every 1970s homes albeit larger, and the mirrors surrounding the space were decided modern. Here’s a pic where you can see the chandeliers:
But we were there to dance. And dance we did. We had a great time and I saw some of the best WCS dancers ever. Now you’re probably wondering did they like it? Before I answer that I want to state very clearly that this club did a good job of saying who and what they are on their website. They are a WCS club; they spin a smattering of other types of music, but primarily WCS. And that's exactly what they played…a few nightclub beats, a couple you could rumba to, and Gary and I forced one ECS but it was really too slow. They also state their preference for exchanging partners (they believe you will get better only if you dance with lots of people which I don’t agree with but they were honest), and they encourage socializing after the dance; many go out to eat afterwards.
This social addition was exactly as advertised; the lesson was late and the dance didn’t start on time but no one seemed to mind, they were all chatting with one another. People were very friendly and some introduced themselves to us. The dance started off with the longest mixer I’ve ever seen…EVERY woman danced with EVERY man. Then about halfway through the afternoon the president did the usual announcements about upcoming events, but she also included information about so and so going through hard times, who had birthdays, etc. After almost every dance the DJ encouraged people to switch partners. And at the end was the dreaded forced mixer, The Snowball.
Again, this club was clear about what would happen at their dances, and that is the difference, in my opinion, between ISDC and the USA dancers. We didn’t know about the big start off mixer or the Snowball, but it did fit in with their stated culture. I think for people who want a social club along with their dancing it would be fabulous. In some ways their event reminded me of church; you go for the service, but many people also attend for the shared belief and camaraderie.
It just wasn’t for us. What Gary and I like is a happy medium; we don’t want to be stared at as if we don’t belong, but neither do we want an enveloping social atmosphere. We’re there to dance. At both of the clubs we are joined to people are friendly. But there are no forced mixers, and while there is birthday cake every month, life’s problems are not aired.
Perhaps this reflects where Gary and I are in life. It’s not that we mind making new friends, but we have a group of people that we love and are not necessarily looking for that as a goal. We also want our dancing to be an escape from the real world; we don’t want to bring our problems to the floorboards, nor do we really want to hear about others. That goes for religion or politics too.
I’ve quoted our favorite DJ, Ron Fentz (Indy Boogie Dancers), in other posts, but what he says before every dance pretty much sums what Gary and I are looking for in a dance club:
“Let’s dance.”
No comments:
Post a Comment