SWING SCENE:Dance like it's 1929? Anna Careysays it's ridiculous fun (here's hoping she's not headed for a crash)
AS ANYONE who keeps an eye on the news knows, there may be trouble ahead. But while there’s moonlight, and music, and love and romance, why not face the music and dance? All over Ireland, people are doing just that. The swing dancing and lindy hop scene has gone from strength to strength, with classes, clubs and parties devoted to the music and dancing of the jazz age springing up everywhere from Cork to Belfast.
Next Sunday, April 18th, hundreds will arrive at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin in their finest retro attire for the second annual Vintage Ball, a night of swinging cabaret, music and dancing.
“People come into for different reasons,” says dancing teacher and Vintage Ball organiser Jessica Peel-Yates. “Some love big band music and want to learn to dance to it. Some love the dancing in vintage films. Some want to get fit. Some like the social aspect. And some just love to get dressed up.”
As soon as I read about Peel-Yates’s Authentic Jazz classes, I knew this was the class for me. Authentic Jazz involves learning steps that were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, including the Charleston. The music, the moves, the knowledge that if by any strange chance you found yourself in a hopping jazz club in 1935 you’d be able to join in the dancing – it’s irresistible.
So every Tuesday evening, I joined a large group of (mostly) women of all ages as we learned a routine called The Big Apple. No experience required – just a willingness to get kicking, jumping and strutting to a jazzy beat. After 10 classes, I can now throw around words such as "shorty George" and "applejacks" with ease. Whether I can perform those actual dance steps is, of course, another matter. But I'm trying. And it's ridiculously good fun.
This dancing is addictive. One of my classmates, Geoff Devitt, is out dancing almost every night of the week at various clubs and classes. He’s only been doing it for a year but, he says, “I was hooked from day one”.
Karen Morris is equally devoted. By day, she’s a biologist, but most of her evenings are spent on the dancefloor. Like Devitt, she likes the social element. Dublindy, a swing dancing organisation, runs regular drop-in nights in Dublin. “There’s a lovely atmosphere,” says Morris. “Swing is all about having fun. It’s not intimidating at all.”
Events such as the Vintage Ball are perfect for anyone who likes to party in (very) old-school style – during the day, the hotel will host a vintage fashion and décor fair. But it doesn't matter whether you're dressed up to the nines or hit the dancefloor in jeans. "You've got to dance little lady, dance little man," sang Fred Astaire in Shall We Dance. "Dance whenever you can." And he was right.
For information on classes, see dublindy.com
