Students Organize Weekly Swing Dancing Lessons 

by Rebecca Axford 

Every Monday night, about a dozen students gather in the Cattle Conference Room at 9:30 p.m to learn triple passes, electric slides and titanics. These arcane-sounding terms are just a few of the dance moves a student might learn at Monday Night Swing Dance.

Seniors Andrew Holden, Cody Boellstorff and Kayla Krueger instruct the group.

“We try to teach one dance a night and then incorporate each one every single week,” Holden said.

The group focuses on swing dancing for the first hour and a half and then learns a line dance. Swing dance is a country partner dance often improvised from moves that the couple has practiced, while line dance is a set of steps performed independently of a partner.

“My favorite part is swing dancing because my partner’s the best,” sophomore Chris Gadomski said.

After they have mastered basic swing dancing moves, the group will start to learn aerials, which are moves where the dancers’ feet come off the ground. Students must sign a safety waiver before they are allowed to participate in this part of the class.

At the end of the school year, the club has a competition between the participants. This year, on Oct. 23, they will be making a trip to the Pla Mor Ballroom in Lincoln.

“As much as you learn here, we want you to be able to practice it outside,” Holden said.

The group has seen a decline this year in the number of students attending classes.

“I remember two years ago on the first couple of weeks we had about 80 people show up,” Holden said. “Usually we have fliers up and a slide in chapel, and that hasn’t gone up yet. We teach the basics, so don’t be shy.”