Dance at Davis: Students find swing and community at Monday night gatherings

Members of Davis Swing Dancers. (Courtesy of Davis Swing Dancers)

Davis Swing Dancers bring lively atmosphere and historical focus to the social scene

Mondays are not always a student’s favorite day, but on the UC Davis campus, a dedicated group of students and community members bring life to the beginning of the school week. Every Monday from 8 to 11 p.m. in Giedt 1001, the Davis Swing Dancers club hosts free beginner lessons and social dancing.

“We tell people, even if you don’t know how to dance and haven’t danced before, we’ll get you up and dancing by the end of the night,” Current Relations Officer Ashbi Rivera, a second-year food science and entomology double major, said.

Rebecca Boulden, a UC Davis alum, now serves as an instructor both for the club and in studios locally. Having started with the club in 2018, she shared why she continues to return each Monday.

“I feel like the fun of the dance gets you into the club,” Boulden said. “The community and the people is what makes you stay.”

Maintaining a safe community is a priority for President Jack Greenfield, a fourth-year biochemistry and molecular biology major.

“People are really nice to each other,” Greenfield said. “We make an effort to be welcoming in a space that can be scary if you’re brand new to dancing. We really like having new faces that stick around for a while.”

Many members joined with no prior experience and have stayed for the supportive setting. Vice President Alex Miller, a fourth-year computer science and linguistics double major, shared his recollections of when he first joined.

“I hadn’t danced before,” Miller said. “I had two left feet. I kept coming back because everybody else had already made the environment so helpful and inclusive. I never felt like I was so behind that people didn’t want to dance with me or anything like that.”

The club protects the space through guidelines for partner dancing and respect for others.

“We have a ‘no criticism on the dance floor’ rule, which is fairly common in social dance scenes,” Greenfield said. “If someone’s brand new, you don’t want to make them feel like they’re doing something wrong.”

In addition to offering lessons and a space to socialize, the club educates attendees on the history of swing as a dance form.

“We try to have a focus on the history of swing dance,” Greenfield said. “It’s been incredibly whitewashed over time. Swing dance comes from the 1920s and ‘30s. It grew up in the Harlem Renaissance alongside jazz and Black American music.”

The historical background of swing is weaved into lessons and is present in club activities, creating a sense of grounding for members of the club like Yongtao Guan, a fourth-year biological sciences major.

“[Swing] only has survived the times due to its prominence in minority communities,” Guan said. “It’s great to know about the historical significance of it and how it’s for everyone, and therefore it should be a safe space for people regardless of their identities.”

The practice of social dancing has helped members acquire new skills over the course of attending. Publicity Officer Logan Kim, a third-year mathematics and music double major, shared the experiences swing dance has offered her.

“It’s really been a wonderful place for me to learn an art form that is so inherently nonverbal,” Kim said. “When I’ve gone on trips abroad, it’s been really cool to not speak people’s languages but still have a way we can communicate.”

Through learning an improvisational dance style like swing, the club teaches new ways to be in space with others.

“There’s a lot that you learn about how to communicate with people,” Miller said. “It’s kind of like a language: the way you do call and responses, the way that gestures translate. That really helped me get more comfortable with different forms of communication.”

Above all, the club provides a time for beginners and experienced dancers alike to create a community.

“You’re able to spend an hour a week with us doing something for no one but yourself,” Kim said. “Most people who come here aren’t doing anything related to their academics or their career, they do this because they want to.”

Students have experienced the club as an entrance to swing dancing and respite from the coming school week, as shared by Emily Donohoe, a first-year genetics and genomics major.

“Everyone here was just really sweet,” Donohoe said. “I kept coming and I felt like I got the hang of it really fast because it’s so loose and it feels so natural.”

For others, like Kyla McNutt, a first-year environmental policy analysis and planning major, the club has been a reprieve from other dance settings.

“I was in ballet for 10 years, and I just wanted to be able to dance again in a way that was less demanding and a little kinder to myself and others,” McNutt said. “[Davis Swing Dance] has definitely been that, and making new friends and learning new things has been great.”

The club runs not only weekly meetings, but a special quarterly dance and advanced lessons for those who are more experienced. They’ve also hosted a Lindy Exchange in past quarters, inviting attendees across California to three nights of socials. No matter the event, the club remains committed to providing a welcoming place to share swing dance.

“Even if I’m not teaching, I’m [at the beginner lessons] because I want to help out people who were like me back then,” Miller said. “When I came in, the community helped me get on board by being so respectful, and I want to pay it forward and help other people find their own communities here, just like I did.”

If swing, learning and community interest you, Davis Swing Dancers meet every Monday from 8 to 11 p.m. in Giedt 1001. Updates on future events and meetings can be found @davisswingdancers.

Written by: Hannah Osborn— arts@theaggie.org