Swing Dance Long Island celebrates 20 years

Lindy or jive, swing dance means great fun with a warm, friendly crowd

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March 26, 2009 | 11:00 AM
Have you been enjoying watching "Dancing with the Stars"? Have you every thought of trying some of the dances yourself? Well, you can. There are a number of dance groups on Long Island where even novice dancers can have a lot of fun. If you find that you really enjoy music from the 1920s, '30s, '40s or '50s then perhaps swing dancing is for you. Not only is swing dancing fun, but it's great exercise, too.

Karen Kwartler, first president of Swing Dance Long Island, said SDLI is the only group on the island just for swing dancing. Originally the group was an offshoot of the Long Island Traditional Music Association. But some people become so interested in swing that they formed their own group. "Paul Neal ran a blurb in a LITMA newspaper looking for anyone interested in learning the Lindy. He and Robin Agnew got the idea for this," Kwartler said. "It didn't take long for the group to come together. "Susan Saltz, a lawyer, helped us gain our nonprofit status," Kwartler added. "Another early member, Bill Perno, was good with finances and became our treasurer."

And so, the group was off and dancing. Now, many years later the group is celebrating a big anniversary, its 20th. Said Kwartler, "I just want you to know how gratified I am after all these years that this is still going strong, thriving. It's nice that there's still interest."

And the interest isn't from just one age group. Swing dancing attracts all sorts of people from the I-remember-when-that-song-came-out retirees to the my-grandparents-used-to-dance-to-that college students. It attracts singles as well as couples. "We even have people who met at our group and have gotten married," Kwartler noted.

Besides being great exercise, swing dance brings about a certain camaraderie. "Wherever I go in the country, people are there [swing dancing]. Whenever I travel, they're all very welcoming ... They're a warm, friendly crowd," Kwartler said. And the reverse is true as well. "We have people traveling [here] who found us on the Internet and stop in" for an evening of dancing, she added.

Swing dance
Swing dance developed about the same time as jazz blossomed in the 1920s and '30s. Syncopated rhythms and fast dance movements characterize swing. Dance names such as the Lindy Hop and the Jitterbug attest to the energy needed to enjoy much of swing. Reportedly, bandleader Cab Calloway had commented that the dancers looked "like a bunch of jitterbugs out there on the floor." Other forms of swing include the Balboa and St. Louis Shag.

Later dance forms associated with swing include the Eastern Coast Swing, the West Coast Swing and the Jive. But some swing does have a slower tempo, and some people include some forms of ballroom dancing as well in their notion of what constitutes "swing" dance.

Said Gilles Fouquart, current SDLI president, there is a "broad range of dances at each event. That's the fun of it." Some people prefer certain dances. "For some [if you recreate a sock hop] ... they are out on the floor. My wife and I, we like it all." Fouquart noted that sometimes they have a theme for the evening, such as a Mardi Gras night recently. Added Kwartler, "On the first Saturday in January, we had a black-tie dance," celebrating the new year.

But style of clothing for each dance is a personal choice. Most wear "modern clothes, whatever they're comfortable dancing in," said Fouquart. "Me, I like loud polyester shirts. Some [dancers] are into vintage clothing and always come that way. My wife will sometimes find clothes that have a vintage feel to them. ... Sometimes we get rockabilly dancers — greasers with jackboots." Some dancers "love dance, love the era and love the clothes," he added. It's really all a matter of personal choice.

SDLI is one of the few dance groups on Long Island to have live music, usually once a month. Fouquart noted that band night is a particularly good one for beginners to come to: "It's always fun."

"Just come on out and try it, if you ever thought about it," said Fouquart. "We like to share with folks." And, he added, "It's easier to learn than ballroom."

"Twenty years," noted Kwartler of the group's existence. "It's hard to believe. It is a bunch of fun."

SDLI
Swing Dance Long Island is meeting every Tuesday evening at Pomodorino Ristorante Italiano, 648 Motor Parkway, Hauppauge, through March. Beginning on Tuesday, April 7 SDLI will meet at Mulcahy's Pub, 160 Adams Ave., Hauppauge. Singles and beginners are welcome and no partner is needed. Admission is $6 on evenings when a disc jockey provides the music; and $10 on band nights.

In addition, on the first Saturday of each month, Swing Dance Long Island holds a dance at the Smithtown Historical Society's Brush Barn on Route 25 (211 E. Main St.) in Smithtown. A swing dance lesson begins at 7:30 pm with social dancing from 8 to 11 pm. Admission for the Saturday dance is $8 on DJ nights and $15 on band nights.

SDLI will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with the April 4 dance to be held for this evening only at Deer Park Community Center, 41 Homer Ave., Deer Park. Live music will be provided by the Central Park Stompers. For this special evening, an intermediate Lindy dance lesson will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, a beginners' dance lesson will be held from 7:30 to 8 and social dancing will be from 8 to 11 pm.

Visit www.sdli.org or call 476-3707.

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