High Sierra Swing Dance Club looks
to provide a venue for a toe-tappin' good time
Jarid Shipley
Nevada Appeal Staff Writer
May
2, 2007
Page A1
Jim Ewing's motto is "give it eight weeks." No
matter how bad you think you are or how slowly you learn, give it eight
weeks. That's how long it will
take to make someone a fan of West Coast swing dancing.
"The first eight weeks are very difficult, especially for the
men. Most men are good at eye-hand coordination, so making them switch
to ear-foot coordination is difficult, but once they get that it's
easy," said Ewing, a dance instructor from Spanish Springs.
Ewing recently formed the High Sierra Swing Dance Club, a nonprofit
organization in Carson City that will be tasked with providing a venue
for swing dances in the capital city.
"I just felt the need to start a club down here and give
residents in the areas around Carson City a place to dance," Ewing
said.
Jerry Stacy, club board member, said, "There's just no good dancing
place in the area. If you notice we don't have drinking or smoking
here, and people seem to enjoy that atmosphere."
The
club held its first dance Friday night at the Brewery Arts Center and
hopes to hold at least 10 dances over the course of the next year.
Alan Mills and his wife, Molly, both of Reno, had
been dancing for years, but were still learning West Coast swing.
"The lesson part is just hell, but soon you start to get it and
it's fun," Molly said.
The club has about 30 members, composed mostly of Ewing's students in
the area.
"I've been doing West Coast swing for 24 years, and I enjoy teaching
it," Ewing said. "The only place you can dance other types of dance,
like ballroom, is in a studio because you need so much space to do
them. But West Coast swing is a slot dance, so you can get a lot more
people doing it at once."
Friday's dance was preceded by a swing-dance lesson from instructor Tim
Renners, owner of Dancing with Style and Technique and professor at
Truckee Meadows Community College and the University of Nevada, Reno.
Renners told the participants to just keep at it, and soon they
would be able to interpret the rhythm of the music naturally.
"Practice doesn't make perfect, but perfect practice makes
proficient," Renners said.
As for Ewing, who said his schedule is busier now that he is retired,
the work to get the club going has already paid dividends.
"For me, it's all worth it
to see my guys get the steps and grow into their own," Ewing said.
Alan Mills and Sally Rogers, of
Carson City, dance at the High Sierra Swing Dance Club's first dance at
the Brewery Arts Center Friday night.
Photos by Trevor
Clark/Nevada Appeal
Appeal Sue Brader, of Carson City,
dances with swing-dance teacher Tim Renners, of Dancing with Style and
Technique, at the High Sierra Swing Dance Club's first dance at the
Brewery Arts Center Friday night.
Photos by Trevor
Clark/Nevada Appeal
Dancers' feet lined during the
instruction segment of the High Sierra Swing Dance Club's first dance
at the Brewery Arts Center Friday night.
Photos by
Trevor Clark/ Nevada Appeal
Did you know?
West Coast swing is a partner dance derived from Lindy hop. It is
characterized by a distinctive elastic look that results from its
basic extension-compression technique of partner connection. Swing
was developed on the crowded floors of dance clubs in the 1930s, and
is considered a slot dance because it is danced with both partners
moving up and down a single line or track.
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