Student dancers get in the swing

For members of the KU Swing Society, swing dancing is all the rage. When the style began to die out in Lawrence in about 2002, a group of students swung into action to save swing in Lawrence.

"Swing dancing has been here in Lawrence for a very long time," says KUSS member Misha Thompson. "You can find old photos on KU of people dancing where there is obviously some sort of swing dancing. So we decided we wanted to keep swing alive in Lawrence in all it's various forms, and we went ahead and applied to become a club."

Every Tuesday night, the dancers meet in the Kansas Room on the sixth floor of the Kansas Union. Lessons are held from 8 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., followed by a social dance for the rest of the evening. The dance and the lessons are free of charge and open to anyone.

Along with Tuesday night dances, the society is involved in the yearly "Meet in the Middle Dance", which is held in Emporia and attracts dancers from as far as Wichita, Kansas City and Manhattan.

"For events like the 'Meet in the Middle Dance,' we try to get as many people from all over the northeast Kansas area as we can," says Amber Otto, president of the KUSS. "I would say last year there were about 100 people maybe 150 people."

Swing Society leaders say swing dancing is appealing because it's active, and it's a great social outlet that doesn't involve a lot of awkward conversation.

"So you get to listen to fantastic music, it's energetic, it's lively and it's a very safe way to meet other people, especially members of the opposite sex," Otto says.

Otto says swing dancing is popular on college campuses across the nation, and one of the KUSS's goals is to host an inter-collegiate swing battle at some point.