How to sign up for dance lessons
How I did it: I found a local dance studio called Dragonfly (Decatur, GA). Down South Swing operates out of there. My class size was huge, and mostly couples unfortunately for me…but I had a blast anyway, and took Swing 101 lessons for one month. They covered all the basic steps in detail, and each lesson we would rotate around the room so we danced with everyone (of the opposite sex) in the room. A great way to meet people and potential dance partners. In the future, I’d like to find a dance studio that caters more to single folk. Or I can just find myself a girlfriend! I like the latter better.
Lessons & tips:
- Make sure you have a pair of shoes you can dance in - dance studio floors are wood floors, so you need to be able to slide....and women, lower-heeled shoes may be easier for you.
- Be prepared to dance with multiple partners.
- For those of you who think you have two left feet, if you have a heart beat, you have rhythm! Sometimes you've just gotta get out there and try.
- Pick up a few swing music CDs prior to your first lesson, so you can get into the groove. Check out the Swingers soundtrack, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Swing Kids soundtrack.
- Following your lessons, get out there and dance! Here in Atlanta, we have an organization called ASEDA, which hosts swing dance events locally. See what's in your town.
Resources:
Down South Swing
http://downsouthswing.com/
Atlanta Swing Era Dance Association
http://www.aseda.org/
Atlanta Lindy Exchange
http://www.atlx.org/index.php
