Ohio University students and visitors will be dancing across campus this weekend for the first “Lindy Hop Drop Out.”
OU’s Jitterbug Club will be hosting the event Saturday. In addition to a dance at Baker University Center, there will also be a workshop to learn the “Lindy Hop” in Grover Center and a late-night dance at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, 69 Mill St.
Alongside Jitterbug Club members, Athens, Columbus and Indiana residents are planning to attend the dance, said Olivia Suttles, Jitterbug Club president and a senior studying public relations.
The Lindy Hop Drop Out is one of the Lindy exchanges the Jitterbug Club hosts each year. Suttles said Lindy exchanges are events in which swing dance teams travel to dance at different schools.
Lindy exchanges are something the Jitterbug Club tries to participate in at least once a month, she said.
Jitterbug Club also coordinates with the Ohio State University’s swing dance club to host the Buckeye Bobcat Lindy Exchange.
“(First-year dancers) came back much better dancers than they started,” said Maggie Miller, a junior studying commercial photography and Jitterbug’s public relations coordinator.
Though the dance is not a Jitterbug recruitment event, Alicia Gooding, a former OU student, plans to begin teaching her lessons at the event with the basics to cater to new and inexperienced dancers.
Even with six years of dance experience, Gooding said she appreciates practicing basic moves.
“I still think that I personally have an awful lot to learn and a long way to go,” she said.
Although Gooding prefers attending lessons and dances to improve her technique, she is excited to return to OU and to show off the moves she has learned.
“It’s hard to tailor a teaching style to the different learning styles of people in dance, and you’ve got to learn what works best for you and especially what works best for your group,” Gooding said.
Besides teaching new styles of dance, the event is geared toward bringing together students across the state who love swing dance.
“I hope that (dancers) get the chance to exercise their dancing skills and find the love for it that I found and meet some really cool cats,” Miller said.
dk123111@ohiou.edu
