Barker Hall’s dancing secret: Group offers free swing dance lessons
October 21, 2013
By Majorie Kirk
For 10 years, Barker Hall has housed swing dance lessons at noon and dances at 7 p.m. most Saturdays for the UK Swing Dance Club.
Aaron Mabson has been involved with the club for five years as the club’s supervisor, coordinator and dance teacher.
His hope for the club is that people will see swing dancing as the social hangout it once was in America.
“It’s nice to learn something different, and swing dancing is always one of those things that people think, ‘Hey wow, it seems so cool. I’d like to try that one day,’ and all we have to say is come to our club, we have lessons — they’re free.”
UK’s Swing Dance Club hopes to bring back a piece of history Saturday night when the community and the students get together to put their newly found dance skills into practice.
The club requires no prior knowledge of dance. Students and people of the community are welcome to come to the lessons to learn the dances in a relaxed setting.
Mabson said the class provides people with new social interactions while allowing people to exercise.
“Everybody gets something different,” he said. “For me this was a helpful social experience.”