USU Big Band Swing Club hosted Hallow-Swing Dance
The Utah State University Big Band Swing Club hosted the annual Hallow-Swing dance Friday at Elite Hall in Hyrum, Utah, to celebrate Halloween with traditional big-band swing music and dancing.
The Cache Community Big Band provided classic big-band tunes throughout the night, while guests mingled about drinking punch and practicing their swing dancing skills.
Lydia Neeley, an organizer of the dance, enjoyed taking tickets and meeting attendees. The event welcomed both experienced and novice dancers, as well as anyone in-between.
“We started these dances to help revive big band swing. It is such a cool thing, I want to help spread it around our community to both the young and old. Anyone can enjoy a night like tonight,” Neeley said.
Neeley and a group of students and community members host a dance every month, on average, throughout the year at Elite Hall.
Tara Humphrey, a senior at USU, attended the dance because she loves to practice her swing dancing skills and support the swing dancing club.
“I love the opportunity (swing dancing) gives complete strangers to get to know each other, even if they don’t talk the entire time they are together,” Humphrey said.
Elite Hall is a unique place to hold the dances, since it is one of the few remaining halls that boasts an original and historical spring-loaded dance floor, according to National Public Radio.
These dance floors are made up of several layers of vinyl and hardwood to create a feeling of movement when people start dancing.
“The floor feels like it is moving when lots of people start to dance, almost like you are dancing on hard, yet bouncy, clouds,” Neeley said.
These floors are increasingly rare as renovations and construction have destroyed them throughout the years. However, some people still fight to have these historical floors in use for years to come.
“I would dare say these floors are the best to dance on, way better than those rinky-dink linoleum floors they have today. I will fight to keep this one here for kids to enjoy for as long as I can,” said Lloyd Hanson, local community member.
Whether people came to the dance to show off Halloween costumes, eat food or enjoy classic big-band swing dancing, everyone seemed to have a smile on their face throughout the night.
Bryn Burningham and Bethan Bunker are roommates who attended the dance at the urging of a mutual friend.
“I wasn’t expecting to have this much fun, honestly. I can’t believe how different this era of swing dancing is from traditional Western swing dancing,” Burningham said.
Both Burningham and Bunker attended the dance dressed in Halloween costumes, a 50s cheerleader and an 80s party goer, respectively. They said they enjoyed seeing everyone else’s creativity with their costumes.
“I think it is really fun to see everyone dressed up, it helps you get into the spirit of the night and have that much more fun,” Bunker said.
Stockton Slack is a student at USU and an active member of the swing dancing team.
“I just love coming to these events, getting to know new people, and watching them fall in love with swing dancing,” he said.
— Brianne Sorensen
@SorensenBrianne