By MATT MILNER, Courier staff writer
March 09, 2009 10:40 am
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FAIRFIELD — It’s a safe bet that Louis Armstrong probably never envisioned iTunes.
It’s a bit jarring at first, actually; a Mac laptop plugged into Morningstar Studio’s sound system, pouring out the unmistakable rasp of Armstrong’s voice.
Andrea Smith couldn’t be happier to hear it.
Smith started dancing to swing music about 12 years ago. That was early for the Midwest, which caught up to the national swing revival a couple years after the coasts. She and her husband, Jeffrey, initially had to go to other areas to find groups to dance with.
Travel became less important as the trend filtered into Iowa and people started picking up dance moves that had been almost completely dormant since the mid-1950s. Acts like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and The Brian Setzer Orchestra scored radio hits based on music played in the years immediately after World War II.
It’s hard for an untrained eye to follow specific patterns. There are some basic steps that show up for virtually every couple, but there’s a lot of improvisation going on.
“The dancing is so beautiful that I’ve loved every step of the way,” Smith said, “and I’m still learning.”
The swing dance group meets Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Morningstar Studio, 50 1/2 S. Court Street in Fairfield.
Smith sees swing dance as part of a continuum that goes back to the early 20th century. Swing grew out of the Charleston and the Lindy as jazz became popular.
“The whole thing evolved together,” she said.
Kevin Incorvia is a relative newcomer compared to Smith. He has only been dancing a few years, but he has become quite accomplished in that time. He fits the demographic for swing dancing a bit more closely than Smith. While ages range from college students to baby boomers, the groups tend to skew young.
Incorvia is in his 20s. He wasn’t a willing participant at first.
“There was this girl that asked me to dance for about five years. I kept saying no,” he said. That resolve eventually wore down and he agreed. One time. No repeats. Yeah right.
“I came out and danced with her once, and I just loved the people,” he said. “I think in general people just love to dance.”
The crowd that assembles on Tuesday nights in Fairfield has a wider age range than many swing groups. They arrived to find lighting limited to track lights along the room’s perimeter. It softened the light on the dance floor. The room was cool, but that was an advantage. Do this dancing right and you could work up a sweat in subzero temperatures.
By 9 p.m. there are four couples on the floor at any given time and two or three others taking a song off to catch their breath. Swing dancing requires a partner, but just who the partners are changes as people take breaks.
The dancers concentrate on what they’re doing but also display a remarkable awareness of what’s happening around them. The center of the dance floor clears out a bit when Jeffrey Smith and Merett Giacomini begin a particularly energetic dance. If you watch closely you can see some of the influences from the earlier Lindy Hop.
The same thing happens when Incorvia and Andrea Smith pair up. No one stops dancing, but they make room for the more advanced steps being done a few feet away.
It’s a scene Louis Armstrong would enjoy.
Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com
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Photos
No, she's not dragging him onto the floor. Keeping a good grip on your partner is sometimes the only thing between you and an embarassing spill, as Melissa McLaughlin and Kevin Incorvia know.