THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17. 2005
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5A
ENTERTAINMENT
Dance society swings to the oldies
BY NEEL MULKA
nmulka@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Under dimmed lights, dozens of dancers weave seamlessly to big band music, stepping and swaving in time.
Conversation and laughter bounce between partners as they twist and slide their bodies as the time nears midnight.
It's a regular Tuesday night for the members of the KU Swing Society.
The society's primary mission is to keep the decades-old swing music and style alive, Misha Thompson, president of the society and Lawrence senior, said.
"I'm stuck in a lab all day," Alexander said. "I get to be social, relax and hold a beautiful woman. You can't beat that."
Richard Alexander, Oklahoma City graduate student likes the social aspect of the society.
Reasons for attending varies from attendee to attendee. Some dancers do it to relax while others like to hone their abilities.
The group meets every Tuesday at 9 p.m. on the second floor of the Ecumenical Christian Ministries.
Swing dancing provides an opportunity for Emily Moisan, KU Ballroom Dance Club member and St. Charles, Mo. sophomore, room to experiment with improvisational dance moves.
"It's sort of like playing in a jazz combo versus an orchestra." Moison said. "There's a lot more improvisation with the moves."
Swing dance is a purely American dance, not in the patriotic sense, but in a way that connects generations, Greg Isaac, Besancon, France senior, said.
Issac said his grandmother would tell him stories about her days dancing.
"My grandmother and her friends would drive to Kansas City and would buy a bottle of whiskey to dance." Isaac said. "And they would not be done until that bottle was gone."
SWING TIME
9 p.m. to midnight, every Tuesday
TIME
Stephanie Farlev/KANSAN
WHERE
WHERE
♦ Ecumenical Christian
Ministries
COST
♦ $1 suggested donation
People interested do not need a partner to participate or any dancing experience.
Source: KU Swing Society
Want to see what swing dancing is all about? Go online for video featuring the Swing Society in action.
Every swing society meeting begins with a lesson for new people on the basics of the Lindy Hop, a popular variation of swing dancing.
Raw recruits
Looking like recruits fresh off a bus at boot camp, new members nervously line-up in two gender divided rows and learn a basic eight-count move taught by Isaac, Thompson and Terri Pohl, Omaha. Neb. junior.
"1-2-tri-ple-step! 5-6-7-and-8!" Thompson said in a rhythm, drill sergeant style, without the military harshness, as the members moved gingerly.
"Don't be afraid to jazz it up." she instructs. "Don't be afraid to sashay it."
A smile creeps across a woman's face after Isaac compliments the entire group for doing the move well.
After mastering the moves on their own, the learners couple up and dance together to Thompson's counts and claps.
"You know when somebody has fallen in love," Thompson said. "It's on their face. They do stuff that you've forgotten to do
Misha Thompson, Lawrence senior, dances with Greg Isaac, Besançon, France, senior, on Tuesday night. The KU Swing Society meets every Tuesday at 9 p.m. in the Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave.
" "
I'm stuck in a lab all day.I get to be social and relax and hold a beautiful woman.you can't beat that.
Richard Alexander
Oklahoma City graduate student
or never thought of doing."
After the lesson is over, members dance to music until midnight.
For some of the swing dancers, Tuesday night isn't the only night they dance away.
Sometimes the dancing continues on Wednesday and Thursday nights in Kansas City, Pohl said, at bars such as the Jazz Kitchen, Westside or the Red Vine.
Swing scene
On the weekends, society members visit events hosted by similar dance groups in Kansas City such as the Kansas City Lindy Hop Society or the Kansas City Swing Dance Club, Thompson said.
The members also hold "swing bombs," which are unannounced public performances of dancing at places such as Wescoe Beach.
Alexander plans on attending a swing dance camp in San Diego, Calif., during Spring Break.
"We're usually greeted with curiosity," Thompson said. Music history
The swing society has been around for several years but only became an official club with university funding last semester.
Today's swing society evolved from the late '90s neo-swing
Ideas for using the funding range from getting new music equipment or bringing in a guest dance instructor.
Thompson and other members enjoy the older acts like Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman.
revival.
Another major revival in swing music is possible, said Matt Pool, society member and Lawrence sophomore.
Swing nights in Lawrence started at the Bottleneck, moved to the now-defunct Flamingo, to Abe & Jakes Landing and then to the ECM in 2001. Isaac said.
Thompson got into dancing during the neo-swing craze of the late '90s, when bands such as the Squirrel Nut Zippers were on MTV and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy played Super Bowl halftime shows.
"We were at a party and all of us girls were clamoring to learn," Thompson said. "And few of
us girls starting to sneak into bars and, of course, it snowballed from there."
"Major cultural events are repetitious," Pool said. "I would expect it come back again in 10 to 15 years."
— Edited by Megan Claus
Priest receives prison sentence
NATION
BOSTON — Defrocked priest Paul Shanley, whose crimes shook the Roman Catholic Church, was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison on child rape charges Tuesday to a burst of applause from some of the many who accused him of molesting them.
As a wobbly, 74-year-old Shanley was led away in handcuffs, one man called out mockingly, "Goodbye!"
Judge Stephen Neel condemned the former priest for using his revered status to prey on a little boy.
Shanley will be eligible for parole after eight years. He was sent away despite warnings from some inmate advocates that the notorious child-molester would be a marked man behind bars and that prison could amount to a death sentence.
Shanley, once known for a being a hip "street priest" who reached out to troubled children and homosexuals, was convicted last week of repeatedly raping and fondling a boy at his church during the 1980s.
The Associated Press
Reporters refuse to reveal sources
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling against two reporters who could go to jail for refusing to divulge their sources about the leak of an undercover CIA officer's name.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with prosecutors in their attempt to compel Time magazine's Matthew Cooper and The New York Times' Judith Miller to testify before a federal grand jury about their confidential sources.
kansan.com
"We agree with the District Court that there is no First Amendment privilege protecting the information sought," Judge David B. Sentelle said in the ruling, which was unanimous.
The Associated Press
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