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Oh, you kid! Dancing just isn’t what it used to be

December 5th, 2009 Posted in Opinion

By Cassidee Cline

The art of dance has been around for centuries. From Renaissance elegance to the sheer independence and rebellion of the 1920’s solo Charleston, dance has been used to interpret and captivate the emotion of people. But let’s face the facts: dancing isn’t what it used to be.

What happened to the nightclubs of the 1920s with the introduction of Charleston? What happened to the 1950’s Big Band Swing era with poodle skirts and leather jackets? Why not try and bring it all back? Of course, no one can make things the way they were 50 some odd
years ago, but we are a generation of finding our own self-identity. Why not try to incorporate our own spin on what nightclubs used to be?

With so many styles and types of dance today, it’s hard to find people willing to take time to learn. Then there are those groups that yearn to know how to sweep a girl off her feet, but can’t find anyone to teach them how. It seems the problem deals with the lack of interest and the lack of knowledge.

Not many people realize how many dance classes, clubs and competition go on in their own town. Take Cache Valley, for example. Club New York in Logan opens its doors to every Tuesday nights for a club run by Utah State University students. The club Dance United incorporates two different genres of dance, ballroom and big band swing. The entire night is filled with lessons and social dancing for under $5.

USU offers a variety of dance classes to students including different styles of swing, jazz, ballet and ballroom. Students have the opportunity to get an easy A and to learn how to ‘wow’ the crowd for less than what it would cost to get private lessons.

Even the high schools around Cache Valley offer dance classes to students who for beginners and for intermediate dancers. Plus competitive dance teams at both the university and high school levels.

It’s really hard to believe that with so many opportunities to dance, hardly anyone is interested. For guys especially, I don’t know how many girls who would turn down a guy who knows how to lead a waltz or swing. If you weigh the options, it’s a good opportunity to ask someone out on a date, take time off on the weekend when Dance United hosts dancing at Elite Hall in Hyrum, or holds events like the Elite Hall Benefit Dance or a masquerade ball.

It really boils down to people in the community with a lack of interest in learning how to dance. They’ll come up with excuses like “I don’t have time,” or “it takes too much effort.” If you think about it, it takes just as much effort to learn the ropes in the job you hold now.

So why not take your wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend or love interest out on the town instead sitting in on a two-hour movie? Not many people go on a date to a dance hall, so why not make the night memorable? Overall, it is one of the best ways to make a good impression on someone. If you don’t know how to dance, most likely your date doesn’t either, so you can learn together. Bring back the old spirit of having a night out and enjoy what your town has to offer. You never know, you might have more fun than you thought possible.

NW
NW

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