Dance, and Be Charming!

It seems that currently in society, the most popular leisure activities for young people are predominantly private, passive and individual.  These activities include watching movies and television, playing video games, or going to bars and dance clubs where it is too loud or crowded to talk.  If this is the current trend, how is the predominantly youth interest in Swing Dancing, an activity that requires close intimate social and physical contact, explained?

As much as movie theatres or bars make it easy to avoid talking to strangers, this is not to say that today’s youth do not communicate or socialize.  Technology has made it very easy for us to contact one another on the phone, through e-mail, or on IM (Instant Messenger) programs.  However, it is important to note that as much as movie theatres and dance clubs promote physical interaction (especially when they’re crowded) but lack social interaction, e-mail and IM programs allow for the opposite, social communication without the physical component.  Given the current lifestyle of North American youth, there are few activities that allow for the type of interaction that creates opportunity for both social and physical contact, especially with strangers.  This is where Swing Dancing fills the void.  The fact remains that as much as Western society values individualism, this lack of close contact tends to result in a lack of social structure, an absence of manners and social skills, and feelings of isolation among today’s youth.  Swing Dancing, by nature, avoids the side effects of individualistic activities because it requires its participants to be socially and physically interactive.  In his thesis, Swing Dance as Subculture: Managing Symbolic Crisis in the (Post)Modern, sociology student, Sam Michalowski, suggests that “observations and interviews with participants in local clubs suggests that this group of young adult swing dancers have developed social and cultural practices that contrast symbolically and pragmatically to what may be called the adult status quo.[1]”  The appeal of Swing Dancing lies in its ability to create social beings, social structure, and social skills.  In doing so, it challenges the isolated and individualist tendencies of current youth culture.  This may explain its current popularity.

Creating Social Beings: Meeting People, Establishing Identity and Forming Relationships

Dancing is ‘conversation’ to music![2]

Swing Dancing has always been a social activity.  The most obvious reason being that it is a ‘couple’-dance, an activity requiring two people.  Unlike movies or television, where one has the option to watch alone or with others, Swing Dancing is an activity that requires at least one other person.  As well, because one is usually only dancing with one person at a time, it makes it easier to introduce oneself and find out a bit about them over the course of the dance.  Although people can restrict themselves to dancing only with one partner or dancing only with people they already know, this is usually not the case.  The reason for this is that dancing with many different people will simply make one a better dancer, creating an incentive for social interaction.

Swing Dancing also aids the creation of social beings by allowing for personal expression.       

The Lindy’s innovation… was the swingout, or breakaway, in which dance partners would temporarily drop arm contact and create their own moves.  The breakaway gave the dancers as much room to improvise as the musicians now had.[3]

As Lisa Wade states in her article, Differentiation and Hierarchy in Social Dance,

one of the reasons swing dancers so vehemently oppose codification is because they believe that swing dancing is about expressiveness.  Sometimes it is about expressing your mood at the moment, sometimes it is about expressing the music, but most of the time it is about expressing one’s own individuality.[4]

The dance steps and patterns are merely a guideline with which a dancer can express who he or she is.  Because there is a guideline established, it is much easier to observe differences in style and expression than in freestyle forms of dance.  The dancer projects his or her personality through the dance, allowing for interaction on the person-to-person level with their partner and with those observing (potential future dance partners).  Consequently, the ability to express oneself through dance helps to make people more comfortable in a social setting.  As one member of the U of M Swing Dance Club commented, “Swing Dance indirectly boost[ed] up my confidence [in] presenting myself to the public.[5]”

Lastly, the modern Swing Dance scene, although much different from its 1940s counterpart, has retained much of its innocence and romanticism.  Swing Dances tend to lack the edginess and cynicism associated with raves or the modern dance club scene.  Swing Dancers often go to dances or clubs to celebrate the dance form, leaving little room for sex, drugs or alcohol.  After all, for most dancers, drugs and alcohol tend to hinder one’s ability to dance.  The implications of this on social interaction is that the relationships that form as a result of Swing Dancing are met with much less suspicion than those in other dance scenes.  This is especially apparent if one observes online forums dedicated to Swing Dancing.  As Lisa Wade observes,

To a large extent, the content in these forums is the process of dancers working out their identities as dancers and what it means to be a ‘good’ dancer… It is not unusual for one dancer to establish a friendship with another dancer on the forum which translates into offers of housing, assistance with dance related problems, connections with other dancers and so on.[7]

Creating social structure: Rules of Etiquette

Dancing is a partnership pastime, usually enjoyed in a social group.  For the comfort, convenience, and happiness of all the dancers, certain rules of the game have come to be recognized by well-mannered people.[8]

I think that gender neutrality is something worth striving for in most aspects of dancing; one of the things I like about the lindy scene is the liberal attitudes which permeate it.  Guys dance with guys, girls dance with girls, guys dance with girls.[11]

Due to this role taking, an organized social structure based on ‘leads’, ‘follows’ and ‘switch-hitters’ tends to form and dancers will search for partners based on which role he or she is familiar with.  Unlike freestyle dancing, in Swing Dancing each member of the couple has a role to perform and certain duties associated with each role.

The Man always asks for the favor of a dance… It is bad form for the Girl to decline to dance unless she is ill or is not dancing.  Above all, she must not dance with one man and refuse another.[12]

Aside from rules regarding dance roles, there are also rules regarding the acquisition of dance partners.  Although the above quote is taken from Arthur Murray’s book, How to Become a Good Dancer, which was published in 1938, it is still understood amongst Swing Dancers that one does not turn down a dance.  Furthermore, it is good manners to dance with more than one person.

It is exceedingly impolite for a Man to monopolize a Girl for the whole evening.  Unless, of course, just the two are dining and dancing together at a club or hotel, with no other friends present.[13]

This illustrates the inclusive nature of Swing Dancing.  Because it is good manners to dance with everyone and not to no monopolize the attention of one person, anyone can dance with an experienced dancer, including beginners.  Also, because etiquette is important, so is a dancer’s reputation.  Someone who is known to be fun to dance with or willing to dance with beginners will tend to have more dance partners and as a result will become a better dancer.

Creating Social Skills: The ‘Gray Area’ and Issues of Personal Space

Swing provides a way of enjoying physical intimacy without the dangers of sex.[14] 

            One of the most intriguing and widely discussed issues related to Swing Dancing is that of personal space and appropriate physical contact.  According to Judith Lynne Hanna, in her book, Dance, Sex and Gender: Signs of Identity, Dominance, Defiance and Desire, “…dance often displays a person’s sexual appeal, provides stimulating fantasy or foreplay, and communicates information as a prelude to encounters that read to mating.[15]  As a matter of fact, the sexualized and frenzied movements characteristic of Lindy Hop in the 30s were discarded in favor of a more upright and ‘proper’ style when it became popular amongst suburban youth in the 40s.  Current Swing Dancers are also dealing with the issue of what is appropriate physical contact.  This can be illustrated by the fact that the thread entitled “Don’t Fuck Me on the Dance Floor Please!” on the Swing Dance web-forum, Lindyhopper.ca, currently has 1316 views and 74 posts[16].  Swing dancing tends to not only allow for but also require the type of close physical contact that is deemed inappropriate in any other social situation.  For example, holding a stranger’s hand may be inappropriate in another context but in Swing Dancing it is a requirement.  The resulting ‘gray area’ tends to cause dancers to reassess their ‘comfort zone’ regarding social contact. 

I've always been pretty comfortable with hugging, but I do think I instigate hugging much more often as a result of dancing. It's just sort of normal to hug the person you've been dancing with, especially after a really good dance, and to hug people before you leave the dance. It's now become almost a habit to hug people before leaving any group social event with friends and acquaintances and I sometimes get this surprised reaction from people. I forget that not everyone does that, that not everyone is comfortable with it. It's kind of funny when I go to hug a non-dancer that I'm starting to become friends with, and they just get this almost scared look on their face like they don't know what to do or why the hell you're trying to hug them.[17]

Hugging an acquaintance seems hardly controversial after one has spent the entire evening dancing Blues or Balboa, however, as indicated by the following comments on Lindyhopper.ca, not all touching is appropriate.

Some people are under the impression that with slow dancing or blues anything goes. *NOT TRUE*  You need to remember that girls may not tell you what you do is nasty cause they're afraid to make YOU feel uncomfortable. That is very stupid of us I agree but sometimes we think it's our fault or we've misinterpreted something.  Bottom line, if you can't tell your grandmother about it, don't do it to me.  If I seem harsh, good. I've felt dirty often enough to warrant it.[18]

Maybe deep down we all want to be more touchy-feely, and dancing just gives us an excuse to do that.  After all, why can’t we be comfortable touching each other?[19]

Conclusion

The fact remains that Swing Dancing is far from a mainstream activity, however, there is a large enough following to suggest that it is definitely appealing to modern day youth.  Due to its inherent social nature, it appears that young people are attracted to it because it tends to be a form of personal expression, a catalyst for forming relationships and contains a social structure within it that facilitates and organizes social interaction.  Swing Dancing also contains a physical component that thrusts participants into a ‘gray area’ concerning appropriate physical contact that often results in increased comfort levels regarding close physical contact and a greater sensitivity towards the comfort others.  It is for these reasons that despite the popularity of passive, private and individualistic activities, youth are drawn towards Swing Dancing as an interesting and appealing social activity.

Definitions

Swing Dance:   Traditionally, Swing Dances include dances that were created and intend to be danced to Swing music.  These dances include Lindy Hop, Balboa, Shim-Sham, Charleston and Black Bottom among others.  However, there is a trend among modern Swing dancers to dance to other genres of music.

Freestyle:           The type of dancing popular in bars and dance clubs today.  No partner required.  Often danced in groups.  There are no specific dance moves.

Lindy Hop:         Lindy Hop was the original Swing Dance that was danced in the 1930s and 40s.  Swing Dance taught in ballrooms after the period (East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, and Jive) were simplified versions of Lindy that evolved over time.

Balboa:              Balboa is a form of Swing Dance that is danced to very fast music and was created for very crowded dance floors.  Traditionally it was danced in the closed position for the entire duration of the song.  Recent incarnations (called Bal-Swing) incorporate dance moves that allow the couple to separate.

Blues:                 Blues is danced to very slow music.  It is much more sensual than Lindy or Balboa and very smooth.  Blues is also meant to be lead by the body, rather than just the arms, resulting in very close physical contact between partners.

References

Dengel, Roni.  Dance – and Be Charming.  (New York: Scholastic Book Services, 1964).

Hanna, Judith Lynne.  Dance, Sex and Gender: Signs of Identity, Dominance, Defiance and Desire.  (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1988).

Lee, Nathan.  Culture and Dancing.  Comments through e-mail received on March 27, 2003 at 12:41 A.M.

Michalowski, Sam.  Swing Dance as Subculture: Managing Symbolic Crisis in the (Post)Modern Era.  Unpublished, made available through e-mail: sam.michalowski@juno.com

Murray, Arthur.  How to Become a Good Dancer.  (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1938).

Pener, Degen.  The Swing Book.  (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1999).

SFUhopper.  To Lead or to Follow…?  Available online at http://lindyhopper.ca/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=1&t=1091&s=569365459b8067ba2d38dd58f1c4ed24

Shimmey Baby.  Don’t Fuck Me on the Dance Floor Please!  Available online at http://lindyhopper.ca/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=1&t=1003&s=569365459b8067ba2d38dd58f1c4ed24

Wade, Lisa.  Differentiation and Hierarchy in Social Dance.  Available online at http://www.lindycafe.com/_archives/heirarchy.html