It’s a quiet night Thursday night in downtown Moscow, except at the top floor of CJ’s where the music starts to swing at 10 p.m. and in seconds the dance floor is filled with new dance partners. The energy on the floor is great as skirts swing back and forth and couples twist and turn with fluid motion. As songs change, so do the dancing couples as they swap out for different partners with different styles and grooves.
Every Thursday night, CJ’s holds a swing dance on the top dance floor. Even though CJ’s is a bar, the dance is open to all ages and anyone that wants to learn how to swing dance. CJ’s offers group swing dance lessons from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., where instructors go through different moves and rhythms to help less experienced dancers become more successful and confident on the dance floor. The dance starts at 10, and more experienced dancers take the floor.
Most dancers come from the University of Idaho and Washington State University to dance and swing. Max Thew, a student at UI and a member of the UI ballroom dance team said Pullman and Moscow have a great swing community and that these dances really bring people together.
He said these dances usually contain a wide spectrum of dancing abilities, from just starting out to experienced dancers, but it gives people an avenue to get really good at swing dancing.
Hailee Davenport a student at UI said she never did swing dancing before but learned so much over the past semester by dancing with people of different abilities and styles. She said it is a fun way to meet new people in the community and learn how to dance.
The dancers often trade off between the different styles of swing dance, known as “east coast” and “west coast” based on the type of song that is playing. East coast swing dancing is done at a faster tempo than west coast and is usually danced to songs that swing, whereas west coast style dancing is often danced at a slower tempo and can be danced to modern pop or rock songs.
Some of the more experienced dancers go into an energetic variation of west coast swing known as Lindy Hop that involves rhythmic kicks and quick hip turns which makes for an exciting dance. However, the group dance lessons usually start out with the east coast style “rock step”.
Thew said that all of the styles of dance are difficult in some way or another, but the Lindy Hop takes the most experience by far.
When asked if he had any advice to someone thinking about starting swing dancing Thew said just go for it — go to some of the lessons with your friends and stay for the dance and make a night out of it.
Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected]