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While resonant echoes of lyrics from the student musical “Hair” floated through the lobby of Hauck Auditorium, other students tapped their feet and bounced their bodies to a different tune.
The members of the University of Maine Swing Dance Club were hard at work practicing their moves for the upcoming International Dance Festival. The festival will be held Feb. 20 at the Collins Center for the Arts, with shows at 2 and 7 p.m. Admission is free.
The club, which has existed on campus for at least seven years, usually practices Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in the Student Recreation and Fitness Center. But Monday they took to the empty space of the Hauck Auditorium lobby to step-up their practices for the show.
The core group that will perform at the festival will consist of six dancers — two men and four women. The balance is a little uneven, but the members work through it in a fluid way.
“It will be what we can pull together with choreography,” said Robert England, a club member and engineering graduate student. “It’s really an informal couples dance.”
Members will continue to practice every night this week.
England noted although swing dancing is usually improvised, the six performers will work out a routine for the festival.
Beyond working on a routine for the dance show, the group has 12 to 15 members who show up on a regular basis and has a large social aspect.
“The best part about Swing Dance Club is that it is a very social dance and people of all skill levels come to have fun, meet new people and learn how to do some damage on the dance floor,” said Benton Shattenberg, a sixth-year parks, recreation and tourism student who instructs the team.
Andrea Nakamura, a member of the club and a first-year bio-chemistry student, agrees with Shattenberg. She said her favorite part is the people.
Nakamura has been swing dancing since a friend “dragged” her to a dance in high school. She fell in love with the art and actually hunted down the club when she came to UMaine.
England had only had a brief encounter with swing dancing before he began at UMaine and has been with the group for the past four years.
“I hardly even remembered the basics,” he said about joining the group.
Members of the Swing Dance Club encourage all skill levels to join.
Shattenberg, the group’s instructor, was actually dragged to his first practice, as a novice, by an ex-girlfriend in 2005.
“Anyone who wants to come is welcome,” England said. “You don’t need experience, you don’t need certain clothes … just have a good time.”
At normal practices, the group starts with a review of last week’s lesson, followed by dance time and ends with an instruction on a new move or dance.
“We mostly do swing, but we also dedicate some time at the end of each session for other ballroom dances such as tango, waltz, salsa, etc.,” Shattenberg said.
While Shattenberg does a lot of the dance instruction, England said they also cultivate dance moves from new members and online videos.
The only restriction Shattenberg puts on practice is no lifts on a first practice. Lifts are when dancers pick up other dancers between moves.
“After coming for several weeks and I think you have what it takes to safely do a lift, then I will teach some,” Shattenberg said.
While the group focuses on swing dance, many members practice other types of dance. Shattenberg has started other ballroom dances and tap since he began swing dancing in 2005.
Other members participate in salsa dancing with another group on campus and some even help with DAN 130; Ballroom and World Dance.
“It’s a rare semester when we don’t have someone from the group in the class,” England said. “We’ve had people from everywhere.”
