The Meander / Events

The Caltech Summer Swing Dance Season

by Harish Ravishankar

I landed at Caltech this summer and, as I had come so early, there were few new students. I was looking for any activities to meet people. One of my friends suggested that I try West Coast Swing (WCS), a partner dance which has roots in Lindy Hop. I was initially hesitant as I hadn’t danced much before, but now I am glad that I took it up. We had an 8 week course on WCS by Doug Silton at the Winnet lounge on Mondays between 8:30 – 9:30 pm.

Doug taught the class in a simple, easy to understand way and made the class fun with his witty comments. We started with a few basic steps called the sugar pushes and a few side passes in the first few classes. These sessions provided a platform to meet and interact with a lot of new people from different backgrounds including grad students, undergrads, SURFs and even people from the neighbourhood. They also organised social dances every Wednesday in the South Catalinas Rec Room and these attracted a new set of people, some of whom were very experienced. We could relearn what we did in class and learn from mistakes at these socials.

We gradually learned a whole gamut of moves – inside rolls, whips, etc and by the end of the course, we were able to lead (or follow) an entire song. We had a grand finale at a WCS convention at Burbank where we danced with people coming from all over California and outside. The WCS group at Caltech is really fun and their classes and social events are quite instructive. They are planning to introduce WCS to incoming grad students during the orientation week on Sept 20th where they will have a basic class, a social dance and a showcase dance by professionals. The beginner classes start on October 3rd and the intermediate classes will start after two weeks on Oct 17th. Join the classes to enjoy learning WCS!